![]() ![]() or Liberty University, which reopened this week to much criticism. Department of Education communications with Jerry Falwell Jr.Homeland Security and State Department analyses of the effectiveness of Trump’s March 11 ban on travel from certain European countries and.Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Any directives regarding messaging or media appearances to Dr.FEMA directives or assessments for state governments, as well as related communications with other federal agencies.Commerce Department directives and communications related to the implementation of the Defense Production Act (DPA).Oklahoma officials’ communications related to the rush testing of multiple NBA players three weeks ago. ![]() Intelligence reviews or materials regarding coronavirus prepared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence or the Departments of State, Defense, and Homeland Security.Other FOIA requests we’ve filed in just the past week include: We’ve asked for any briefing materials agencies have prepared for him about the outbreak, and also filed a number of Freedom of Information Act requests to shed light on the Trump administration’s negotiations with drug companies involved in developing vaccines and treatments. The president’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner - who addressed the nation about coronavirus on Thursday evening, saying the federal stockpile “was supposed to be our stockpile,” not the states’ - has reportedly taken a key role in the coronavirus response, and we want to know whether his personal business interests are also getting undue attention. Of course, the other side of the question of who will be most harmed is who most stands to gain. We also filed dozens of other coronavirus-related requests this week, with a number of them focused on the pandemic’s effects on the most vulnerable, from those in public housing to students affected by school closures, to the millions of Americans expected to lose workplace health-care coverage even as the Trump administration said it would not, as it had previously considered, reopen for new enrollments. We’ve also requested the spreadsheet, reportedly used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for tracking state requests and shipments, mentioned in this Washington Post article. Requests have gone to California and Ohio, which have had more robust responses to the crisis New York, Michigan and Washington, which are currently experiencing more severe outbreaks and Florida and Oklahoma, two states with Trump-allied governors who have lagged behind in their responses. We filed a number of public records requests this week for communications between federal officials and governor’s offices in various states. One White House official even said that Florida’s electoral importance added weight to the president’s considerations of the state’s needs. Meanwhile, state governments are approaching and experiencing the crisis at different, albeit intensifying, speeds, and news reports have indicated that states are receiving unequal treatment in accessing federal resources. 28, around the same time the president was insisting the number of cases would be dropping shortly. “e have a relatively narrow window and we are flying blind,” wrote one official on Feb. Two weeks ago, he famously told governors in need of ventilators, to save the lives of their residents, to “try getting it yourself.” And it took him till last week to finally invoke the Defense Production Act, which allows the administration to stimulate production of such essential equipment.ĭespite Trump’s claims throughout February and early March that the coronavirus would be just like the seasonal flu, emails we obtained and published earlier this week show that federal health officials at that time were increasingly concerned about the outbreak. Of course, it shouldn’t be surprising that the president, who downplayed the crisis until just a few weeks ago, is once again avoiding taking responsibility. In fact, he contends, governors critical of the administration’s mismanaged response to the coronavirus pandemic are just “complainers” with “insatiable appetites.” ![]() According to President Donald Trump, the federal government is merely a “backup” for states wrestling with frightening shortages of medical equipment and protective gear.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |