Hello, everyone! Welcome to the new edition of
Insider columnist Linette Lopez joins us with thoughts today on the possibilities of new tariffs.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"In the many cases I have been privileged to work on in my career, I have never seen political influence play any role in prosecutorial decision making. With one exception: United States v. Roger Stone." — Former DOJ prosecutor Aaron Zelinsky's opening statement to the House Judiciary Committee.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Federal government to reduce testing assistance for five states as cases surge in the South and West: The cuts will especially hurt Texas. Nationwide, cases hit their highest levels since April. Young adults are driving the spikes in Texas, Arizona, and Florida.
All kinds of furor around Trump's Justice Department: Ex-DOJ prosecutor testifies he was ordered to go easy on Roger Stone because he was a friend of the president. Another ex-DOJer says AG Bill Barr also pursued a personal vendetta against marijuana companies. Meanwhile, a DC appeals court ordered a judge to stop investigating the fishy DOJ decision to drop its prosecution of Trump aide Michael Flynn.
Progressive candidates beat expectations in NY and KY primaries. Jamaal Bowman has a big lead on incumbent Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel; AOC crushed a more moderate primary challenger; and Charles Booker is giving Amy McGrath a close run in the Kentucky Democratic senate primary.
VIEWS OF THE DAY
The Trump tragedy continues...
As
The economic recovery in hard-hit states like Texas appears to be stumbling. (As we explained back in May, it's not actually "lockdowns" that hurt the economy — it's the coronavirus. Our economy won't fully recover until we get the virus under control.) Hospitals are filling up again. Deaths will likely follow. Governors from states that are doing well are restricting travel from states that aren't. The EU is considering banning travelers from the US. Texas is again asking residents to stay home.
In short, having learned little from New York, Italy, Spain, and other former hot spots, many US states appear to be on track to repeat the hell that these areas went through earlier this year.
Meanwhile, President Trump continues to pretend the coronavirus no longer exists. Worse, he continues to put thousands of people's health and lives at risks by packing them into crowded indoor spaces for hours in places in which coronavirus infections are skyrocketing again.
Most galling of all, Trump and the federal government have stopped even trying. Even now, there's much they could do to help the US get its pandemic under control. Universal and repeated guidance to wear masks in crowded indoor places. Funding a national testing, contract-tracing, and isolation system. Ordering the manufacturing of additional personal protection equipment.
If all this had been done this winter and spring, the US would now be following Asia and Europe's encouraging recovery trajectory. But it would still help now.
Instead, all we get from Trump is bragging, incompetence, and denial. — HB
On a positive note, the protests did not increase infections — outside events seem ok
Despite widespread fears, the Black Lives Matter protests did not lead to increased coronavirus infections, a new study concludes. This is yet more evidence that outside activities — even those that are crowded, with shouting — are not particularly risky. — HB
NY incumbents and the end of definitive election night results
New York held its primary elections yesterday and it proved to be a long night for some long-time Democratic members of Congress.
Things were grim Rep. Eliot Engel, a centrist foreign policy hawk and 32-year veteran of Congress, who lost to his Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez-backed opponent Jamaal Bowman.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who since 1993 has represented parts of Manhattan and Queens, holds a less than two percentage point lead over the progressive challenger Suraj Patel as of Wednesday morning. A slew of absentee ballots are still outstanding.
We may not know for a week or more whether last night provided evidence that deep-blue New York is steadily getting even more progressive in its electoral representation, but even if Maloney survives, the Engel loss makes it clear that rubber-stamp reelection of Democratic incumbents is no longer assured in the Empire State.
Another bellwether for the November elections is that in the age of COVID-19, there will be fewer polling places and substantially more absentee ballots. That will make anything other than a definitive landslide tough to call on election night.
So if you've got election year fatigue already, steel yourself now for electoral college and congressional contests dragging on well into November. — AF
If you want to turn on President Trump, now is the moment to do it.
If you have beans to spill about the Trump administration, spill them right now. Niece Mary Trump seeks to spill. Former National Security Advisor John Bolton spilled. Deposed DOJ prosecutor Aaron Zelinsky spills today. Bounced Defense Secretary Jim Mattis finally spilled.
If you're a disgruntled former of any sort — a former cabinet member for example, or secret service agent, or campaign aide, or golf buddy, or business partner — now is the moment to turn on President Trump.
This is true whether you'd do it for selfish or noble reasons. If you're noble, now is the moment because it's still early enough to influence the election. If you're selfish, you can still grab the public's attention and dollars in a way that will be almost impossible later.
Public attention to
So if you have something to say, you've got 10 days till July 4 to say it. — DP
Trade wars are back and stupider than ever now that Trump's pretending everything is normal.
Trump paused his ongoing trade fights with allies around the world during the coronavirus pandemic. But now that he's pretending the crisis is over, despite rising cases in states across the US, he's gone back to talking tariffs.
This week the Office of the US Trade Representative said it's considering slapping tariffs on Canadian aluminum again. The USTR also said it was considering putting duties on a variety of European goods from airplanes to beer and gin.
These tariffs have been always been stupid policy. After the aluminum tariffs were put on in 2018 they only served to raise prices on inputs for goods like car parts, for example. Ultimately that hurt the economy more than they helped.
But tariffs are even stupider policy now while the world is still recovering from the economic shock of the coronavirus pandemic. We have a demand crisis on our hands, and the last thing struggling manufacturers and consumers need is price inflation. — Linette Lopez
Waiting, waiting, waiting for the monumentally important SCOTUS Louisiana abortion decision.
On Thursday or next week, the Supreme Court will rule in the final major case of its term, June Medical Services v Russo, which concerns a Louisiana law that requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges in nearby hospitals. This restriction would likely force every abortion clinic in the state to close because hospitals won't grant the privileges. The Louisiana law follows the recent, successful trend in pro-life activism, which seeks not to directly ban abortion, but place so many restrictions on it that it's effectively quashed.
If the case sounds familiar, that's because it is. In 2016 SCOTUS decided a case about a virtually identical Texas law. In that case five justices including Anthony Kennedy threw out the admitting privileges restriction, ruling it an "undue burden" on women seeking abortion — and also one that did nothing to increase the health or safety of patients.
But the court may reverse the decision it made practically yesterday, as Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch are expected to join the other conservative justices in upholding the Louisiana law.
There are no new facts and no new constitutional amendment since the Texas ruling. All that has changed is that President Trump and Senate Republicans put Gorsuch instead of Merrick Garland in Scalia's empty seat, and chose Kavanaugh to succeed Anthony Kennedy.
Most evidence suggests Kavanaugh stands far to the right of Kennedy on abortion, which is why most court watchers expect SCOTUS to reverse its 2016 ruling. Pro-choice lawyers see only one real hope, which is that Chief Justice Roberts, who voted to uphold Texas's restrictions in 2016, could change sides in order to show respect for SCOTUS precedent.
But if the court rules in favor of the Louisiana law, similar "admitting privilege" restrictions will follow fast in red states, choking off the right to abortion in huge swathes of the country. Whatever you believe about abortion, this Louisiana case proves the titanic importance of the presidential election in shaping the country. — DP
Baseball's coming back, but for how long?
Baseball had the chance to be the only game in town for months, but the owners and the players' union were at loggerheads over economic issues and contingency plans in the case of a "second wave" of coronavirus outbreaks.
Unable to come to terms, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred imposed the season on the players (at their request) based on a preliminary agreement between the owners and players reached in March, shortly after the pandemic's onset.
Without a new agreement, the league has left itself vulnerable to any number of grievances which could be filed on behalf of the players that risk jeopardizing even a severely truncated season from being completed.
While the billionaire owners have historically been able to sway public
But even with a season set to begin, all it will take is a single clubhouse attendant to test positive for COVID-19 and a single MLB player to cite "unsafe work conditions" as a reason for not showing up to work for a union grievance to be filed and a domino effect that shuts down the season, again. — AF
LISTEN OF THE DAY
"Brought to you by..." is back with a new season of episodes about the brands you know and stories you don't. Today, hear about how in 1969, Cleveland's Black residents fought for the right to own and operate the McDonald's restaurants in their community. Plus, host Charlie Herman continued the conversation with two Insider reporters, who discussed the role of corporations in combating racial and economic injustice.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Another massive wave of layoffs is about to hit the US. As PPP money runs out in July, companies that are still struggling will start shedding workers.
CrossFit founder Greg Glassman is selling the company. Glassman resigned as CEO two weeks ago amid outrage about his comments concerning the George Floyd protests. Gym owner Eric Roza, a former tech CEO, is buying it.
LIFE
Bubba Wallace insists "a straight-up noose" was found in his garage. He says the FBI was wrong to conclude the noose was an innocent door-pull.
She had a sit-down dinner at a New York restaurant. Insider's Rachel Askinasi ate her first restaurant meal of the pandemic. She was outside, and it felt pretty safe.
THE BIG 3*
Are these the ground devices that will connect to SpaceX's Starlink satellites? A Reddit user snapped pictures of them with a long lens camera. The devices match Musk's descriptions of the antennae.
10 rules and laws the Royal Family can break. The Queen cannot be arrested for a crime, for example.
Ken Griffey Jr. explains why he never signed with the Yankees. They treated him badly when he was a kid, for starters.
*The most popular stories on Insider today.