Lou Dobbs: Obama endorsement of Biden 'could be' tied to Durham review

Fox Business host Lou Dobbs said there "could be" more to former President Barack Obama's endorsement of Joe Biden than meets the eye. During an interview with Rep. Jim Jordan, Dobbs raised the idea that the endorsement Tuesday in the Democratic primary contest could be tied to U.S. Attorney John Durham's Russia of the Russia investigation. "One has to wonder why President Obama chose this moment," Dobbs said on his show. "It could be because of reports now that John Durham, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut who's been charged by the attorney general with investigating the so-called investigators, John Brennan, the CIA director under Obama, is the leading target, we are told."

He was referring to a Wall Street Journal report earlier this month in which sources said Durham is increasingly focused on former CIA Director John Brennan and drove to Washington, D.C., to make sure the investigation stayed on track during the coronavirus outbreak. Jordan, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, did not directly address Dobbs's thought about Obama, instead mentioning how there were a couple "key" developments last week in the so-called Russiagate controversy, including the declassification of footnotes in a Justice Department inspector general report showing the FBI received classified reports in 2017 which identified that parts of British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s anti-Trump dossier were likely influenced by Russian disinformation. The Ohio congressman added that Barr and Durham are "getting to the bottom of this" and hopes to see the investigation end sometime in the summer.

While the president and his allies have championed the investigation, Democrats have criticized Durham's review as a politically-motivated scheme to undermine the work of special counsel Robert Mueller and attack President Trump's perceived enemies. Obama's endorsement came after Biden's last remaining primary rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, endorsed Biden on Monday. Obama said in a video that his former vice president "has all the qualities we need in a president right now" and called on "Americans of goodwill to unite in a great awakening against a politics that too often has been characterized by corruption, carelessness, self-dealing, disinformation, ignorance, and just plain meanness."

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/lou-dobbs-obama-endorsement-of-biden-could-be-tied-to-durham-review

44 veterans die at coronavirus-stricken nursing home under investigation

The number of veterans dead has jumped at a Massachusetts nursing home ravaged by the coronavirus that is under multiple investigations. State officials said 44 veterans have died since late March at Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, 36 of whom tested positive for COVID-19. At least 100 others have been infected, according to NBC News. The death toll is a large jump from 32 on Friday when the Justice Department opened its investigation into the facility.

Andrew Lelling, the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, said investigators would “get to the bottom of what happened” at the nursing home. “It would be difficult to overstate our obligation to the health and well-being of elderly and disabled military veterans,” he said. The investigation is looking into whether the civil rights of the veterans were violated by not receiving sufficient medical care. The National Guard is also assisting with efforts to help those with COVID-19.

Gov. Charlie Baker opened his own investigation into Holyoke Soldiers’ Home after learning of the deaths in late March. Massachusetts has more than 26,800 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and at least 844 deaths, according to the most recent tally from the New York Times.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/44-veterans-die-at-coronavirus-stricken-nursing-home-under-investigation

>>8798271

No doubt about it. All political..as usual.

Trump halts World Health Organization funding amid coronavirus pandemic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would halt funding to the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic while his administration reviews its response to the global crisis. Trump, at a White House news conference, said the WHO had “failed in its basic duty and it must be held accountable.” He said the group had promoted China’s “disinformation” about the virus that likely led to a wider outbreak of the virus than otherwise would have occurred. The United States is the biggest overall donor to the Geneva-based WHO, contributing more than $400 million in 2019, roughly 15% of its budget. The hold on funding was expected. Trump has been increasingly critical of the organization as the global health crisis has continued, and he has reacted angrily to criticism of his administration’s response.

The decision drew immediate condemnation. American Medical Association President Dr. Patrice Harris called it “a dangerous step in the wrong direction that will not make defeating COVID-19 easier” and urged Trump to reconsider. Democratic Representative Nita Lowey, who heads the U.S. House of Representatives Committee that sets government spending, said Trump was making a mistake. “The coronavirus cannot just be defeated here in the United States, it has to be defeated in every conceivable location throughout the world,” she said in a statement. The Republican president recently accused the WHO of being too lenient with China in the earliest days of the crisis, despite having himself praised China in January for its response and transparency.

Trump has made frequent use of scapegoats during his short political career. He often lashes out at the media, Democrats, or other when he feels attacked or under pressure. Trump said the WHO failed to investigate credible reports from sources in China’s Wuhan province that conflicted with Beijing’s accounts about the coronavirus’ spread and “parroted and publicly endorsed” the idea that human to human transmission was not happening. “Had the WHO done its job to get medical experts into China to objectively assess the situation on the ground and to call out China’s lack of transparency, the outbreak could have been contained … with very little death,” Trump said. Trump said the U.S. review of the WHO was likely to take 60-90 days.

ILLNESS, DEATH AND ECONOMIC CHAOS

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19, the highly contagious respiratory illness caused by the virus, topped 25,700 on Tuesday, out of more than 600,000 known U.S. infections, according to a running Reuters tally. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, and the U.S. economy has been crippled as citizens have stayed home and businesses closed, casting a shadow over Trump’s hopes of being re-elected in November. The World Health Organization is a U.N. specialized agency - an independent international body that works with the United Nations. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday it was “not the time” to reduce resources for the World Health Organization. “Now is the time for unity and for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences,” he said.

Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, said the WHO does make mistakes and may need reform, but that work needs to take place after the current crisis has passed. “It’s not the middle of a pandemic that you do this type of thing,” he said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-trump-who/trump-halts-world-health-organization-funding-amid-coronavirus-pandemic-idUSKCN21W34Y

Exclusive: Stay off Zoom and Google Hangouts, Standard Chartered chief tells staff

Standard Chartered Plc is the first major global bank to tell employees not to use Zoom Video Communications Inc during the coronavirus pandemic due to cybersecurity concerns, according to a memo seen by Reuters. The message, sent by Chief Executive Officer Bill Winters to managers last week, also warned against using Alphabet Inc’s Google Hangouts platform for virtual gatherings. Neither service offers the level of encryption of conversations that rivals like Cisco System Inc’s Webex, Microsoft Corp’s Teams or Blue Jeans Network Inc do, industry experts said. A Standard Chartered spokeswoman declined to comment on a Reuters query on the memo. She said cybersecurity remains a top priority and that staff can use several authorized tools for audio and video conferencing.

The London-based bank is the latest entity to distance itself from Zoom after interlopers exposed security flaws by bursting into strangers’ video chats in the nude, inserting lewd images into presentations, or hurling racial slurs at participants. These “Zoombombing” incidents have rattled all kinds of users, as hoards of business people, students, families and friends flocked to the service to stay connected while isolating during the pandemic. Zoom in March had about 200 million people using its system every day, up from 10 million at the end of last year. Banks have particular worries about cybersecurity because of regulations that can penalize them for exposing customer information, even if inadvertently. Standard Chartered staff are mostly using Blue Jeans, said two employees who were not authorized to speak on the matter.

The bank joins others ranging from Elon Musk’s SpaceX to New York City’s public school system and governments in Taiwan and Germany in placing restrictions on Zoom. In a statement, Zoom said many global customers including financial firms, telecommunications companies, universities, and government agencies had performed “exhaustive security reviews” of its technology and chosen it as a service. Founded and headed by former Cisco manager Eric Yuan, Zoom last week tapped former Facebook Inc security chief Alex Stamos as an adviser on safety and privacy concerns to quell the global backlash against its perceived flaws.

TRICKY CHOICE

Choosing a communications provider is tricky for banks, which have to balance security concerns, data-access needs and the preferences of clients and employees, who may wander off to another service outside official channels if rules are too stringent. Industry workers described a mixed experience with video chats in the age of the coronavirus. Two JPMorgan Chase & Co employees said they regularly hold meetings on Zoom. It is one of a few videoconferencing tools the bank allows, including Blue Jeans. Some Goldman Sachs Group Inc employees have been holding virtual “pub outings” on Zoom, where they connect after work with a cocktail or beer in hand to chat, a source said. The bank’s chief technology officer told staff in an April 3 video that they could use Zoom and Blue Jeans.

Morgan Stanley employees are also allowed to use Zoom, among other options, a source there said. Barclays Plc only uses Zoom if a client requests it, according to a source. People at Wells Fargo & Co and Citigroup Inc said Zoom is not a familiar option at their banks, which rely on other services. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority a self-regulatory group for U.S. brokers, is also still using Zoom after security experts worked through some issues with the company, Thomas Gira, who heads market regulation, said in an interview.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-zoom-exclusive/exclusive-stay-off-zoom-and-google-hangouts-standard-chartered-chief-tells-staff-idUSKCN21W2PX?il=0

>>8798742

>I bet that Trump reverses himself and funds WHO within 2 weeks.

>

>Trump has been pretty shitty at leadership and courage throughout this entire bat flu bullshit.

Sauce it, otherwise it's your opinion. Opinions don't mean shit.