Donald Trump is cooking the books
Donald Trump and his team have not handled the coronavirus pandemic well. While Trump continues to point to China, the reality is we have been mired in the pandemic and the destruction it has presented for at least six months, and the administration just keeps getting it wrong. The latest approach is for White House personnel, such as Peter Navarro, to attack Dr. Anthony Fauci. While the White House said that Navarro went “rogue” and had no authority, his statements appeared to be consistent with the coordinated effort to discredit Fauci.
Now, it turns out, in an effort to hide the grim reality from the American people, Trump and his team have instructed hospitals to report the numbers to the White House and bypass the CDC. Just think, this administration is the most corrupt we have witnessed in any of our lifetimes, and that is based on information that is out in the public sphere. Imagine what information and data we don’t have, and other efforts by the administration to hide the truth on a variety of topics.
The instructions on COVID-19 came in a little-noticed document issued, “COVID-19 Guidance for Hospital Reporting and FAQs,” issued on July 10, which provides in part: “As of July 15, 2020, hospitals should no longer report the Covid-19 information in this document to the National Healthcare Safety Network site. Please select one of the above methods to use instead.”
Former CDC officials and others have raised the alarm with this new process, as it is unprecedented and a dangerous step in being able to “bleach” the data. On a day when several CDC former directors blasted the Trump administration for its poor handling of the coronavirus response, we now have news such as this that the administration will do all in its power to downplay the number of cases and the spread and deaths from this pandemic, all in an effort to gain Trump another four more years. Stay vigilant and do not let this administration falsely comfort you.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.