It’s Friday.
We are one-week away from Christmas 2020.
It has been one-year since President Trump became President Impeached.
For What Fresh Hell is This?, Day 44, The Impeached One-Term Lame Duck has tweeted 10 times and retweeted 9 times, so far.
7:37 a.m. D.C., time.
1. Another vaccine has been approved.
CNBC News reached out to the FDA in regards to the tweet from Impeached One-Termer, the FDA pointed them to a statement issued on Thursday night.
Following today’s positive advisory committee meeting outcome regarding the Moderna #COVID19 vaccine, FDA has informed the sponsor that it will rapidly work toward finalization and issuance of an emergency use authorization. https://t.co/mHBSYlnbam
— Dr. Stephen M. Hahn (@SteveFDA) December 18, 2020
FDA is finalizing the necessary documents to ensure that patients & providers have the information that they need to make informed decisions and to safely administer the vaccine. This is a critical part of what the agency does to promote and protect the public health.
— Dr. Stephen M. Hahn (@SteveFDA) December 18, 2020
The agency has also notified @CDCgov & Operation Warp Speed, so they can execute their plans for timely vaccine distribution.
— Dr. Stephen M. Hahn (@SteveFDA) December 18, 2020
Thank you to the scientific & public health experts who participated in today’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee meeting to discuss a request for Emergency Use Authorization for a vaccine to prevent #COVID19.
— Dr. Stephen M. Hahn (@SteveFDA) December 17, 2020
I’d like to emphasize how important it is that this process is open & transparent. Thousands of people watched today’s meeting to hear insight & expertise about this vaccine candidate. FDA career staff will take the committee’s input into account as they continue their review.
— Dr. Stephen M. Hahn (@SteveFDA) December 17, 2020
FDA staff feel the responsibility to move as quickly as possible. However, they know they must carry out their mandate to protect the public health & ensure any authorized vaccine meets our rigorous safety & effectiveness standards that the American people have come to expect.
— Dr. Stephen M. Hahn (@SteveFDA) December 17, 2020
CNBC News notes that emergency approval for the second coronavirus vaccine could come as early as today.
For more thoughts on the Moderna vaccine and the Attention Hogs attention seeking @ the News Blender.
7:43 a.m. D.C., time.
2. Seems like he’s informing foreign countries that the US is sending them vaccines.
Europe…
CNN reported on Friday that the European Commission has “secured over 2 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines for the bloc since June.”
The EU has secured enough potential vaccine doses to immunize its 448 million citizens twice over, with millions left over to redirect or donate to poorer countries.
This includes the purchase of up to 300 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and up to 160 million from US biotech company Moderna — the current frontrunners. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) — which evaluates medicines and authorizes their use across the EU — is expected to authorize the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on December 21 and Moderna in early January.
The first rollout will then begin on December 27, according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
CNN. 12/18/2020.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that Germany as a member of the EU they “must wait for the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to approve the vaccine. It is expected to make an announcement on Dec. 21.” The German government said on Wednesday that expect to roll out their vaccine on December 27th, with priority given to the elderly in care homes.
That’s pretty much all the news I have found regarding the vaccine and the countries mentioned, all of whom are members of the European Union.
Authors note: It’s extremely hard to cover coronavirus tweets, without getting super pissed off. As of Thursday, the CDC reported the U.S., has reached 306,427 deaths due to the coronavirus.
He hides behind his phone, bitching and moaning about fraud that wasn’t, about Fox News ratings, and attempts to take credit for the hope that we can fully in part recover for the deadly pandemic. All while he ignores our dead, and those suffering from the long-term problems brought on having had the coraonvirus.
While the vaccines give us hope, we should never forget, that he is responsible for ignoring the seriousness of this virus, in public, because we have tape that shows in private, he knew, and instead of doing a damn thing about it, he downplayed the virus, for his own gain, not ours.
7:58 a.m. D.C., time.
3. Shares an article from The Federalist.
10:04 p.m. D.C., time the Impeached President shared this tweet:
Those texts messages and a separate tweet from Sean Davis make up The Federalist article.
Peter Strzok responded via tweet to Thursday night’s Trump Tweet.
In December 2019 the DOJ Inspector General released a report that states Crossfire Hurricane started July 31st, 2016.
Here’s where the articles shared by Dummy are getting their information…
The text; July 28th, 2016: Strzok says “so three things I want to talk to you about 1) redacted 2) our open CI investigations relating to Trump’s Russian connections 3) Whether two things I bought frames for are OK to hang.”
They are speculating that means Hurricane started *checks notes* 2 days earlier than the FBI said, the DOJ said, and the Inspector General said.
8:45 a.m. D.C., time.
4. Bashes Republican Congresswoman.
9:14 a.m. D.C., time.
5. Begs Republican Senators to undermine the will of the American people.
This is my favorite label Twitter uses, when you click on the link you see…
It just makes giggle, because we know he clicks the link, every time, they post it and that’s what he sees. I’m easily amused.
On Tuesday Senate Majority Leader, Republican Mitch McConnell acknowledged that former Vice President Joe Biden is the President-Elect. His comments came the day after the Electoral College delegates across the U.S., cast their votes for President and Vice President, with President-Elect Biden earning 306 and One-Termer earning 232.
Politico reported on Tuesday that according to two sources familiar with the matter, McConnell warned Republicans not to challenge the election results on January 6th, in a private call.
McConnell told his caucus that challenging the results would force Republicans to take a “terrible vote” because they would need to vote it down and appear against President Donald Trump. Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) also echoed McConnell’s remarks.
Politico. 12/15/2020.
For What It’s Worth…
In January 2017, a handful of House Democrats took this precise procedural step before their efforts flamed out during a joint session of Congress presided over by Biden, then the outgoing vice president.
Politico. 12/15/2020.
“It is over,” Biden said at the time, gaveling down Democrats as Republicans cheered.
9:16 a.m. D.C., time.
6. Victim he is…just ask him…
Friday the New York Times reported that a central figure in a 2018 podcast called Caliphate, Shehroze Chaudhry, who went by the name Abu Huzayfah, lied about being a jihadist terrorist for the Islamic State in Syria, according to Canadian and American intelligence and law enforcement officials.
Mr. Chaudhry’s elaborate accounts, told to The Times and other news outlets, caused a political uproar in Canada. The award-winning “Caliphate” series broadcast his claims of killing for the Islamic State to millions of listeners, fueling outrage that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government had allowed a terrorist to live freely in suburban Toronto despite the crimes Mr. Chaudhry had so openly confessed to committing in Syria.
New York Times. 12/18/2020.
The podcast archive now includes the following editors note:
Editors’ Note [Dec. 18, 2020]: In 2018, The Times released a 12-part narrative podcast series called “Caliphate” on the Islamic State terrorist group and its operations. While parts of the series involved a broad examination of the group’s tactics and influence, multiple episodes were driven primarily by the confessional tale of a Canadian man of Pakistani origin who called himself Abu Huzayfah and claimed to have been a member of the Islamic State who had taken part in killings in Syria.
During the course of reporting for the series, The Times discovered significant falsehoods and other discrepancies in Huzayfah’s story. The Times took a number of steps, including seeking confirmation of details from intelligence officials in the United States, to find independent evidence of Huzayfah’s story. The decision was made to proceed with the project but to include an episode, Chapter 6, devoted to exploring major discrepancies and highlighting the fact-checking process that sought to verify key elements of the narrative.
In September — two and a half years after the podcast was released — the Canadian police arrested Huzayfah, whose real name is Shehroze Chaudhry, and charged him with perpetrating a terrorist hoax. Canadian officials say they believe that Mr. Chaudhry’s account of supposed terrorist activity is completely fabricated. The hoax charge led The Times to investigate what Canadian officials had discovered, and to re-examine Mr. Chaudhry’s account and the earlier efforts to determine its validity. This new examination found a history of misrepresentations by Mr. Chaudhry and no corroboration that he committed the atrocities he described in the “Caliphate” podcast.
As a result, The Times has concluded that the episodes of “Caliphate” that presented Mr. Chaudhry’s claims did not meet our standards for accuracy.
From the outset, “Caliphate” should have had the regular participation of an editor experienced in the subject matter. In addition, The Times should have pressed harder to verify Mr. Chaudhry’s claims before deciding to place so much emphasis on one individual’s account. For example, reporters and editors could have vetted more thoroughly materials Mr. Chaudhry provided for evidence that he had traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State, and pushed harder and earlier to determine what the authorities knew about him. It is also clear that elements of the original fact-checking process were not sufficiently rigorous: Times journalists were too credulous about the verification steps that were undertaken and dismissive of the lack of corroboration of essential aspects of Mr. Chaudhry’s account.
In the absence of firmer evidence, “Caliphate” should have been substantially revised to exclude the material related to Mr. Chaudhry. The podcast as a whole should not have been produced with Mr. Chaudhry as a central narrative character.
A fuller description of what The Times has learned about Mr. Chaudhry was published on Dec. 18, 2020.
In the war on terror, who is it that we’re really fighting? “Caliphate” is a documentary audio series from The New York Times that follows Rukmini Callimachi, who covers terrorism for The Times, on her quest to understand ISIS. For more information about the series, visit nytimes.com/caliphate.
New York Times Editors Note. 12/18/2020.
7. Says once again that he wants the Governor of Georgia to undermine the will of Georgia voters.
Trump Twitter Archive record the above tweet as his 5th time demanding Republican Governor Kemp to do something that the Governor says is illegal.
AJC reported on November 10th, that Kemp and “Georgia’s two top legislative leaders – Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and House Speaker David Ralston – released a joint statement that threw cold water on the idea that lawmakers could overhaul voting rules this close to the twin runoffs that could determine control of the Senate.”
The three explained in their statement; Any changes to Georgia’s election laws made in a special session will not have any impact on an ongoing election and would only result in endless litigation.
Speaking of Georgia and legal fights…
10:17 a.m. D.C., time.
8. Is semi-related to tweet 7, with Lame-Duck Idiot saying that Kemp isn’t allowing Fulton County “to go through the vital Voter Signature Verification process.”
I’m really struggling to find information on the above tweet, even the link Twitter provides gives no information on the tweet, just explains why they labeled it.
Cobb County, Kemp announced on Monday, was having a signature audit, after reports that Cobb County did not follow the process. Kemp said the audit would not change the Presidential election outcome.
11 Alive reporter Brendan Keefe says that this afternoon Cobb County will hold a hearing to possibly disqualify 19,000 plus voters for the upcoming GA Senate run-off.
*shrug*
11:30 a.m. D.C., time.
9. Thanks FedEx and UPS for delivering the vaccine across the country.
Speaking of vaccines…
12:59 p.m. D.C., time.
10. Shares an article from the Washington Examiner.
The article was published on Thursday.
The report posted at “bannonswarroom.com is called “The Immaculate Deception.”
Before sharing the chart posted above Narravo writes: Note that a checkmark in matrix cell indicates there is widespread evidence in a given state for a particular dimension of election irregularity while a star indicates there is at least some evidence.
Narrator: There is no evidence, of widespread anything…
Here’s Trump’s public schedule for tomorrow. (Public schedules don’t include all of a president’s activities.) pic.twitter.com/14ylnxSe7p
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) December 18, 2020
Axios reported on Friday; Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller ordered a Pentagon-wide halt to cooperation with the transition of President-elect Biden, shocking officials across the Defense Department, senior administration officials tell Axios.
What happened: Meetings between President Trump’s team and the Biden team are going on throughout the government, after a delayed start as the administration dragged its feet on officially recognizing Biden as president-elect.
Then on Thursday night, Miller — who was appointed Nov. 9, when Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper right after the election — ordered officials throughout the building to cancel scheduled transition meetings.
[Miller offered a statement after Axios published their story]
In a statement released after the publication of this story, Miller said: “At no time has the Department cancelled or declined any interview. … After the mutually-agreed upon holiday, which begins tomorrow, we will continue with the transition and rescheduled meetings from today.”
Axios. 12/18/2020
Here’s Biden’s schedule guidance. (Tomorrow is the anniversary of the 1972 car crash that killed his daughter and wife; as VP, he tried to spend the day home with family.) pic.twitter.com/8a0f4Q4RhZ
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) December 18, 2020
This post might be updated.
So many more days to go…
Several lifetimes from now…
Happy Friday y’all. Have a great weekend!!!!
This is an Open Thread.
