memeorandum: Government coronavirus response updates: Trump assistant tests positive for coronavirus, White House says (Libby Cathey/ABC News)

12:50 PM ET, May 7, 2020

Top Items:

AP Exclusive: Admin shelves CDC guide to reopening country — GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A set of detailed documents created by the nation's top disease investigators meant to give step-by-step advice to local leaders deciding when and how to reopen public places such as mass transit …

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, The American Independent, ABC News, Axios, The Moderate Voice, CNN, Raw Story, The Daily Beast, Gizmodo, IJR, The Hill, POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller and The Week

CNN:

One of Trump's personal valets has tested positive for coronavirus — (CNN)A member of the US Navy who serves as one of President Donald Trump's personal valets has tested positive for coronavirus, CNN has learned Thursday, raising concerns about the President's possible exposure to the virus.

Discussion: Axios, Forbes, Daily Kos, CNBC, Mediaite, Political Flare, Raw Story, IJR, WGN-TV, The Daily Caller, The Sun, Deadline, The Root, The Week, The Hill and New York Post

Associated Press:

Face masks make a political statement in era of coronavirus — WASHINGTON (AP) — The decision to wear a mask in public is becoming a political statement — a moment to pick sides in a brewing culture war over containing the coronavirus. — While not yet as loaded as a “Make America Great Again” …

Discussion: Political Flare, Washington Post, Raw Story, The Week, Fox News and KTLA

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

The sharp hypocrisy of the White House position on testing — There's a straightforward way in which businesses and other institutions can relax social distancing measures without spurring a surge in new coronavirus infections: frequent and repeated assessments of employee health, including tests for those showing signs of infection.

Discussion: NPR, The Hill, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA and Mediaite

Associated Press:

Trump tells allies his wearing a mask would ‘send the wrong message’, make him look ridiculous — The president said doing so would make it seem like he is preoccupied with health instead of focused on reopening. — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has been mask averse for weeks.

Discussion: The American Independent

New York Times:
Coronavirus Task Force Gets Its ‘Mission Accomplished’ Moment

Discussion: McSweeney's, Al Jazeera, WBRZ, Just The News and Mediaite

New York Times:
Most States That Are Reopening Fail to Meet White House Guidelines

Discussion: National Review and Forbes

New York Times:
Coronavirus Live Updates: White House Rejected C.D.C. Reopening Guidelines, Asking for Revisions

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, The Hill and Blue Virginia

Politico:

Supreme Court overturns ‘Bridgegate’ convictions as Christie slams ‘political crusade’ — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday tossed the federal government's case in the infamous “Bridgegate” scandal, clearing the convictions of two allies of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Discussion: Washington Post, NBC News, Fox News, Axios and The Hill

Brent Kendall / Wall Street Journal:

Supreme Court Throws Out ‘Bridgegate’ Convictions — High court rules political retribution didn't rise to the level of federal fraud — WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court on Thursday threw out a pair of public-corruption convictions in the New Jersey scandal known as Bridgegate …

NBC New York: Supreme Court Tosses Out ‘Bridgegate’ Convictions

Mairead McArdle / National Review: Supreme Court Overturns ‘Bridgegate’ Scandal Convictions

Nancy Rommelmann / Reason:

She Said Anthony Fauci Sexually Assaulted Her. Now She Says Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman Paid Her to Lie. — I'd just finished Saturday morning's second cup of coffee when an email popped through, subject line: “Exposing Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman.” — “Hi Nancy, I hope you are having a nice weekend.

New York Times:

Travel From New York City Seeded Wave of U.S. Outbreaks — The coronavirus outbreak in New York City became the primary source of infections across much of the country by early March, researchers have found. — Munich — Paris — London — Rome — Barcelona, Spain — Rafina, Greece

Discussion: National Review, Twitchy and Instapundit

Conrad Swanson / Denver Post:

Colorado GOP Chair Ken Buck pressured local official to submit incorrect election results — Fellow Republican says congressman tried to bully him into committing a crime — Colorado Republican Party Chair Ken Buck, a U.S. representative from Windsor, pressured a local party official …

Discussion: The American Independent, The Week and Mediaite

Charles M. Blow / New York Times:

The Killing of Ahmaud Arbery — Another black man falsely assumed to be a criminal is dead. — The video is short and shocking. — It's taken from the perspective of a vehicle following a young black man running at a jogger's pace. The jogger is 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery.

Discussion: Hotair, Washington Post, Daily Kos, The Bread Line, The Week, ABC News and Vox

David French / The Dispatch:
A Vigilante Killing in Georgia

Discussion: Tangle, Common Dreams, Law & Crime and The Sun

Christian Living / Russell Moore:
The Killing of Ahmaud Arbery and the Justice of God

Discussion: Raw Story

George Conway / Washington Post:

Trump lashed out at me on Twitter. It's because he knows the truth. — Americans died from covid-19 at the rate of about one every 42 seconds during the past month. That ought to keep any president awake at night. — Not Donald Trump. — Just days ago, the president flipped …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Wrap, IJR, HuffPost, Breitbart, Political Flare, Palmer Report, Mediaite and Common Dreams

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Lincoln Project has its biggest day of fundraising after president attacks ‘Never Trump’ group

Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite, POLITICUSUSA, Newsweek and IJR

USA Today:

Kristol, Coons: Republicans should reject Trump's divisive approach to pandemic — Too many members of Congress, following the lead of President Donald Trump, continue to engage in coronavirus denialism. — One of us is a Democratic senator, who, though certainly willing to seek common ground across …

Discussion: In These Times

Politico: Republicans praise Trump's pandemic response with Senate majority at risk

John Daniel Davidson / The Federalist:
Democrats Are Suddenly Okay With Voting For A Man Accused Of Rape

Discussion: Reason, The Bulwark and Fox News

Adam Shaw / Fox News:

House Republicans launch China Task Force amid growing scrutiny over coronavirus response — House Republicans on Thursday launched a “China Task Force” to coordinate a strategy against the geopolitical threat from Beijing — coming amid global scrutiny over China's handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

Discussion: Politico and The Hill

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
GOP to launch ‘China Task Force’ that Democrats bailed on

Discussion: Axios, The Daily Caller and Politico

Fox News: Steve Scalise will be top Republican on new coronavirus committee

Meghann Myers / Military Times:

Coronavirus survivors banned from joining the military — As the Defense Department negotiates its way through the coronavirus pandemic and its fallout, military entrance processing stations are working with new guidance when it comes to bringing COVID-19 survivors into the services.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, NBC News, CNN, The Hill and New York Post

Daniel Villarreal / Newsweek: Coronavirus Survivors ‘Permanently Disqualified’ from Joining U.S. Military, Recruitment Memo Suggests

Jeffrey Collins / Associated Press:

Woman killed by alligator in SC was doing homeowner's nails — COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The woman attacked and killed by an alligator in a gated community along the South Carolina coast was visiting the homeowner to do her nails and was trying to touch the animal when it grabbed her, authorities said.

Katherine Shaver / Washington Post:

Smartphone data shows out-of-state visitors flocked to Georgia as restaurants and other businesses reopened — One week after Georgia allowed dine-in restaurants, hair salons and other businesses to reopen, an additional 62,440 visitors arrived there daily, most from surrounding states …

Laurie Roberts / Arizona Republic:

Gov. Doug Ducey fires the scientists who warn he's making a mistake by reopening Arizona — Opinion: Gov. Doug Ducey wants to reopen the state, and it seems he'd rather not let anything stand in his way. — CONNECT — For seven weeks, Gov. Doug Ducey has assured us that his decisions …

Discussion: Raw Story, Digby's Hullabaloo and The Hill

Washington Post: Arizona halts partnership with experts predicting coronavirus cases would continue to mount

Ben Harris / Jerusalem Post:

Meet the 107-year-old woman who survived the coronavirus and Spanish flu — “It's remarkable,” Shapiro said. “That's all I can say. It's just unbelievable. I think perhaps it's because of her art that she's still involved in.” — After Marilee Shapiro Asher was admitted to the hospital …

ProPublica:

On the Same Day Sen. Richard Burr Dumped Stock, So Did His Brother-in-Law. Then the Market Crashed. — The brother-in-law, a Trump appointee, sold between $97,000 and $280,000 worth of stock. Burr is under federal investigation over whether he traded on non-public information gathered through his work in the Senate.

Discussion: Fox News, Law & Crime, Daily Kos, Slate, New York Post, CNN, Axios and The Hill

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

House Republicans should be getting nervous about November — Generic congressional polling has shown a steady and significant lead for Democrats. The latest Monmouth survey shows Democrats leading 52 percent to 42 percent. That margin is “similar to the polling advantage Democrats held …

Discussion: New York Magazine, POLITICUSUSA and Monmouth University …

New York Times:

Germany and U.S. on Divergent Paths to Reopen — Online retailers, backed by Amazon, are beginning a campaign to press for billions of dollars to rescue the Postal Service. Nearly one in five children in the U.S. are not getting enough to eat. — Here's what you need to know:

Discussion: VICE, Brookings, The Daily Caller, Raw Story and Daily Kos

Politico:

Azar faulted workers' ‘home and social’ conditions for meatpacking outbreaks — The country's top health official downplayed concerns over the public health conditions inside meatpacking plants, suggesting on a call with lawmakers that workers were more likely to catch coronavirus based …

Discussion: The Hill, Daily Kos, Wired, Raw Story and The Sun

Kevin Yamamura / Politico:

California faces $54B budget deficit — SACRAMENTO — California faces a $54.3 billion deficit as the coronavirus pandemic hammers the economy, the state's worst budget gap since the Great Recession, state finance officials said Thursday. — The shortfall is almost 37 percent …

Discussion: The Hill and One America News Network

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Trump's New Message: Time to Move On to the Recovery — The president's cure-can't-be-worse-than-the- disease logic is clear: As bad as the virus may be, the cost of the virtual national lockdown has grown too high. — WASHINGTON — Confronted with America's worst public health crisis in generations …

Discussion: HuffPost, Vanity Fair, Common Dreams, Raw Story, Washington Post and The Daily Caller

Ben Collins / NBC News:

‘What are we doing this for?’: Doctors are fed up with conspiracies ravaging ERs — “I left work and I felt so deflated,” one doctor said about an effort to counter misinformation he saw on Facebook. “I let it get to me.” — At the end of another long shift treating coronavirus patients …

Discussion: Althouse

Washington Post:

SBA slashes disaster-loan limit from $2 million to $150,000, shuts out nearly all new applicants — Shortage of money and crush of applications leads the Small Business Administration to close its portal to most businesses and limit the size of loans. — An emergency disaster lending program …

Karen Gilchrist / CNBC:

China gets top score as citizens rank their governments' response to the coronavirus outbreak — The majority of citizens are unhappy with their leaders' response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report. — China and Vietnam had the highest rated leadership in a list led by Eastern countries.

Discussion: Mediaite

Washington Post:

Top Republican fundraiser and Trump ally named postmaster general, giving president new influence over Postal Service — A top donor to President Trump and the Republican National Committee will be named the new head of the Postal Service, putting a top ally of the president in charge …