The president has repeatedly blamed Mr. Bezos, who is also the owner of The Washington Post, for the financial plight of the Postal Service, insisting that the post office charges Amazon too little, an assertion that many experts have rejected as false.
In the past three years, the president has replaced all six members of the Postal Service Board of Governors.
In May, the board, which includes two Democrats, selected Mr. DeJoy, a longtime Republican fund-raiser who has contributed more than $1.5 million to Mr. Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns, to be postmaster general. According to financial disclosures, Mr. DeJoy and his wife, Aldona Wos, who has been nominated to be the ambassador to Canada, have $115,002 to $300,000 invested in the Postal Service’s major competitor, UPS.
Two board members have since departed. David C. Williams, the vice chairman, left in April over concerns that the Postal Service was becoming increasingly politicized by the Trump administration, according to two people familiar with his thinking. Ronald Stroman, who oversaw mail-in voting and relations with election officials, resigned in May.
One of the remaining members, Robert M. Duncan, is a former Republican National Committee chairman who has been a campaign donor to Mr. Trump.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Champaign County GOP Rep. Jim Jordan had a combative exchange on Friday with longtime National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci over whether protests of police violence around the country are spreading coronavirus.
Fauci, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Robert Redfield and Assistant HHS Secretary Brett Giroir on Friday testified before the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus. Other members of the bipartisan committee grilled them on subjects including development of a vaccine for the virus, the safety of reopening schools and President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis.
Jordan, a Trump allied co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, used his time to inveigh against government limits on church gatherings and business operations during the pandemic, while Black Lives Matter protests of police violence are allowed.
Jordan argued that permitting protests while cracking down on church services amounts to favoring one First Amendment liberty over another. He asked Fauci whether the protests are spreading coronavirus.
“Crowding together, particularly when you’re not wearing a mask, contributes to the spread of the virus.” Fauci responded.
“Should we limit the protesting?” Jordan continued.
“I’m not in a position to determine what the government can do in a forceful way,” Fauci responded.
“I haven’t seen people during a church service go out and harm police officers or burn buildings,” Jordan continued. “No limit to protests, but you can’t go to church on Sunday.”
Jordan said Fauci had advocated for “certain businesses to be shut down, arguing that he hadn’t “seen one hair stylist who, between haircuts, goes out and attacks police or sets something on fire, but we’ve seen all kinds of that stuff during protests and we know the protests actually increased the spread of the virus. You’ve said that.”
“I said crowds,” said Fauci. “I didn’t say protests do anything … Crowds are known, particularly when you don’t have a mask. to increase the acquisition and transmission.”
Can’t go to church. Can’t go to work. Can’t go to school.
After Jordan concluded, Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin noted that a recent Supreme Court decision found it constitutional to restrict the number of people who can attend a church service, as long as the same rule applies to other events like concerts, movies, spectator sports, and theatrical performances. Raskin, a constitutional law professor who often clashes with Jordan, observed that several large religious gatherings ended up being “super spreader” events.
“There is no religious immunity to this disease, and there is no free exercise exemption to universal public health orders,” said Raskin, who posted a video of his remarks on Twitter with a statement that said he wanted to “dispel the thick fog of constitutional confusion left by Jim Jordan’s disgraceful heckling of Dr. Fauci.”
Raskin said people who attend Black Lives Matter protests usually wear masks and abide by social distancing protocols, so they’re less likely to spread coronavirus than protestors who object to public health protocols.
“If you’re really concerned about the protests and people getting sick there, and we should be, then we have to look at the use of tear gas and pepper spray,” said Raskin, who said police have removed protestors masks in order to spray them with chemical irritants that will make them sneeze and cough. “It’s the use of those chemical irritants, I think, which is the real danger.”
Trump was happier with Jordan’s performance.
“Great job by Jim Jordan, and also some very good statements by Tony Fauci,” said a statement Trump posted on Twitter. “Big progress being made!”
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in California surpassed 500,000 on Friday, a troubling milestone that caps months of surging outbreaks across the state.
COVID-19 cases have been spiking since late May as California reopened the economy and people got back to old routines. Deaths and hospitalizations have also risen, prompting officials to roll back some reopening measures in hopes of slowing the spread.
Once considered a coronavirus success story, California — the nation’s most populous state — now leads the United States in the number of confirmed cases. More than 9,100 people in California have died. But that is still far below the death toll in New York, which has reported more than 32,000 fatalities.
Officials announced Friday that a teenager in the Central Valley had died of causes related to COVID-19, becoming the first juvenile death from the disease in California.
Officials said the teen had underlying health conditions but declined to provide additional information about age or county of residence, citing patient privacy concerns.
“Our hearts go out to the family and loved ones of this young person whose death is a tragic and powerful reminder of how serious COVID-19 can be,” Dr. Sonia Angell, the state public health officer, said in a news release.
Kern County topped the list, reporting 1,283.3 cases per 100,000 residents over the past 14 days, compared with 132 cases per 100,000 residents roughly a month ago. The county recorded 924 new cases Friday and one death, bringing its total to 19,335 cases and 140 deaths.
Local officials attribute the rapid rise in part to an increase in testing. Some testing sites saw a sustained fourfold increase over the past several weeks, Michelle Corson, public relations officer for Kern County Public Health, said in an email. That caused some labs to report supply shortages, which in turn delayed the turnaround time for test results, she said.
“This surge in testing and the delayed results have recently resulted in a large number of lab results currently being received at Public Health,” Corson said.
Still, a relatively high percentage of the tests performed in Kern County are coming back positive — an average of 27.5% each day over the past two weeks, compared with a statewide average of 7.2%, according to the state department of public health. That indicates an increase in community transmission of the virus.
Kern County is followed by Colusa County, with 768.7 cases per 100,000 residents; Merced, with 651.1; Kings, with 599.6; and Tulare, also with 599.6. State guidelines say counties should aim for no more than 100 new cases per 100,000 residents over a two-week period.
State officials had already identified the agricultural Central Valley region as an area of concern, saying the spread of the virus there underscores the inequities of the pandemic in California. The virus has infected Black and Latino communities and poorer regions at much higher rates than more affluent and white ones.
Black and Latino communities tend to have higher concentrations of essential workers who can’t stay home for financial reasons and are more likely to live and work in close quarters. Farmworkers are particularly vulnerable, because they tend to have fewer workplace protections when it comes to ensuring their safety or the ability to speak out about their conditions, experts say.
Earlier this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he would send “strike teams” to Kern, Merced, Kings, Tulare and four other counties in the San Joaquin Valley while asking the California Legislature to approve $52 million to improve testing, tracing and isolation protocols in those areas.
By comparison to the high infection rates in the Central Valley, Los Angeles County reported 379.5 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks, and Orange County recorded 248.8.
L.A. County added 2,488 cases Friday and 63 deaths, bringing its total to 188,524 cases and 4,622 deaths. Officials noted that the number of fatalities marked an increase, comparing it with an average of 38 deaths a day the previous week.
“As we are seeing increases these past few days in the numbers of people dying from COVID-19, the reality of the devastation cannot be ignored,” Barbara Ferrer, the county health director, said in a statement.
The department of public health said in a news release that deaths “are a lagging indicator” that reflect exposures from weeks earlier.
Orange County reported 418 new coronavirus cases and 14 deaths Friday, its second-highest daily death toll since the pandemic began. Five of the deaths were among people who lived in skilled nursing facilities, and four were among residents of assisted living facilities, officials said.
Bush, speaking at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, noted Lewis’s childhood in rural Troy, Ala., where Lewis has described preaching to his family’s chickens as a child.
When Lewis refused to eat one of the chickens, Bush added, “going hungry was his first act of nonviolent protest.”
“From Troy to the sit-ins of Nashville, to the Freedom Rides to the March on Washington, from Freedom Summer to Selma, John Lewis always looked outward, not inward,” Bush added. “He always believed in preaching the Gospel in word and in deed, insisting that hate and fear had to be answered with love and hope.”
“John Lewis believed in the Lord. He believed in humanity. And he believed in America.”
Lewis, Bush said, “believed in the Lord, he believed in humanity and he believed in America.”
Bush referenced the Biblical passage in which, seeking a prophet, God asks “Whom shall I send?” with Isaiah responding “Here am I, send me.”
“John Lewis heard that call a long time ago in segregated Alabama, and he took up the work of the Lord through all his days,” Bush said. “His lesson to all of us is that we must all keep ourselves open to hearing the call of love, the call of service and the call to sacrifice for others.”
Lewis died earlier this month at the age of 80. He was a legendary figure on Capitol Hill, where he had served Georgia for three decades. He had a profound impact on civil rights in America, participating in sit-ins, being the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington and leading the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on what would become known as “Bloody Sunday.”
The former president acknowledged some political disagreements with Lewis, but said both men were capable of “hav[ing] differing views on how to protect our union while sharing the conviction that our nation, however flawed, is at heart a good and noble one.”
“We live in a better and nobler country today because of John Lewis and his abiding faith in the power of God, the power of democracy and in the power of love to lift us all to a higher ground,” the former president said. “The story that began in Troy isn’t ending today, nor is the work.”
WASHINGTON – The discussions over another stimulus package turned testy Friday as Democrats and Republicans each blamed the other for their inability to come to an agreement just hours before a $600 weekly unemployment benefit for Americans officially ends.
In dueling press conferences, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows laid into Democrats for rejecting a short-term deal to continue the bolstered unemployment benefit for one week, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi railed against Republicans and the Trump administration for attempting to take a piecemeal approach to helping Americans as COVID-19 cases continue to surge nationally.
“What we’re seeing is politics as usual from Democrats up on Capitol Hill,” Meadows said from the White House podium. “The Democrats believe that they have all the cards on their side, and they’re willing to play those cards at the expense of those that are hurting.”
Pelosi, D-Calif., criticized Republicans for waiting months before attempting to take up another emergency package, noting the surge of coronavirus cases and high unemployment rate.
“They do not understand the gravity of the situation,” she said of Republicans. “We don’t have shared values. That’s just the way it is.”
She argued a deal to extend the unemployment benefit by one week would only be meaningful if a larger bill was nearly worked out, noting the time it would take for the measure to pass and for money to reach families. Pelosi also said the Senate, which has remained divided on unemployment, likely would not have the votes to approve a continuation of the $600 weekly benefit, which bolsters state benefits that average nationally about $370 a week.
Though the back-and-forth attacks signal a deal is still far off, both Meadows and Pelosi said they plan to meet again to continue talks.
Friday’s news conferences cap off a week filled with negotiations over another stimulus bill, talks that have all but stalled as Republicans are divided over what should be included in the measure and Democrats remain against a smaller bill to keep unemployment flowing for a short period.
On Thursday, Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met with Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for a lengthy meeting where both sides attempted once more to come to a deal before millions saw their unemployment benefits rolled back significantly.
Meadows said Democrats were given four separate offers throughout the day but rejected all of them.
“We’re going in the wrong direction. They’re going in the wrong direction because of partisan politics. It is very disappointing,” Meadows said. “It surprises me that when we talk about compassion and caring about those that truly are in need, that a temporary solution to make sure that unemployment, enhanced unemployment continues has been rejected not once but multiple times.”
House Democrats passed their version of the next stimulus package in May, a $3 trillion measure that would have extended the $600 boost in weekly unemployment compensation until at least January. The proposal has not been taken up by the Republican-held Senate.
Democrats, including Pelosi, have balked at taking up unemployment assistance as a separate measure, arguing Republicans should come to the table for a larger deal on a host of pressing policy items, including more funds for local and state governments. House Democrats’ bill included not only an extension of unemployment but also another round of $1,200 stimulus checks and increased funds for state and local governments.
Senate Republicans, meanwhile, have had trouble negotiating their demands as the conference remains divided on what the next stimulus package should include. Some even expressed doubt that another bill is needed. The divisions remained even after Republicans unveiled their own proposal this week that included $1,200 stimulus checks, funds for schools and small businesses, and a scaled-back unemployment benefits of $200 per week.
Many Republicans have spent weeks railing against the $600 unemployment benefit, which is paid to Americans in addition to state claims. They argue it should be changed or replaced with a back-to-work incentive in hopes of jump-starting the economy and getting shuttered businesses to rehire laid-off workers.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell started the process on Thursday for the Senate to take up a measure that could tackle unemployment, meaning boosted unemployment could be approved by the chamber early next week, though currently the House is not expected to approve such a proposal.
While unemployment benefits have remained a point of contention, both sides have butted heads over a number of proposals, including Republican demands that companies be shielded from coronavirus-related lawsuits and Democratic requirements that state and local governments be given more funds to offset their budgets after the pandemic.
But both sides appeared mostly opposed to a request from the administration for $377 million to modernize the West Wing along with more than a $1 billion to keep the new FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.
On Friday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany defended the requests. While pointing out previous coronavirus relief bills had “plenty of other things” that were unrelated to the pandemic, McEnany insisted the FBI funding “is not a red line for us.”
“It was part of the initial bill but it is certainly not a red line priority,” she said.
Washington (CNN)Video of then-businessman Donald Trump struggling to vote in-person before declaring he would fill out an absentee ballot in 2004 has resurfaced this week amid a new round of unfounded attacks on mail-in voting from the President.
McConnell has stressed that the shield would apply not just to private businesses, but also to schools, universities, hospitals, nonprofit organizations and similar establishments. The American Council on Education, a higher-education lobbying group, has written to lawmakers in support of McConnell’s legislation, as have other education groups.
Three US presidents delivered eulogies for John Lewis at the congressman’s funeral in Atlanta on Thursday. A fourth, Donald Trump, was not in attendance, but his presence was felt strongly in Barack Obama’s eulogy – which was perhaps Obama’s most explicitly political speech since leaving office.
‘John Lewis was exceptional’: Obama, Clinton and Bush pay tribute at funeral in Atlanta – video
Describing Lewis as a founding father of “a fuller, better” US, Obama called on Americans to stand up for the late civil rights leader’s most enduring cause: the right to vote. Without mentioning his successor by name, Obama sharply criticised “those in power who are doing their darnedest to discourage people from voting.”
‘Emmett Till was my George Floyd,’ Lewis himself wrote, in an essay published posthumously by the New York Times on Thursday, recounting chapters of his own civil rights struggle and calling for future peaceful progress, and “good trouble”.
This is the worst US recession since GDP was first recorded
Republican infighting is delaying a replacement for expanded unemployment benefits. Photograph: Nam Y Huh/AP
With no end in sight to the US coronavirus crisis, the country’s economy has just suffered its sharpest contraction since the second world war, shrinking by an annual rate of 32.9% between April and June. Last week, another 1.43 million Americans filed for unemployment, while in Washington, GOP infighting has delayed a replacement for the $600 expansion to weekly unemployment benefits, a lifeline for millions amid the pandemic.
Trump suggests delaying the election, just as Biden predicted
Trump: ‘I don’t want to delay, I want an election’ – video
When Joe Biden warned in April that Trump might try to postpone the presidential election, the Trump campaign dismissed the idea as “incoherent, conspiracy theory ramblings”. But sure enough, on Thursday morning – minutes after the release of that epically awful economic news – the president tweeted without evidence that “universal mail-in voting” would lead to “the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT election in history”, adding:
Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???
The power to shift an election date rests with Congress, not the president, and even Republicans swiftly dismissed the suggestion. But critics say Trump’s real goal is to cast doubt around the legitimacy of the election, in order to contest its outcome if he loses.
Michael Brown’s killer still won’t be prosecuted
Wesley Bell is St Louis County’s first Black prosecutor. Photograph: Chris Kohley/AP
With the protests over George Floyd’s death still fresh in the memory, old wounds have been reopened in the case of another police killing that sparked widespread unrest six years ago. The top prosecutor in St Louis county, Missouri, has announced he will not charge Darren Wilson, the former police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson in August 2014.
Wesley Bell, the county’s first Black prosecutor, pledged to reopen the case after taking office in January 2019. But following a five-month review of the evidence, his office could not prove Wilson committed murder or manslaughter. Dropping the case was “one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do,” Bell said.
Breonna Taylor on the cover of O. Photograph: Alexis Franklin/O, The Oprah Magazine
US sheriffs are refusing to enforce mask laws, and in some cases actively resisting lockdowns, in a trend critics say is linked to the far-right “constitutional sheriffs” movement, which holds that sheriffs are the country’s highest constitutional authority.
In other news …
Herman Cain sits with other Trump supporters at the president’s rally in Tulsa on 20 June. Photograph: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images
Herman Cain has died with coronavirus aged 74. The businessman, former Republican presidential candidate and chair of the Black Voices for Trump group had been hospitalised less than two weeks after he was photographed without a mask at the president’s rally in Tulsa on 20 June.
The decision to withdraw 12,000 US troops from Germany came under bipartisan scrutiny on Thursday, as senators grilled secretary of state Mike Pompeo over Trump’s stated desire to punish Germany for spending too little on defence.
Climate countdown: 96 days to save the Earth
At least 96 cities, which together account for a quarter of the global economy, have pledged to ensure their Covid-19 recoveries are environmentally sustainable. And 96 is also the number of days remaining until the US withdraws from the Paris climate agreement. Read the latest in our climate countdown series.
Great reads
A scene from the 1996 cult French comedy La Belle Verte. Photograph: Collection Christophel/Alamy Stock Photo
What can we learn from movie utopias – and dystopias?
China is facing international criticism for its treatment of the Uighurs and its takeover of Hong Kong. But domestically, Beijing’s aggressive stance has stoked nationalist sentiment – at the expense of more moderate views. Lily Kuo reports.
Opinion: I killed someone when I was a cop
Thomas Owen Baker once shot a knife-wielding suspect dead as a police officer in Arizona. Now a PhD student researching police culture , he says such violent incidents are the product of an environment we have all contributed to creating.
There is usually a complex combination of race, class, guns, violence, capital and other social forces that lead to the fatal encounter. Merely identifying a handful of bad officers and sending them to prison is not a sufficient solution. We must work toward a society where citizens and their governmental representatives – the police – aren’t so terrified of one another.
Last Thing: I was Tupac’s pen pal
Nina Bhadreshwar: ‘I’ve never had that sort of friendship with anyone else.’ Photograph: Francesca Jones/The Guardian
In her early 20s, Nina Bhadreshwar requested an interview with Tupac Shakur for a small magazine she’d started in England, about social issues such as racism and police brutality. A phone-call grew into a transatlantic correspondence – and a unique friendship.
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Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, joins John Roberts with insight on ‘Special Report.’
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, will testify Friday morning in front of the House of Representatives’ special select committee investigating the coronavirus and the Trump administration’s response.
Fauci testified a month ago about potential school reopenings and Friday’s hearing comes just days after the United States passed 150,000 coronavirus deaths and many states are struggling with spiking numbers of cases.
The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis was established by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in late April and is chaired by Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C. California Democrat Maxine Waters is on the committee as well as Ranking Member Steve Scalise, R-La., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
The committee investigates the efficiency of coronavirus-related spending and the preparedness and response to the outbreak, according to its website.
Testifying along with Fauci are Dr. Robert Redfield, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and “testing czar” Admiral Brett Giroir, a Health and Human Services official and physician.
The hearing, titled “The Urgent Need for a National Plan to Contain the Coronavirus,” will likely focus on fall school reopenings, testing and a potential vaccine, according to The New York Times. They will also talk about futures challenges.
“If there is COVID-19 and flu activity at the same time, this could place a tremendous burden on the health care system related to bed occupancy, laboratory testing needs, personal protective equipment and health care worker safety,” their prepared testimony said.
The Trump administration at first refused to allow Fauci to testify before the committee and the president and Fauci have sometimes disagreed.
“The House is a setup,” Trump told reporters in May. “The House is a bunch of Trump haters. They put every Trump hater on the committee. The same old stuff. They, frankly, want our situation to be unsuccessful, which means death.”
Fauci has stressed the need to wear masks and social distance while President Trump has been focused on reopening the economy and the importance of sending children back to school in the fall.
Frustrated negotiators of a massive coronavirus relief bill face heightened pressure with Thursday’s brutal economic news and the rapidly approaching lapse in a $600-a-week expanded jobless benefit that has helped prop up consumer demand.
Talks are at a standstill with few reasons for optimism despite sweeping agreement among Washington’s top power players that Congress must pass further relief in coming days and weeks.
President Donald Trump is eager for another COVID relief package, also a priority for GOP allies like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, as well as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer. Democrats hold a strong negotiating hand, with Republicans badly divided over their own proposal.
Raising the stakes, a bleak government report released on Thursday said the economy shrank at a 32.9 percent annualised rate in the second quarter of the year and the number of Americans filing for state jobless benefits rose for the second week in a row.
The data served up a stark reminder of the economic damage afflicting the country as legislators debate the size and scope of new relief.
The Democrats are saying, my way or the highway.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
“This jarring news should compel Congress to move swiftly to provide targeted and temporary assistance to unemployed Americans, employers, and state and local governments, and liability protections for businesses who follow public health guidelines,” said Neal Bradley of the US Chamber of Commerce, the powerful business group.
But bipartisan talks have yet to reach a serious, productive phase. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, a relative newcomer to high-stakes Capital Hill negotiations, declared on Wednesday that the two sides are “miles apart”.
Democrats are playing hardball so far, insisting on a package that is far larger than the Republican $1 trillion-plus plan unveiled by McConnell on Monday. Thursday brought more tit-for-tat.
“They won’t engage. Period,” McConnell said as he opened the Senate. “The Democrats are saying, my way or the highway.”
In an interview late on Wednesday, McConnell showed a willingness to consider some Democratic priorities, like additional food aid. He also said extending additional jobless benefits was urgent and made clear he is standing behind Trump.
“The economy does need more help. We have divided government. We have to talk to each other,” McConnell said on the PBS NewsHour. “And we have to try to get an outcome.”
Schumer continued his daily fusillade against McConnell and Republicans controlling the Senate, noting that McConnell “refuses to go in the room” and join the talks in person, instead transferring ownership of the talks to Meadows, along with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has been a key architect of previous accords.
“We’re trying to negotiate,” Schumer said. “Who’s holding things up?”
Schumer said he will block efforts by individual Republicans to pass a smaller benefit as part of an effort to soften the unemployment insurance cutoff. McConnell has shown no interest in the idea of handling the issue separately and any such manoeuvring is beset with hurdles.
Meanwhile, in-person talks are on hold as Pelosi travelled to Atlanta for the funeral of Representative John Lewis, the civil rights icon.
Stark differences remain between the $3 trillion proposal from Democrats and $1 trillion counter from Republicans. Money for states and cities is a crucial dividing line. Local governments are pleading for help to shore up budgets and prevent deeper layoffs as they incur COVID-19 costs and lost tax revenue in shutdown economies.
We’re trying to negotiate
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
Trump complained about sending “big bailout money” to the nation’s cities, whose mayors he often criticises.
Democrats proposed nearly $1 trillion for the local governments, but Trump and Republicans are resisting sending the states and cities more cash. Instead, the GOP offers states flexibility to use $150bn previously allotted for the virus on other needs.
It is clear Democrats are trying to push an advantage in the negotiations because Republicans are so split over the prospect of additional government spending. Among the issues sure to gather momentum is a Democratic demand for a 15 percent increase in food stamp benefits.
Trump dismissed the GOP bill as “semi-irrelevant” since it leaves out so many Democratic items.
Trump appears worried about the lapsing of the federal $600 unemployment benefit boost as well as an expiring federal eviction moratorium on millions of rental units, potentially sending households into devastating turmoil. Mnuchin said Wednesday that “the president is very focused” on unemployment aid and assistance for renters.
Republicans propose slashing the $600 weekly unemployment benefit bump to $200 a week for two months, after which the state and federal benefits would combine to achieve 70 percent wage replacement, with a $500 cap on the federal supplement. Pelosi has publicly rejected that cut as inadequate.
Trump has bristled at one provision of the GOP bill – he said his GOP allies should “go back to school and learn” after they baulked at $1.7bn for FBI headquarters. Trump wants the FBI’s central building to remain in Washington, across the street from his Trump International Hotel.
If the FBI moved its headquarters, the site would become prime real estate for a competing hotel.
McConnell has rejected the FBI funding request – added to a $300bn-plus appropriations package in private talks between Meadows and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, Republic from Alabama – since it is unrelated to virus relief.
A trove of court documents unsealed Thursday night appear to show that the late, accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was in contact with his now-charged confidant, Ghislaine Maxwell, in 2015.
Attorneys for Maxwell, who was arrested July 2, have argued that she hadn’t had any contact with Epstein for more than a decade, and is the target of overzealous prosecutors.
In one email between Epstein and Maxwell in 2015, Epstein appears to be composing a draft statement for Maxwell to release publicly. The date in January 2015 is a few weeks after one of Epstein’s alleged victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, first shared her story with a British newspaper.
In another typo-filled email a few days later, dated Jan. 25, 2015, “jeffrey E.” writes: “You have done nothing wrong and i woudl urge you to start acting like it. go outside, head high, not as an esacping convict. go to parties. deal with it.”
The emails refer to “Gmax” either in the recipient section or the email address.
That’s the name the FBI and federal prosecutors say Maxwell used when trying to set up a cell phone this past year in another person’s name. Prosecutors have contended this was one of the ways Maxwell sought to avoid detection and possible arrest.
The documents released Thursday night have been under seal for years, but Judge Loretta Preska last week ruled that a batch of documents from the case, including a deposition of Maxwell and correspondence between Maxwell and Epstein, could be released.
The documents are from a defamation case filed against Maxwell in 2015 by Giuffre, who has alleged that Epstein sexually abused her and that Maxwell and Epstein directed her to have sex with other men between 2000 and 2002. The case, which Giuffre brought after Maxwell accused her of lying when she said Maxwell and Epstein had exploited and abused her, was settled privately.
The unsealed documents released Thursday also contain allegations that Jane Doe 3 — whose allegations match those of Giuffre — was “forced” to have sexual relations with Prince Andrew on Epstein’s private island in what was described as “an orgy” with numerous other under-aged girls. It does not specify the year. The woman was allegedly instructed by Epstein to “give the Prince whatever he demanded” and “report back to him on the details of the sexual abuse.”
Similar allegations against Andrew were ordered by a federal judge to be struck from court records in 2015 after being lodged as part of a lawsuit involving Epstein — but the judge did not rule on the veracity of the claims.
NBC News has reached out to Andrew’s representatives for further comment.
Some of Andrew’s supporters have long maintained that the royal had done nothing wrong, and pointed out that just because allegations are included in court papers it does not mean they are true.
Requests for comment from Maxwell’s attorneys were not immediately returned Thursday night.
Andrew has denied allegations he had sex with Giuffre, who says she was trafficked by Epstein when she was 17. The prince said that he had no recollection of ever meeting her or having any sort of sexual contact with her at any point.
A representative for Giuffre said Thursday night that she has no comment and is unable to comment because it is an ongoing legal case.
Maxwell, 58, was arrested at a remote New Hampshire mansion. She had not been seen in public since Epstein, her longtime associate, was arrested on sex trafficking charges last year.
She was charged in a six-count indictment that alleges she recruited and groomed underage girls, some as young as 14, who were sexually abused by Epstein in the mid-1990s. Prosecutors also said that in some cases she “participated in the sexual abuse of minor victims.”
The charges against Maxwell cover a time period before Giuffre met Maxwell and Epstein.
Maxwell pleaded not guilty at her arraignment and has previously denied all allegations of any improper sexual contact.
Epstein died by suicide in jail last summer while awaiting trial. Following his death, federal prosecutors vowed to continue the investigation and prosecute his enablers.
Maxwell had petitioned a judge for home confinement in a luxury Manhattan hotel, pending trial, according to court filings, but that request was denied.
Prosecutors have described Maxwell as an extreme flight risk, saying she has access to millions of dollars, extensive international contacts and citizenship in France, which does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.
Ghislaine Maxwell’s attorneys pleaded with a federal appeals court to keep the documents sealed, saying in part that Maxwell said things in her deposition — including “regarding her consensual adult sexual activity” — only because she was promised confidentiality.Jared Siskin / Patrick McMullan via Getty Images file
The documents released Thursday were just part of the group the judge ruled on. Additional documents could be released as early as Monday.
Maxwell has appealed the release of documents that quote from or disclose information from her own deposition or that of a “John Doe 1” in the case to the Court of Appeals. If that court does not rule by Monday, those documents will also be unsealed and released then.
The disclosures Thursday night followed a day of high stakes legal drama as Maxwell’s attorneys tried multiple last-minute interventions to prevent the release of documents that had remained under seal for years.
Maxwell’s attorneys sought to submit materials under seal that had been ordered to be made public by a judge last week — and when that did not work, requested an emergency conference with the judge, which was also denied Thursday evening.
In Preska’s order for the release of the documents to go on as planned, the judge wrote: “The Court is troubled — but not surprised — that Ms. Maxwell has yet again sought to muddy the waters as the clock ticks closer to midnight.”
Thursday afternoon, Maxwell’s attorneys pleaded with a federal appeals court to keep the documents sealed, saying in part that Maxwell said things in her deposition — including “regarding her consensual adult sexual activity” — only because she was promised confidentiality.
They wrote that in light of her federal prosecution, any revelations from the unsealed documents “will forever let the cat out of the bag.”
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy has changed course on its ban of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as coronavirus treatments following the governor’s urging to do so.
Beginning Thursday, pharmacies, clinics and other medical institutions were to be prohibited from dispensing or selling the drugs to treat COVID-19, according to regulations issued by the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy. They could still be used in clinical trials, said Cameron McNamee, director of policy and communications for the board.
That regulation change has since been pulled back by the board though. Instead, the board now plans to re-examine the issue with the assistance of the State Medical Board of Ohio, clinical experts, and other stakeholders to determine its next steps, according to an announcement.
The board’s shift came after Republican Gov. Mike DeWine asked the state pharmacy board on Thursday morning to rescind its plan to ban hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as treatments for the virus.
DeWine says treatment should be doctor-patient decision
DeWine said the decision of how to treat COVID-19 should instead be between patients and their doctors.
“The Board of Pharmacy and the State Medical Board of Ohio should revisit the issue, listen to the best medical science, and open the process up for comment and testimony from experts,” DeWine said in a prepared statement.
Hydroxychloroquine has been touted by President Donald Trump despite medical studies showing the drug to be ineffective at treating the disease. The drug may also cause serious cardiac side effects, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in mid-June revoked an emergency authorization for hydroxychloroquine that had allowed it to be used to treat COVID-19 patients. Despite the FDA’s revocation and until now, it could technically still be used for off-label treatment of the virus in Ohio, McNamee said.
“Basically, it’s a patient safety issue,” McNamee said on Wednesday before DeWine’s request and the board’s subsequent reversal. “We’re looking at the best science to determine what’s best for the patients of Ohio.”
Under the regulation, pharmacists in Ohio found to be selling or dispensing the drug to treat COVID-19 could have faced disciplinary action ranging anywhere from a warning or fine to a temporary suspension of their license. That action would have depended on the situation, McNamee said Wednesday.
“The long and short of it is, we want people to focus on what works, such as social distancing and mask use,” McNamee said. “We ultimately want to make sure people are being safe and not exposing themselves to drugs that have shown not to be effective in treating COVID-19.”
The board’s original move to ban the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 came as misinformation continued to spread about it. As recently as this week, Trump has promoted the drug and said he took it as a preventative measure.
McNamee said the board’s initial decision had nothing to do with Trump’s continued endorsement of hydroxychloroquine.
State purchased $600,000 worth of drug in April
This isn’t the first time the state pharmacy board has stepped in to regulate the use of the drug during the pandemic.
In March, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy cracked down on doctors who were hoarding hydroxychloroquine for themselves, family and friends in case it was needed. At that time, the board implemented restrictions that said the drug could be prescribed only for those who had tested positive for COVID-19.
Hydroxychloroquine is typically used to treat malaria, a mosquito-borne illness that causes fever, chills and influenza-like symptoms, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The drug is also used to treat conditions that cause inflammation, such as lupus and forms of arthritis.
In the early days of the pandemic, the Ohio Department of Health stockpiled the drug in case it turned out to be a good treatment.
The state purchased more than 2 million hydroxychloroquine pills for $602,629 on April 9, Melanie Amato, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Health, said via email in June. On April 20, Capital Wholesale Drug in Columbus donated 2 million hydroxychloroquine pills — worth about $680,000 — from drug maker Prasco, which is based in Mason, Ohio.
The amount of pills stockpiled by the state is equivalent to nearly two years’ worth of prescriptions that the state typically would use for its managed-care programs, according to data provided by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“The company that donated the 2 million pills is taking them back,” Amato said via email Wednesday. “The ones we purchased we are still looking at options at donating them to foundations that can use them to treat lupus and malaria.”
Contributing: Rick Rouan and Lucas Sullivan, Columbus Dispatch
Trump cites ‘disaster’ trial runs for mail-in voting that produced missing ballots, delayed results and litigation.
A co-founder of the Federalist Society, which famously compiled a list from which President Trump selected his two Supreme Court nominees, described the president’s Thursday tweet about “delay[ing] the election until people can properly, securely and safely vote” as grounds for “immediate impeachment.”
Northwestern University Law Professor Steven Calabresi wrote in a New York Times opinion piece published late Thursday that Trump “should be removed unless he relents” the sentiment expressed in the tweet.
Calabresi said he voted for Trump in 2016, and has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1980. He added that he staunchly defended Trump against what he called an “unconstitutional investigation by Robert Mueller” into alleged collusion with Russia and penned another op-ed opposing the president’s impeachment earlier this year.
“But I am frankly appalled by the president’s recent tweet seeking to postpone the November election,” he wrote. “Until recently, I had taken as political hyperbole the Democrats’ assertion that President Trump is a fascist.
“But this latest tweet is fascistic and is itself grounds for the president’s immediate impeachment again … and his removal from office by the Senate.”
In the tweet, Trump slammed the prospect of mass mail-in voting as a prelude to the “most inaccurate and fraudulent election in history” and a “great embarrassment to the USA.”
Calabresi emphasized that the U.S. “has never canceled or delayed a presidential election. Not in 1864, when President Abraham Lincoln was expected to lose and the South looked as if it might defeat the North. Not in 1932 in the depths of the Great Depression. Not in 1944 during World War II.”
The professor went on to say that the date of each election is fixed by an 1845 federal law and noted it is up to each state to determine whether they will implement universal mail-in voting, since “Article II of the Constitution explicitly gives the states total power over the selection of presidential electors.”
Meanwhile, Calabresi called on “every Republican in Congress” to inform Trump that postponing the election would be “illegal, unconstitutional, and without precedent in American history.
“Anyone who says otherwise should never be elected to Congress again.”
A 1991 photo of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend who now faces multiple counts of sex trafficking.
Jim James/AP
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Jim James/AP
A 1991 photo of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend who now faces multiple counts of sex trafficking.
Jim James/AP
A federal judge has unsealed hundreds of pages of transcripts and other documents related to a now-settled defamation suit brought against Ghislaine Maxwell, who is accused of helping the late Jeffrey Epstein run a sex trafficking operation that catered to rich and powerful men.
The documents include a deposition given by Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre, the draft of a memoir she was writing about her experiences inside the sex-trafficking ring, and email exchanges between Maxwell and Epstein.
Maxwell, Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, was charged earlier this month on several counts related to sex trafficking of minors andperjury. She has pleaded not guilty in that case. The 2015 defamation suit was brought by Giuffre after the British socialite accused her of lying when she alleged Epstein and Maxwell had sexually abused and exploited her.
Among other things, the documents included an email exchange in which Epstein protested his innocence and appeared to provide Maxwell with a statement to the media or set of talking points that she might use in defending herself against the allegations.
Maxwell had been the “target of outright lies, innuendo, slander, defamation and salacious gossip and harassment,” the email said in language that pushed back against “false allegations of impropriety and offensive behavior that I abhor and have never ever been party to.”
A few days later, responding to an email from Maxwell, Epstein wrote: “You have done nothing wrong and I (would) urge you to start acting like it.” He urged her to “go outside, head high, not as an (escaping) convict. go to parties. deal with it.”
U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ordered the documents unsealed last week after Maxwell’s lawyer Laura Menninger made a last-minute appeal to keep them from going public, arguing that they could damage her defense.
Preska ordered “many” of the case’s documents to be released last week, but she gave Menninger one week to file an emergency appeal with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. As she granted that delay, Preska also ordered both sides in the case to prepare for the records to be unsealed — including making any necessary redactions.
Even so, Preska criticized Maxwell’s defense team, saying the court was “troubled—but not surprised—that Ms. Maxwell has yet again sought to muddy the waters as the clock ticks closer to midnight.”
The defamation case generated more than 1,200 court docket entries, but many important documents have never been exposed. The case’s docket report described more than 50 records as “SEALED DOCUMENT placed in vault.”
Giuffre has said Epstein arranged for her to have sex with powerful men, including Britain’s Prince Andrew. The abuse took place at Epstein’s many properties, she said, including in Florida, New York and on his private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The prince has denied the allegation. In recent months, federal prosecutors in New York have repeatedly said they would like to speak to the prince, who is seen in a widely circulated photograph with his arm around Giuffre’s waist, with Maxwell smiling in the background.
Epstein’s social life also included ties with President Trump and former President Bill Clinton, who has distanced himself from Epstein.
Giuffre’s case against Maxwell was settled in 2017, but Giuffre had insisted many of the records should be made public. The Miami Herald and investigative reporter Julie K. Brown — whose work has helped substantiate the accusations against Epstein — also sought the records’ release.
The two sides wrestled over a central argument: Giuffre said it would serve the public interest to open access to the records. Maxwell claimed that to do so would unfairly harm people whose names appear in the documents. And with Maxwell now facing criminal charges, her attorney, said releasing the records would jeopardize her client’s right to a fair trial.
As of today, many of those records are finally coming to light.
“Maxwell was among Epstein’s closest associates and helped him exploit girls who were as young as 14 years old,” Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said after Maxwell was arrested early this month.
Maxwell has denied allegations linking her to Epstein’s exploitation of girls and young women, including under sworn testimony. But federal authorities now accuse her of committing perjury during depositions.
In legal records about Epstein, Giuffre was once known only as “Jane Doe No. 102.” But she decided to speak out publicly “in hopes of helping others who had also suffered from sexual trafficking and abuse,” according to her lawsuit against Maxwell.
Giuffre has said she fell under Maxwell and Epstein’s influence in 1999, when she was 15 years old and working at Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach, Fla., resort owned by Trump. She says Maxwell recruited her to give Epstein a massage – and that years of sexual abuse followed, including instructions for Giuffre to have sex with Epstein’s friends.
Epstein never faced a federal trial for the crimes he was accused of. Roughly a month after his arrest on sex trafficking charges last summer, he died after being found unresponsive in his jail cell in Manhattan. His death at age 66 was ruled a suicide.
Accusations against Epstein have long been obscured by legal maneuvers — such as a controversial non-prosecution agreement he reached in 2007 with federal prosecutors in Florida. That plea deal with then-U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta exposed Epstein to state charges but prevented him and any co-conspirators from being prosecuted for federal sex crimes in southern Florida.
Under the deal, Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to two counts of solicitation of prostitution — one with a minor under the age of 18 — and was sentenced to 18 months in a county jail. He was also required to register as a sex offender. But the wealthy hedge fund manager was allowed to leave incarceration for work five days a week and was released five months early.
As part of the 2007 deal, Acosta agreed to a “confidentiality” provision, in which his office agreed not to tell Epstein’s victims about the non-prosecution agreement until after it won a judge’s approval. Last year, a federal judge ruled that the arrangement had violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.
Several women who have accused Epstein and Maxwell of serial sexual abuse nearly got a chance to tell their stories in court for the first time in late 2018, as part of a separate defamation case. But Epstein settled that dispute at the last minute, blocking the women’s bid to testify against him.
Weeks after Epstein’s death, around 20 of his accusers got a chance to speak out against him in court, telling their stories before a judge ruled on prosecutors’ request to dismiss the case. One of the women, Teala Davies, called it “a day of power and strength.”
Faced with significant pressure to prevent the expiration of the unemployment insurance benefit, Republicans worked feverishly to coalesce around a stopgap bill that could extend it, though most proposals unveiled this week would slash the aid and present overwhelmed state systems with a difficult switch that experts say is likely to disadvantage lower-wage workers.
One such proposal, which Senators Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Mike Braun of Indiana tried to push across the Senate floor on Thursday, would have continued the extra jobless aid payments through the end of the year, but slashed the payments to $200 a week from $600 or allow the benefit to replace two-thirds of a worker’s prior income.
Mr. Meadows said President Trump would support a flat, one-week extension of the $600 benefit in order to buy lawmakers time to negotiate a longer agreement. But Democrats rejected an attempt by Senator Martha McSally, Republican of Arizona, to win approval of such an extension, with Mr. Schumer dismissing the effort as “a stunt” on the Senate floor.
“This is disappointing and a political stunt and a game,” Ms. McSally, who is badly trailing her Democratic opponent in Arizona’s Senate race, shot back. “It’s the minority leader who is against this on his path to try to become the majority leader, and that’s unfortunate.”
It could be a good idea, because mortgage rates have never been lower. Refinancing requests have pushed mortgage applications to some of the highest levels since 2008, so be prepared to get in line. But defaults are also up, so if you’re thinking about buying a home, be aware that some lenders have tightened their standards.
What is school going to look like in September?
It is unlikely that many schools will return to a normal schedule this fall, requiring the grind of online learning, makeshift child care and stunted workdays to continue. California’s two largest public school districts — Los Angeles and San Diego — said on July 13, that instruction will be remote-only in the fall, citing concerns that surging coronavirus infections in their areas pose too dire a risk for students and teachers. Together, the two districts enroll some 825,000 students. They are the largest in the country so far to abandon plans for even a partial physical return to classrooms when they reopen in August. For other districts, the solution won’t be an all-or-nothing approach. Many systems, including the nation’s largest, New York City, are devising hybrid plans that involve spending some days in classrooms and other days online. There’s no national policy on this yet, so check with your municipal school system regularly to see what is happening in your community.
Is the coronavirus airborne?
The coronavirus can stay aloft for hours in tiny droplets in stagnant air, infecting people as they inhale, mounting scientific evidence suggests. This risk is highest in crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation, and may help explain super-spreading events reported in meatpacking plants, churches and restaurants. It’s unclear how often the virus is spread via these tiny droplets, or aerosols, compared with larger droplets that are expelled when a sick person coughs or sneezes, or transmitted through contact with contaminated surfaces, said Linsey Marr, an aerosol expert at Virginia Tech. Aerosols are released even when a person without symptoms exhales, talks or sings, according to Dr. Marr and more than 200 other experts, who have outlined the evidence in an open letter to the World Health Organization.
What are the symptoms of coronavirus?
Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.
Does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 happen?
So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.
Mr. Schumer, his flip phone ringing in his pocket, spent a portion of his day on the Senate floor, swatting last-ditch attempts by Republicans to push through short extensions of the jobless aid and to try to pin the blame on Democrats for blocking them. He responded with a futile and politically loaded tactic of his own: an attempt to win approval of the $3 trillion stimulus package House Democrats passed in May. Republicans blocked that as well, with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, deriding it as “a totally unserious proposal.”
“The House speaker moves the goal posts while the Democratic leader hides the football,” said Mr. McConnell, accusing Democrats of blocking discussions among rank-and-file lawmakers. “They won’t engage when the administration tries to discuss our comprehensive plan. They won’t engage when the administration floats a narrower proposal. They basically won’t engage, period.”
Comparing negotiations with Republicans to “trying to nail Jell-O to the wall,” Mr. Schumer noted that Mr. McConnell, whose conference remained divided over another relief package, was notably absent from the daily negotiations with administration officials in Ms. Pelosi’s Capitol Hill suite. The time crunch, he said, came because Republicans had “dithered for months” and still had yet to reach agreement on the $1 trillion proposal they had put forward on Monday.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposal to cut off alcohol sales at restaurants and bars at 10 p.m. nightly was met mostly with frustration from Greater Cleveland restaurant and bar owners.
Several said DeWine’s approach punishes all bars and restaurants for the actions of a few bad apples. They want the governor to take more aggressive enforcement action against establishments violating the state’s coronavirus safety guidelines, saying it would be fairer and do more to control the spread of the virus.
“I’d love to see the science behind it. Where’s the science?” said John Lane of the Winking Lizard, whose company has been in business for 37 years and has multiple locations throughout Northeast Ohio. “Is there contact tracing that says we’ve got an inordinate amount of cases coming out of bars and restaurants? They already gave us restrictions on what we’re supposed to do. And how about the operators doing absolutely everything that the governor wants us to do? Where’s the enforcement for those that aren’t? Why penalize everyone because a few people are not abiding by the guidelines?”
The blanket 10 p.m. cut-off time, which DeWine outlined at his Thursday’s press conference, would affect the entire industry across the state without setting distinctions between bars, restaurants and nightclubs. The restriction – aimed at preventing late-night mass gatherings where social distancing can break down – would require places to stop serving alcohol at 10 p.m. but would give customers until 11 p.m. to finish their drinks.
DeWine asked the Ohio Liquor Control Commission to hold a hearing Friday morning and enact the proposal. If the commission adopts it, DeWine said he will sign it immediately and the restrictions will go into effect Friday night.
Lane says a 10 p.m. cutoff of alcohol sales would have have an impact on Winking Lizard’s bottom line.
“It won’t affect all of our stores … but a few of our stores for sure we anticipate another 15 to 20 percent hit, he said. “We’re already not anywhere close to where we were last year. Now we’re taking another hit.”
DeWine’s proposal remains perplexing to Lane, who is left with more questions than answers.
“We’ve done everything the governor has asked us to do. We practiced social distancing, our staff all wear masks. We don’t give anyone a break; you’ve got to wear a mask to come in,” said Lane. ”Why not enforce the bad apples?” Lane said.
LBM is in Lakewood.The Plain Dealer
Eric Ho of LBM, a popular Viking-themed cocktail bar in Lakewood, also has to figure out how to operate under the more restrictive measures.
LBM has eased back into its reopening, offering takeout options and limited dine-in service for the past few months. But the bar thrives on its final four hours of service, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., Ho said.
“If he restricts those last four hours of service, essentially he’s taking away one of our busiest times,” Ho said. “We can lose up to 40% of our income based on tips.”
Though Ho said he’ll happily follow DeWine’s rules, he views the governor’s rulings as reactive, instead of proactive.
“To me, it seems more like he’s applying a Band-Aid over a wound and he’s not really solving the root of the issue – which, to me, is holding other business owners accountable for the coronavirus-related infractions,” Ho said. “My big thing right now is just making sure that the government knows or has a plan on enforcing any of the things they do. It’s all unclear — and leaving it down to the business owners or citizens in general.”
Speaking on a day when 1,733 new cases of coronavirus were reported in Ohio, DeWine did acknowledge a landscape that is being divided to some extent by cautious vs. irresponsible restaurant owners. And he added the drinks-carryout rule – an action that began during the pandemic – will be expanded from two drinks per order to three.
“Let me just say to our bar owners most of you are doing a phenomenal job. You’re following the directions, you’re doing everything you can to keep your bar open. Sadly, not every bar is doing that.
“This last week our Ohio Investigative Unit found bars where no social-distancing safety measures were in place. Patrons were packed on outside patios, and dance floors were full of people shoulder to shoulder. But actors like this as I said are outliers. There is, however, an inherent problem connected with bars. They do lend themselves to people going in and out, in close contact with each other, many, many times indoor.”
While some folks remain in one location, he said, others bar hop, but “either way they are interacting with a lot of people.”
Market Garden Brewery on W. 25th St. in Cleveland’s Ohio City opened up seating in front of the restaurant/brewery through parklets.David Petkiewicz, cleveland.com
That interaction is what he is trying to prevent.
The owners of Market Garden Brewery also did their part in trying to stem the potential spread of the virus. They did not open in May, when the state allowed restaurants and bars to re-open, waiting instead until July, focusing on getting the Ohio City brewpub ready, redoing the menu, and working on adding space to West 25th Street. That space was gained through the use of parklets. Jersey barriers are positioned to allow for more outdoor dining space with social-distancing measures in place.
So it’s no surprise that the governor’s announcement Thursday elicited frustration.
“I respect his science-based approach, and we’re going to abide by his directive just like we have all his others,” said Sam McNulty, one of the owners. “It’s unfortunate that a few bad actors that are flagrantly ignoring the prior restrictions are bringing on more restrictions for the entire industry.
“A few bad apples have destroyed this entire bushel.”
McNulty continued: “If the governor enforced the prior restrictions and had real teeth in the penalties then these businesses would have cleaned up their acts and obeyed … then we’d be that much closer to normalcy.”
He said Market Garden was “already doing a small percentage of our normal business with the prior restrictions. This is going to shrink down that percentage, unfortunately. Our philosophy is we’re going to open earlier.”
Another place feeling the weight of financial challenges is Society Lounge. The cocktail bar in Cleveland’s East 4th Street neighborhood already has been financially struggling during the pandemic. It’s a key reason why owner Joseph Fredrickson decided to get moving with his new Sixth City Sailor’s Club concept, which will open in August in the former Hodge’s, a restaurant that closed nearby last year.
The new restriction on hours would add stress on the business, which is busiest from 8 p.m. until it closes at midnight – but Fredrickson didn’t criticize DeWine’s decisions.
“I try to focus on my team and stay within the rules we’re set to. I try not to place judgment on those who are trying to control an entire state,” Frederickson said.
He continued: “We need to make sacrifices to curve things and I hope others can get the necessary support to make it through. As for us, we will do what we need to operate within the guidelines. It’ll be critical for some and will hurt us for sure, but we have to listen to the experts.”Because the rule would apply to all bars, Fredrickson believes there’s a chance that the hours could shift peoples’ socializing times to earlier in the evening.
East Fourth Street establishments would will hampered by the 10 p.m. alcohol-sales cutoff that Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine proposed Thursday.The Plain Dealer
Because the rule would apply to all bars, Fredrickson believes there’s a chance that the hours could shift peoples’ socializing times to earlier in the evening.
The double whammy for Society Lounge – and any place in downtown Cleveland – is the added alcohol-cutoff-sales time comes as businesses are already feeling the void of entertainment and sports options. Society Lounge is making about 25% of what it earned this time last year, Fredrickson said.
States are approaching the same challenge in a variety of ways. Michigan closed indoor service at bars that earn more than 70% of their gross receipts from alcohol sales. This week, Columbus City Council voted to close bars, restaurants and nightclubs at 10 p.m., but the courts delayed that vote after restaurants sued to block the order.
The 10 p.m. limit drew an immediate response in opposition from the Ohio Restaurant Association. While DeWine’s proposal is different in that it allows businesses to remain open at that time, the organization noted specific measures that could be enacted to help bars and restaurants.
“I think for some of our businesses across the state, particularly those that are just bars, it’s an additional restriction. It’s difficult for them right now already,” John Barker, president and chief executive officer of the Ohio Restaurant Association, told cleveland.com. “Many already are struggling, most are hemorrhaging. This is a challenge.”
He did say the organization is “pleased to see the number of drinks expanded from two to three (regarding carryout). That’s the kind of step we would ask our government officials to consider taking a look at, including now that these additional restrictions are coming on.
“It’s time to have conversations about things like maybe property-tax and payroll-tax relief. Maybe some of these business could be eligible for grants to help with all these mounting expenses they have. They all have tremendous PPE (personal protective equipment) expenses.”
DeWine made it clear he is trying to attack the problem, not the players.
“We do not want to shut down Ohio bars and restaurants. That would be devastating to them,” he said. “But we do have to take some action and see what kind of results we get from this action.”
But Barker added that a recent survey says 31 percent of people in the restaurant-hospitality business said if these conditions continue they won’t make it another nine months.
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