Greg Sargent Profile picture
Oct 2, 2020 4 tweets 3 min read Read on X
My take:

* Sure, wish Trump well, but then get right back to work in removing him

* The news only adds to a much broader case against his towering failures

* Spare a thought for the deep injustices all this has exposed in our economy and health system:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
The pandemic has exposed so many crushing injustices. This is the most unequal recession ever. Millions lack health insurance. A rolling catastrophe in terms of testing access.

In so many ways, Trump getting infected throws this into even starker relief:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
You'd think Trump and all those around him would seize this moment to apologize to the country for their monstrous failures, now that those failures have deeply invaded the White House. How about showing some remorse right about now?

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Here @HeerJeet goes for this balance as well: The news can elicit sympathy on a human level but it builds the case against Trump.

"A president contracting a disease thanks in large part to his own rashness is a political fact as well as a personal one."

thenation.com/article/politi…

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More from @GregTSargent

Feb 19
Scoop --> Trump-Musk cuts just resulted in the firing of numerous top researchers at NIH's center for combating Alzheimer's, sources tell me. They predict big setbacks to fighting dementias.

This cause was once championed by *Republicans.*

Details here:
newrepublic.com/article/191702…
These firings just hit the Roy Blunt Center for Alzheimer's and Related Dementias. Yes, you read that right. It's named after a GOP Senator.

Yesterday afternoon employees were informed of layoffs, including its highly-regarded incoming director. Details:

newrepublic.com/article/191702…Image
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Republicans like Roy Blunt, Tom Cole, and Susan Collins have all powerfully championed public spending to combat Alzheimer's. NIH's center on this is named after Roy Blunt. Cole spoke at its opening.

Will any Rs step up and voice these sentiments now?

newrepublic.com/article/191702…Image
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Read 4 tweets
Feb 15
Awful: Internal USAID memo instructs employees to refrain from talking to the media about cuts in aid to the most vulnerable or they may get fired, WaPo reports.

Trumpworld knows this is a big political problem for them. Keep the focus on it.

New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/191578…
Given this memo ordering USAID employees not to talk to the press, also recall that Trump fired USAID's IG for revealing that the freezes put $500 million in food aid at risk of spoiling.

Dem strategists warning against talking about this are wrong.

newrepublic.com/article/191578…Image
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Trumpworld seems split on what they can get away with. For Tom Homan to "joke" on national TV about prosecuting Eric Adams if he displeases Trump on immigration while Fox sycophants giggle is someone who thinks he can get away with anything.

newrepublic.com/article/191578…Image
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Read 4 tweets
Feb 8
In December, NYT revealed that Elon Musk and SpaceX were failing to meet govt reporting protocol designed to protect state secrets while they haul in billions in Pentagon contracts.

This triggered three reviews, per NYT. One was from the Defense Department inspector general. 1/
It's time to ask: What's going on with those reviews into Musk/SpaceX's failure to meet basic reporting protocol linked to their billions in Pentagon contracts?

Dems tell me they fear these investigations might get killed under Trump. 2/

(link)
newrepublic.com/article/191330…
When Trump fired all those inspector generals, one of them was the IG for the Defense Department. He was examining whether Musk/ SpaceX were failing to meet reporting protocol to safeguard state secrets as huge beneficiaries of Pentagon contracts. 3/

newrepublic.com/article/191330…Image
Read 9 tweets
Feb 6
It gets worse: Trump's Treasury Dept has a new letter spinning Musk's access to payment data as a mere "audit" that expands on work done during Biden admin. It's a sham. The letter simply ignores the biggest Qs about this scandal.

New piece from me:
newrepublic.com/article/191191…
For instance, if Musk's access expands on a review started under Biden, why did Treasury Sec Bessent allow a member of DOGE to oversee it, rather than a career official?

Plus, Sen Wyden tells me former officials are unaware of any previous audit:

newrepublic.com/article/191191…Image
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The most senior career official at Treasury was purged after protesting the access that DOGE officials had secured. Why would that have happened if this were an innocent expansion of a previous process?

And here are some other unanswered questions:

newrepublic.com/article/191191…Image
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Read 5 tweets
Jan 31
The awful news that Elon Musk clashed w/top Treasury official in an effort to access govt payment systems raises a crucial question: Did Trump authorize this, or not?

I talked to former officials who explain why this is a key Q, and why it's so alarming:
newrepublic.com/article/191014…
I spoke to former Treasury and OMB officials, and they said Elon Musk accessing government payment systems could give him the power to selectively turn off payments. They described what this really means in very clarifying terms. See below:

newrepublic.com/article/191014…Image
Image
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We really need to know if Trump directly authorized Musk to pursue access to Treasury's payment systems. Either answer is bad, in a different way:

newrepublic.com/article/191014…Image
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Read 4 tweets
Jan 25
The ugly celebration of mass deportations by Trump, the WH, and Karoline Leavitt is vile on its own. But it also has a purpose: It's a pretext for Trump to vastly expand his powers. That's what the "invasion" imagery is really about.

New piece from me:
newrepublic.com/article/190696…
WH is pumping out imagery of migrants being marched on to military planes while claiming deportations "have begun." But crossings are down, and as @ReichlinMelnick notes, removals by plane go back years. The point is to portray a state of permanent war.

newrepublic.com/article/190696…Image
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Here's the thing: The failure to deport people quickly enough isn't actually a serious national problem. GOPers and red areas expressing serious misgivings about removals, fearing economic disruptions. Pro-deportation hysteria will not be sustainable.

newrepublic.com/article/190696…Image
Read 5 tweets

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