GOP Convention and Trump’s corruption, plus pandemic, protest, international, and climate news

By Robert A. Vella

Overshadowing the Republican National Convention this week are violent protests which have turned deadly in Kenosha, Wisconsin (including fatal shootings, police crackdowns, national guard deployments, vigilante justice, outside agitators, and reports of agent provocateurs inciting violence) after police shot an unarmed black man seven times in the back right in front of his children, a powerful hurricane bearing-down on the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast, rising tensions in Europe over Belarus and the poisoning of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, some bad climate change news from Antarctica, more trouble stirring over corruption by Donald Trump and his administration, and the latest coronavirus pandemic developments.

GOP Convention

From:  Mike Pompeo faces investigation following brazen RNC speech

Under normal circumstances, political speeches should be judged on their content. And by this metric, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s remarks to the Republican National Convention were a mess.

The Kansas Republican claimed Donald Trump had strengthened NATO, which was the opposite of the truth. Pompeo insisted Trump’s failed policy toward North Korea was a success, which was pitifully untrue. The cabinet secretary said the president “held China accountable for covering up the China virus,” which was amusing, given Trump’s praise for China’s “transparency” on the matter.

Perhaps my personal favorite was Pompeo’s willingness to boast that Ukraine now has “defensive weapon systems” — systems Trump was impeached over after the president tried to leverage the supplies as part of an illegal extortion scheme.

But as important as these errors of fact and judgment were, the content of the secretary’s speech was only a small part of a much larger problem. NBC News reported late yesterday that the Republican’s convention speech is now under investigation on Capitol Hill — and for good reason.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s subpanel on oversight informed the State Department of the inquiry in a letter obtained by NBC News after the committee obtained internal State Department legal guidance that explicitly prohibited Senate-confirmed presidential appointees from even attending political conventions. The subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, says that the speech is not only “highly unusual and likely unprecedented” but that “it appears that it may also be illegal.”

See also:

RNC 2020 Day 3: Mike Pence headlines, Kellyanne Conway slated to speak

Republicans used socialism to distract from their authoritarianism at the RNC

Republican convention: GOP sees unrest in cities providing an opening with white voters

RNC speaker pulled from lineup after retweeting anti-Semitic QAnon conspiracy

Joe Scarborough Calls Melania Trump ‘Shameless’ for RNC Speech on Online Bullying

Stephen Colbert Pokes Fun at the RNC’s Low Ratings

The Hatch Act, the law Trump flouted at the RNC, explained

Trump’s corruption

From:  U.S. House panel narrows Deutsche Bank subpoena for Trump records

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee on Wednesday renewed its subpoena to Deutsche Bank AG for President Donald Trump’s financial records so that it would fall in line with a related ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“The Committee’s subpoena, as amended, clearly satisfies the Court’s new legal test for evaluating Congress’s need for the President’s personal information,” the panel’s chairman, U.S. Representative Adam Schiff, said in a statement.

The House Intelligence Committee has investigated whether the Republican president’s dealings left him vulnerable to the influence of foreign individuals or governments. The House Financial Services Committee has examined possible money laundering in U.S. property deals involving Trump.

Related stories:

New York, Hawaii, New Jersey file new lawsuit challenging Postal Service changes

A Trump Pick To Oversee The Postal Service Has Extensive Ties To A USPS Contractor

Trump targets ballot drop boxes in effort to discredit vote-by-mail

Fewer voters say they’re voting by mail amid uproar over USPS changes

Comey: Trump, Barr damaged Justice Department

Pandemic news

US Coronavirus: Covid-19 child cases have increased by 21% since early August, new data shows

Nearly 9,000 Florida Children Diagnosed With Coronavirus in Two Weeks as Schools Reopen

College campuses face explosion of COVID-19 cases

Despite weekend parties and maskless gatherings, Arizona State won’t release COVID-19 data

Georgia is among worst states in the nation for new Covid-19 cases but the governor is defending his strategy

Coronavirus cases linked to Sturgis Motorcycle Rally found in 8 states

Protest news

Kenosha Shootings: Two Killed and One Injured in Chaotic Night

Louisville protests: 68 people arrested in march for Breonna Taylor

Supreme Court refuses to halt execution of Navajo inmate amid tribe’s objections

International news

Belarus protester found hanging from tree

‘Putin’s Chef’ Vows to Ruin Navalny as Russia Fingers ‘Foreign States’

Climate news

Hurricane Laura to hit Texas, Louisiana as Category 4 with ‘unsurvivable storm surge’

[More than half of] Antarctica’s glacier-damming ice shelves at risk [of crumbling due to climate change]