>Fauci
President Trump says he will call for drug tests for both former Vice President Joe Biden and himself before the first candidates' debate on Sept. 29. In an Oval Office interview Wednesday, the president expressed suspicion at what he said was a sudden, marked improvement in Biden's debate performance during the Democratic primary season and suggested that he believes the improvement was the result of drugs. The president offered no evidence to support his speculation.
>https://twitter.com/AP_Politics/status/1304827386412883969
Vice President Pence has canceled plans to attend a Montana fundraiser following revelations that the hosts have expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory. The campaign did not give a reason or say whether the fundraiser might be rescheduled.
https://apnews.com/35a881fb3e95ff8421efe57d05a5c374
Pence drops plan to go to fundraiser hosted by QAnon backers
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence has canceled plans to attend a Trump campaign fundraiser in Montana following revelations that the event’s hosts had expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory.
President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign told The Associated Press on Saturday that Pence’s schedule had been changed, but the campaign did not provide a reason or say whether the fundraiser might be held at a later time. The change comes after the AP reported Wednesday that hosts Cayrn and Michael Borland in Bozeman, Montana, had shared QAnon memes and retweeted posts from QAnon accounts.
The baseless conspiracy theory alleges Trump is battling an entrenched bureaucracy and sex trafficking ring run by pedophiles.
Three Republicans seeking election in Montana also had been scheduled to attend the fundraiser: U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, who faces a November challenge from Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock; U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte, a Republican running for governor; and state auditor Matt Rosendale, a candidate for the U.S. House.
Pence, Daines and the other Republican candidates are still scheduled to hold a campaign rally Monday afternoon in Belgrade, just east of Bozeman.
Daines campaign spokesperson Julia Doyle said the first-term senator does not know the Borlands nor “does he know what QAnon even is.” She referred questions on whether the event would be rescheduled to the Trump campaign.
The Borlands have donated over $220,000 to Trump’s reelection bid, the bulk of which was made in Caryn Borland’s name, and they were guests at the national GOP convention last month.
The QAnon narrative has grown to include other long-standing conspiracy theories, gaining traction among some extreme Trump supporters. The movement is often likened to a right-wing cult. Some followers have run for office, primarily in the Republican Party, though some have been independent or run as third-party candidates. Trump has refused to say QAnon is false.
Pence has said it’s a conspiracy theory and last month told CBS, “I don’t know anything about QAnon, and I dismiss it out of hand.”″
The Borlands have shared multiple QAnon social media posts, as well as other discredited conspiracies.
Michael Borland prominently featured several QAnon “Q” logos on his Facebook page. Caryn Borland has retweeted or engaged with QAnon Twitter accounts. In April, she responded to a pro-Trump Tweet from a QAnon account by replying “Always” with a praying hands emoji.
The Borlands did not immediately return telephone messages Saturday seeking comment.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/we-charity-at-the-center-of-trudeaus-latest-scandal-shuts-down-in-canada/2020/09/09/26d8bb3e-f2e6-11ea-999c-67ff7bf6a9d2_story.html
WE Charity, at the center of Trudeau’s latest scandal, shuts down in Canada
TORONTO — The charity at the center of an ethics scandal that has ensnared Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his former finance minister said on Wednesday that its co-founders would be stepping away and that the charity would be shutting down its Canadian operations.
WE Charity blamed the coronavirus pandemic and the political turmoil over the federal government’s decision to tap it to run a $690 million grant program for student volunteers for the decision. It said a loss of sponsors left it in an untenable financial situation.
“The fallout from the Canada Student Service Grant has placed the charity in the middle of political battles and misinformation that a charity is ill-equipped to fight,” it said in a statement. “As a result, the financial math for the charity’s future is unclear.”
The announcement marks a dramatic fall for WE Charity, an education and international development charity founded by brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger as Free the Children in 1995. Its youth empowerment rallies, or WE Days, drew speakers including Prince Harry and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
But for months, the Kielburgers, whose work once earned them an appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” have found themselves on the defensive.
The controversy erupted in June when Trudeau announced that his government had picked the charity to administer a program that would offer grants to postsecondary students unable to find a job during the coronavirus outbreak if they volunteered in their communities.
The arrangement, under which WE Charity stood to earn up to $33 million, immediately raised eyebrows. Trudeau has spoken at several WE Days. His wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, is an ambassador for the charity. There was no public bid.
Amid the outcry, the deal was severed. Parliamentary committees launched probes. The country’s independent ethics watchdog said it was investigating Trudeau — for the third time — for alleged breaches of conflict-of-interest laws. He has twice found the prime minister in violation of them.
It was later reported that the Toronto-based charity and its for-profit arm had paid Trudeau’s mother and brother hundreds of thousands of dollars to speak at its events from 2016 to 2020, and covered their expenses.
Then, Finance Minister Bill Morneau in July apologized after revealing before a parliamentary committee that he had just repaid WE Charity more than $30,000 in travel expenses incurred when he and members of his family traveled with the organization to Kenya and Ecuador in 2017.
Trudeau and Morneau have apologized for failing to recuse themselves from the cabinet discussions on the deal. Trudeau said in parliamentary testimony in July that the public service recommended the charity for the program and that he had initially “pushed back” against the recommendation.
Morneau abruptly resigned last month. He said he didn’t intend to run in the next parliamentary election and that the country needed a finance minister who could chart the country through a long-term recovery from the pandemic-induced economic crisis. Opposition lawmakers said the resignation was tied to the scandal.
Trudeau suspended Parliament last month, promising to come back on Sept. 23 with a post-pandemic recovery plan. The suspension halts the work of the committees probing the deal, fueling cries of a “coverup.”
WE Charity also has operations in the United States and Britain. It said in a statement that it would sell its assets to create an endowment fund that will be used to finish projects in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Amid the controversy, the charity’s finances, real estate empire and governance model have come under scrutiny.
The Ontario government and several sponsors, including the Royal Bank of Canada and KPMG Canada, severed ties. School boards said they were reevaluating their relationship with the organization. The charity said in a statement that it forecast a loss of revenue “given the indeterminate length of time that political matters will continue.”
“The fallout now from this political process has resulted in serious challenges that risk the entire organization and our 25 years of work,” Craig Kielburger told a parliamentary committee in testimony that was often tense in July.
“We would never have picked up the phone when the civil service called asking us to help young Canadians get through the pandemic if we had known the consequences.”