September 3, 2020 News Brief

The German government said it had “unequivocal evidence” that Aleksei Navalny, a Russian opposition leader, was posioned with the nerve agent Novichok. Novichok is a nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was also used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK in 2018. Germany condemned the attack but Trump has yet to say anything about it. He has also yet to say anything about intelligence reports that Russia was paying bounties for US soldiers deaths in Afghanistan. 

According to ABC News, the acting Director of the Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, recently buried the release of a bulletin from the Intelligence Community warning that Russians were trying to undermine Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden by saying he is deteriorating mentally. Plus, Congress cannot investigate this or ask questions because the National Intelligence Director recently announced he would stop briefing Congress in person and only submit written briefs. 

DHS withheld July intelligence bulletin calling out Russian attack on Biden’s mental health - ABC News

Concerns about the election continue to mount. There is some hope the New York Times cites Massachusetts recent primary election as proof that if states step-up an election can run smoothly and quickly. Brookings has a great map where you can check how your state is doing and call your Secretary of State and push for changes. 

http://brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/07/14/are-a…

Facebook also announced a series of election security measures including banning political ads the week leading up to the election and additional informational labels for posts that seek to delegitimize an election or prematurely claim victory. Many experts are pushing the media to educate people that the results might take a while and that is not evidence of fraud. However, Trump continues to attack the legitimacy of the election and yesterday seemed to encourage the people of North Carolina to vote twice, which is illegal. 

Facebook to limit last-minute political ads before U.S. elections, label premature victory claims - Reuters

Joe Biden will travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin, today to meet with the family of Jacob Blake, the Black man shot by white police officers last month. Also the family of Daniel Prude, a Black man from Rochester, NY, released heinous footage from March in which officers placed a hood over his head and pressed his face to the ground for two minute. Prude died from his injuries and his death was declared a homicide. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/02/nyregion/daniel-prude-rochester-police.html

United Airlines joined other major airlines this week in announcing plans to furlough over 16,000 employees in October. Air travel is down 60% due to the coronavirus. 

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