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Trump vs. his own administration

President Trump holds a "Great American Comeback" rally in Mosinee, Wisc., last night. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

The day after President Trump slapped down his CDC director, we had two stunning new cases of administration officials being undermined from the top.

The state of play: On the Hill, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified about "very active" efforts by Russia to denigrate Joe Biden and sow discord ahead of the election.

  • Trump later tweeted: "But Chris, you don’t see any activity from China, even though it is a FAR greater threat than Russia, Russia, Russia. They will both, plus others, be able to interfere in our 2020 Election with our totally vulnerable Unsolicited (Counterfeit?) Ballot Scam. Check it out!"

At the CDC, it turns out that a heavily criticized recommendation about who should be tested for the coronavirus wasn't written by scientists, but "was posted to the agency’s website despite their serious objection," the New York Times reports.

  • A federal official told The Times the wording came from HHS and the White House coronavirus task force and "does not reflect what many people at the C.D.C. feel should be the policy."

Go deeper

Steve LeVine
Aug 22, 2019 - World

Russian interference, 2020

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Americans are at each other's throats. Politically, socially and culturally, we suspect each other's motives and plain sanity. So certain are we of the other's intent to do the nation harm, some of us have joined political gangs and assaulted one another, resulting in at least 1 death.

Which is to say: Americans have played into Russian President Vladimir Putin's hands — again. It is assumed he can attack next year's elections if he so chooses, but since no outsider knows exactly how, what comes next is one of the great underlying mystery-dramas of the 2020 election campaign.

Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow
Zach Dorfman of the Aspen Institute, author of Codebook
Aug 5, 2020 - Politics & Policy

When U.S. politicians exploit foreign disinformation

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

U.S. political actors will keep weaponizing the impact of widespread foreign disinformation campaigns on American elections, making these operations that much more effective and attractive to Russia, China, Iran or other countries backing them.

Why it matters: Hostile powers’ disinformation campaigns aim to destabilize the U.S., and each time a domestic politician embraces them, it demonstrates that they work.

Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow
Zachary Basu
Updated Apr 18, 2019 - Politics & Policy

What the Mueller report tells us about Trump and Russia

President Trump at the Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin. Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty Images

The first part of special counsel Robert Mueller's redacted report addresses Russian interference in the 2016 election and any role the Trump campaign may have played in those efforts.

What to know: Mueller defines election interference as comprising of 2 sets of efforts: The social media disinformation campaign carried out by a Russian troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency, and the hacking and dissemination of Democratic emails by Russian intelligence officers. He narrowly defines "coordination" as an "agreement—tacit or express—between the Trump Campaign and the Russian government on election interference."

This post is breaking news and will be updated.

Go deeper (6 min. read)Arrow

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