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TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Emails show one of Donald Trump’s political appointees pushed repeatedly for more Americans to be infected by the coronavirus as a matter of policy. The good news is that the appointee, Paul Alexander, is already out of government.

Meanwhile, Congress is finally nearing a deal on a coronavirus relief bill. It will likely include another round of direct payments to individuals, but not so much as last time.

And lastly, an ex-cop in Texas is facing charges after pulling a gun on a man who he falsely accused of mass ballot fraud. What’s weirder, Republican megadonors paid the former cop more than a quarter million dollars for his dead-end investigation.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Here’s a story that’s both shocking and yet unsurprising. A top Trump appointee repeatedly urged top health officials to adopt a herd immunity approach to Covid-19 and allow millions of Americans to be infected by the virus, Politico reports. On July 4, then-science adviser Paul Alexander, wrote to his boss, Health and Human Services assistant secretary for public affairs Michael Caputo, to endorse the reckless strategy. Alexander wrote that young and middle-aged people alike could be used to develop herd immunity in the population, adding QUOTE we want them infected ENDQUOTE. On July 24, Alexander suggested officials should open up the country and QUOTE flood the zone and let the kids and young folk get infected ENDQUOTE. Caputo later asked Alexander to research the idea, according to emails obtained by the House Oversight Committee's select subcommittee on coronavirus.

Officials told Politico that they believed that when Alexander made recommendations, he had the backing of the White House. Senior Trump officials have repeatedly denied that herd immunity was under consideration. On October 2, HHS Secretary Alex Azar testified in a hearing before the House coronavirus subcommittee. He said QUOTE herd immunity is not the strategy of the US government with regard to coronavirus ENDQUOTE. And in a statement, an HHS spokesperson said Alexander’s demands for herd immunity did not shape department strategy. I guess we’re supposed to forget these emails and take their word for it?

Politico reports that Alexander also spent months attacking government scientists and pushing to shape official statements to be more favorable to Trump. On September 16, HHS announced that Alexander would be leaving the department, just days after news broke about his efforts to stifle government scientist Anthony Fauci. South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn, who chairs the coronavirus subcommittee, said the documents show a pernicious pattern of political interference by administration officials. Not to mention utter callousness as to whether people live or die – which is what you’d expect from a Trump appointee.

Congress Nears Stimulus Deal

In the grand scheme, it’s a day late and a dollar short. Congressional leaders are closing in on an agreement on a coronavirus relief measure worth $900 billion, the New York Times reports. They are racing to complete both a pandemic aid package and a catchall federal spending measure to avoid a government shutdown on Friday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky warned senators to prepare to remain in Washington through the weekend as lawmakers finalize the details.

Republicans and Democrats are nearing a compromise that would include both another round of direct stimulus payments to Americans and additional unemployment benefits, the Times reports. The package is also expected to provide billions of dollars for vaccine distribution and support for schools and small businesses. South Dakota Senator John Thune said the direct payments were likely to be around $600 per person, about half the size of the checks included in the $2.2 trillion stimulus enacted in March. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who pushed for the payments, said QUOTE this is a good start ENDQUOTE. President-elect Joe Biden called the stimulus package QUOTE encouraging ENDQUOTE.

Negotiators are still haggling over an expansion of unemployment benefits and how long they would last, the Times reports. They are also discussing reinstituting federal supplemental jobless payments, which provided $600 per week until they lapsed over the summer. Those would likely be revived at a smaller amount. Maybe there should be a law that members of Congress have to live on such paltry benefits before they can pass legislation like this. I wonder how that might change things.

Ex-Cop In Election Intrigue

This wild tale of red-blooded American insanity comes from Texas by way of the Washington Post. In late October, an air-conditioning repairman was driving his truck through Houston when a black SUV slammed into his tail. When he got out, the SUV’s driver leaped out and pointed a gun at his head. When police arrived, the gunman offered an incredible tale: The driver, he said, was the face of a vast election-fraud scheme and had about seven hundred and fifty thousand fake ballots stuffed inside his truck. That story was totally bogus, however. The Post reports that the man’s truck was full of nothing but air conditioning parts. The gunman – Mark Anthony Aguirre, a former Houston Police Department captain – had been paid more than $250,000 by a right-wing organization to pursue far-fetched voter-fraud conspiracy theories. It’s not bad work if you can get it.

On Tuesday, Aguirre was arrested and charged with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon as part of a bogus voter-fraud conspiracy, the Post reports. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said QUOTE He crossed the line from dirty politics to commission of a violent crime and we are lucky no one was killed ENDQUOTE. An attorney for Aguirre, sixty three, disputed the charges, calling the case political.

According to the Post, Aguirre had received $266,400 from the Liberty Center for God and Country, a Houston-based organization funded by Republican megadonors. Aguirre spent twenty four years in the Houston Police Department before he was fired in 2003 over his role in a failed raid in a department store parking lot. Aguirre was released after he posted a bond of $30,000. He is expected back in court today. No word on whether the disgraced ex-cop has asked Trump for a pardon yet, but it may be only a matter of time.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Dodge City, Kansas, Mayor Joyce Warshaw resigned on Tuesday, reportedly due to personal safety concerns after the city commission voted to require everyone in town to wear masks indoors. For Warshaw, the flood of messages she got telling her to burn in hell was simply too much. Seriously, what is wrong with people?

The United States poverty rate has surged over the past five months, with seven point eight million Americans falling into poverty, the Washington Post reports. It is the biggest jump in a single year since the government began tracking poverty sixty years ago. Congratulations to Donald Trump on setting new records.

NBC News reports that Trump has come so close to firing FBI Director Christopher Wray in recent months that the White House counsel’s office has warned him not to do so because it could put him in potential legal jeopardy. Administration sources said firing Wray does not appear imminent, but they also point out that Trump could make such a decision on a whim at any time. You don’t say?

China’s lunar probe returned more than four pounds of rock and soil from a volcanic plain on the moon back to Earth yesterday. Scientists say the samples should shed light on lunar history and evolution. The spacecraft, Chang’e-5, is named after a Chinese moon goddess. Good job, lady!

That’s all for the AM Quickie. Join us this afternoon on the Majority Report.

DEC 17, 2020 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn