GOP installed fake ballot drop-off boxes

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Tuesday, October 13

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GOP TOLD TO REMOVE FAKE BALLOT DROP-OFF BOXES California’s attorney general and secretary of state told Republicans to knock it off after election officials reported the state party had been breaking the law by placing makeshift, unauthorized ballot drop-off boxes around the state and falsely labeling them “official.” The officials issued a cease and desist order following reports of the mysterious ballot collection boxes at gas stations, gun stores, churches and gyms. Republicans maintained the boxes are legal. [HuffPost]

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TRUMP THREATENS RALLY FANS WITH 'BIG FAT KISS' A maskless President Donald Trump told Americans they shouldn’t be afraid of the coronavirus, mocked Joe Biden for being cautious on the campaign trail and continued to peddle misinformation during a Florida rally. “I feel so powerful,” Trump, speaking to a large crowd in Sanford, Florida, declared just hours after his doctor said the president had tested negative for COVID-19 and was no longer considered infectious. “I’ll walk into that audience, I’ll kiss everyone in that audience. I’ll kiss the guys, and the beautiful women and everybody. I’ll just give you a big fat kiss.” [HuffPost]

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3 WEEKS TO GO, AND PUTIN COULD STILL HELP TRUMP With just three weeks before the Nov. 3 election, one major question remains unanswered: What does Russian dictator Vladimir Putin have up his sleeve to help Trump? “I don’t think they want to miss this opportunity, to poke the United States one more time,” said Miles Taylor, once the chief of staff at Trump’s Department of Homeland Security and now a fierce Trump critic. FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress last month that Russia is already interfering in the 2020 election by “actively” spreading propaganda through social media and friendly news outlets. [HuffPost]

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MCCONNELL LAUGHS AT SENATE INACTION OVER COVID Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is coming under fire on social media for laughing during an exchange over coronavirus relief during a debate with Democratic rival Amy McGrath. McGrath challenged McConnell over his decision to allow a Senate recess in the spring rather than continue work on new relief measures for those affected by the pandemic. “The House passed a bill in May and the Senate went on vacation,” McGrath said as McConnell laughed. “You just don’t do that. You negotiate. Senator, it is a national crisis.” [HuffPost]

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JOHNSON & JOHNSON HALTS VACCINE TRIAL Johnson & Johnson has temporarily halted its trial of a vaccine for COVID-19 after a test volunteer developed a mysterious illness. It’s the second time in two months that a COVID-19 vaccine trial has been halted following an unexplained illness in a test subject. The J&J trial, which includes 60,000 volunteers around the world, were told Monday to stop testing of the single-dose vaccine. The New Jersey-based pharma giant is one of a handful of companies in the world that has reached the final phase of testing on people. [HuffPost]

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THREE-QUARTERS OF VOTERS WANT NEW COVID RELIEF Roughly three-quarters of voters want to see Congress pass new coronavirus relief, a new HuffPost/YouGov poll finds. Voters say, 74% to 10%, that Congress should pass a new economic stimulus bill in response to the coronavirus pandemic. A near-universal 92% of Democratic voters and a smaller 57% majority of Republican voters say they think Congress should pass such a bill. Of those who want Congress to do so, 58% say it’s very important to them that such a bill passes. [HuffPost]

WHAT'S BREWING

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AMY CONEY BARRETT FACES SENATE Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett declared that Americans “deserve an independent Supreme Court that interprets our Constitution and laws as they are written,” encapsulating her conservative approach to the law that has Republicans excited about the prospect of her taking the place of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before Election Day. Barrett spoke about her judicial philosophy, her experience and her large family at the end of the first day of her fast-tracked confirmation hearings that Senate Democrats are using to try and brand her a threat to Americans’ health care during the coronavirus pandemic. [AP]

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GOP SENATOR WITH COVID-19 ATTENDS BARRETT HEARING SANS MASK Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), diagnosed with COVID-19 just 10 days ago, ignored guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and attended Monday’s Senate hearing on Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination without a face mask. Lee, who earlier this month declared that the United States is “not a democracy,” delivered a speech to the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of Barrett. Lee, like Trump and other Republicans who fell ill, attended a Sept. 26 White House Rose Garden event celebrating Barrett's nomination. [HuffPost]

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DR. FAUCI CALLS ON TRUMP CAMPAIGN TO REMOVE MISLEADING AD Dr. Anthony Fauci said Trump’s campaign should take down a political ad featuring his comments because he did not consent to it and the remarks were taken out of context. The nation’s leading infectious disease expert spoke to CNN’s Jake Tapper about the 30-second campaign ad, which appears to show the doctor endorsing Trump’s abysmal handling of the coronavirus pandemic in a misleading clip not approved by Fauci before it aired. Tapper asked if the Trump campaign should take down the ad, to which Fauci said, “You know, I think so.” [HuffPost]

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TRUMP ADVISER FILMED BASHING PRESIDENT'S 'CRAPPY' DEBATE Trump’s economic adviser Stephen Moore was captured on video complaining about the president’s “crappy” debate performance against his Democratic rival Joe Biden. “It was not a great performance by Trump; in fact, I thought it was a pretty crappy performance,” Moore told a crowd gathered in Washington earlier this month for the “Election Protection Summit” by the Trump-supporting FreedomWorks nonprofit organization. Moore also conceded that Trump’s first debate against former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election was similarly “awful.” [HuffPost]

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WORKERS TRIED TO BLOW THE WHISTLE. THEN PEOPLE DIED. As soon as the coronavirus pandemic began, workers across the country flooded federal and state offices with complaints that their employers weren’t protecting them from the health threat. The concerns have continued to pour into workplace safety agencies for seven months, totaling nearly 40,000. Now, analysis of data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration shows that a rise in workers’ safety complaints has preceded a rise in deaths throughout the pandemic. [HuffPost]

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