NBC confirms: Steve Linick was investigating Pompeo's decision to greenlight arms sales to Saudi Arabia against the will of Congress when he was removed.
The probe is the second known investigation into Pompeo that Linick is known to have been pursuing. https://t.co/oHR9XpBGfn
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 18, 2020
WaPo: Pompeo says he didn’t know fired inspector general was investigating himhttps://t.co/wBglP7VbCU
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 18, 2020
Remember the $8 billion in arms sales, mostly to Saudi, that Trump declared a “national emergency” to push through despite Congress? https://t.co/DAFUbpfBJP
— Patricia Zengerle (@ReutersZengerle) May 18, 2020
Secretary Pompeo declined to sit for an interview with the inspector general for his probe into his decision to expedite an $8 billion Saudi arms sale last year, per @ZcohenCNN.https://t.co/fXck8cQfZW
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) May 18, 2020
.@jeffmason1: You said you don't know the IG you just fired. What was he doing that was treating you unfairly?
TRUMP: "I don't know. I don't anything about him. I don't know." pic.twitter.com/0YNmZNUWGX
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 18, 2020
Meanwhile.. in virus world
Two of President Donald Trump's top officials are now pointing the finger at the administration's own scientists and Americans' pre-existing health conditions to explain the country's Covid-19 death toll | Analysis by @stcollinson https://t.co/eL5TRj2QYE
— CNN (@CNN) May 18, 2020
Is the CDC a foreign entity now? They are a part of @realDonaldTrump’s government. If they failed us, he failed us. https://t.co/lA5IXj8IxO
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) May 18, 2020
This is neither ironic or funny. Science is not a quack conspiracy theory. Stay at home orders, social distancing, and mask-wearing are measures to keep you healthy. Petulantly shrieking about government tyranny won't make the virus go away.https://t.co/EgLiqYTjAU
— Bill Pascrell, Jr. (@BillPascrell) May 18, 2020
A reminder of how little we still know about this virus: 13 sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt have tested positive a second time. https://t.co/fCF9dxjwbm
— Amy Siskind 🏳️🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) May 18, 2020
Meanwhile…
Attorney General Barr has installed a new top deputy over the federal prosecutor's office for Washington, raising concerns that a key U.S. attorney's office handling multiple investigations of interest to Trump is becoming further politicized. https://t.co/lhRyYK75HJ
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 18, 2020
AG Barr: "We saw two different standards of justice emerge — one that applied to President Trump and his associates and the other that applied to everybody else." pic.twitter.com/0UjeXeR1jR
— The Hill (@thehill) May 18, 2020
Thread here…
Listening to America's most corrupt & political Attorney General @TheJusticeDept in history, let's explore what he's done and then the reason why I think he is doing it:
1. As a conflicted prosecutor, overruled findings & cases of independent counsel, sbaotaging the IC law…/1
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) May 18, 2020
Former GHW Bush Deputy Attorney General Don Ayer lights up Bill Barr’s handling of the Flynn case via @TheAtlantic https://t.co/w8wabMpVkV
— Carrie Cordero (@carriecordero) May 17, 2020
and
GOP Sen. Marco Rubio will become the acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee after GOP Sen. Richard Burr stepped down from the position last week amid an FBI investigation into his stock trades, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced https://t.co/CFnXx0ok5Z
— CNN (@CNN) May 18, 2020
So in the shiny distraction du jour…
Trump says he consulted with the White House physician before deciding to take hydroxychloroquine. "A lot of good things have come out about the hydroxy. A lot of good things have come out. You'd be surprised at how many people are taking it." https://t.co/XCnlzx9AGi
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) May 18, 2020
The excitement about the reveal: “I was just waiting to see your eyes light up when I said this. When I announced this. Yeah, I've taken it for 1 and a half weeks now. And I'm still here. I'm still here,” Trump said.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 18, 2020
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) May 18, 2020
"I'm not gonna get hurt by it," says Pres Trump about taking Hydroxychloroquine. He says "frontline" medical workers take it. Says he got a letter from a Dr in Westchester, NY who prescribes Hydroxy to his patients and "I haven't lost one. Urges Trump to "keep pressing that."
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) May 18, 2020
He needs a run on purchases of the drug to use up the stockpile he purchased from India. https://t.co/MEyHNXQIKt
— grumpy grandmom (@clutter_bug49) May 18, 2020
The President of the United States of America, lone holder of the world's largest arsenal of nuclear weapons, told the world he's taking a drug that has among its side-effects a "feeling that other people are controlling your thoughts and actions."
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) May 18, 2020
How The Daily Beast is playing the hydroxychloroquine news… https://t.co/vzmDOz5I7C pic.twitter.com/docR3R9iZV
— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) May 18, 2020
Fox News's Neil Cavuto is stunned by Trump's announcement that he's taking hydroxychloroquine: "If you are in a risky population here, and you are taking this as a preventative treatment … it will kill you. I cannot stress enough. This will kill you." pic.twitter.com/e6D5alfAgc
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 18, 2020
Of course there is a 99.8% chance the Secret Service are giving Trump a chewable vitamin C gummy shaped like an orange wedge and telling him it's hydroxycholorquine, so like with everything else in his life, this stunningly stupid decision will cause him zero harm.
— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) May 18, 2020
Every time I read one of these I think, "And this is the stuff we know, the stuff that got out." https://t.co/nfnUuSM3jj
— Quentin Hardy (@qhardy) May 18, 2020
***
BORISHAMBLES BRITAIN
Points-based UK immigration bill passed by parliament https://t.co/yqQyhLxzpq
— The Guardian (@guardian) May 18, 2020
What you’ve also done, @pritipatel , is to end freedom of movement for UK passport holders across our continent. The citizens of 27 other countries, the great majority of Europeans, still retain it. That’s not something to fly our flag over in my book. https://t.co/lCp8FTCQKi
— Brian Cox (@ProfBrianCox) May 18, 2020
This is a game. Cummings has him as his special man for the big moments. He then comes out and lies to us and then his minions follow suit. A man for no seasons.
— Shown 🕷🇪🇺 (@northernlad18) May 18, 2020
Sky's @BethRigby: Will the track and trace app be ready for when kids return to school?@DominicRaab says his intention is to roll out the app in the "weeks ahead" but avoids clarifying whether it will be ready for June 1st.
Live #COVID19 updates 👉 https://t.co/V61Z9ktDnW pic.twitter.com/QILZ22tVmr
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) May 18, 2020
Suddenly the Daily Mail finds the EU a source of inspiration when it comes to reopening schools
But none of those countries have the UK’s death rate or lack of control of COVID19 – because they don’t have the mendacious populist leader the Mail have promoted
Go figure pic.twitter.com/eWA72RJXC2
— Peter Jukes (@peterjukes) May 18, 2020
A senior Tory MP has joined calls for Boris Johnson to “immediately” release documents he was given by scientists https://t.co/qEm7WoJRoX
— The New European (@TheNewEuropean) May 18, 2020
Ready and preparing to be ready, Matt Hancock pleads for a last chance | John Crace https://t.co/lnAExZl24t
— The Guardian (@guardian) May 18, 2020
https://t.co/eV3KifAdBl Sparkling piece from @BobbyMcDonagh1 who knows more than most about these things, about cul-de-sac (oops, sorry, foreign phrase!) into which English Tories have charged. They can still back away, as they did from lies they put out about Irish Protocol.
— Piaras Mac Éinrí (@pmaceinri) May 18, 2020
*Policeman stops English family entirely unaware of devolution*
“So even though Boris says you can go where you want…”
“Yeah, that’s England.”
“Don’t we control Wales as well?”
— Owen Williams 🏴🇪🇺 (@OwsWills) May 18, 2020
***
WORLDWIDE
First hints vaccine can train people's immune system to fight coronavirus reported by US company https://t.co/L69z7zuJsQ
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 18, 2020
Scientists warn worse pandemics are on the way if we don’t protect nature https://t.co/tQPh6NWtAJ #Coronavirus #Environment pic.twitter.com/FUbz7lVVu7
— World Economic Forum (@wef) May 18, 2020
Merkel and Macron propose €500bn EU rescue fund https://t.co/dblYRW4T3R
— The Guardian (@guardian) May 18, 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping: "China will provide $2bn USD over two years to help with COVID-19 responses and with economic and social development in affected countries especially developing countries." https://t.co/PgW926ApgB pic.twitter.com/2YFK4tQN8R
— The Hill (@thehill) May 18, 2020
Mexico begins lifting Covid-19 lockdown despite fears worst is still to come https://t.co/22qRSnHmaD
— The Guardian (@guardian) May 18, 2020
A key factor in readiness to exit lockdown is how well systems can detect, manage & prevent new #COVID19 cases. Local leaders are often best placed to evaluate conditions and impose measures that maximize economic recovery while protecting public health. https://t.co/dulkRDUCr5 pic.twitter.com/YYpTNp1QJc
— McKinsey on Government (@McKonGov) May 1, 2020
What’s Behind Nine Years of Turmoil in Libya https://t.co/9oHQ051Fi1 via @bpolitics
— Samer Al-Atrush (@SameralAtrush) May 18, 2020
Aaaand just when we needed it…
For the first time, a new study provides statistically significant evidence that the odds of major hurricanes are significantly increasing due to human-caused #climate change. https://t.co/ID8el9qoWV via @afreedma
— Craig Pittman (@craigtimes) May 18, 2020
Finally…
Coronavirus football: FC Seoul apologises for 'sex dolls' in stands https://t.co/scY9Dl1Uzt
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 18, 2020
I just discovered the greatest house listing of all time. It starts out very unassuming and modest. pic.twitter.com/cCubUFd1k4
— Middle-Aged Rust Belt Voter (@frazierapproves) May 18, 2020
The Overnight Note 