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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration could allow families to use federal education funding elsewhere if the local public school does not open during the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. education secretary said on Thursday as the Trump administration seeks to pressure states and cities to fully resume in-person classes.

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Guess Who Came to Dinner

From NBC NEWS:

WASHINGTON — As federal workers file out of the State Department at the end of a Washington workday, an elite group is often just arriving in the marbled, flag-lined lobby: Billionaire CEOs, Supreme Court justices, political heavyweights and ambassadors arrive in evening attire as they’re escorted by private elevator to dinner with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Until the coronavirus shut them down in March, the gatherings were known as “Madison Dinners” — elaborate, unpublicized affairs that Pompeo and his wife, Susan Pompeo, began in 2018 and held regularly in the historic Diplomatic Reception Rooms on the government’s dime.

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Stunt Man

From NBC News:

A Florida congressman couldn’t mask his concern for the coronavirus outbreak.

Rep. Matt Gaetz wore a gas mask to Wednesday’s House vote on the $8.3 billion bill for emergency funding to help tackle the issue.

Matt Gaetz poses in his custom-made gas mask and tinfoil hat.

High Crimes but No Subpoenas

Twitler grabbed Lamar Alexander by the pussy. “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”

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I’m sure he’ll get clean coal in his stocking

People are making a big deal over Twitler’s letter to President Recep Erdogan of Turkey, but have you see the letter he wrote to Santa?

Lordy, I hope there are tapes!

From the Op-Ed page of the TIMES of SAN DIEGO:

(Written by Colleen O’Connor, native San Diegan and a retired college professor)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein just called for a “word for word” transcript of the explosive whistleblower complaint against President Trump that led to the House impeachment inquiry.

As the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Feinstein believes that an “official word-for-word transcript of the call” between Trump and the President of the Ukraine was produced.

And she also doubts the accuracy of Trump’s report of the call.

A verbatim transcript (without the many ellipses found in the Trump version) is probably hidden inside the U.S. intelligence community’s “code-only,” restricted-access computer system.

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Whistleblowing past the graveyard

From CBS News:

Washington — President Trump moved on Wednesday to stave off the most serious threat to his presidency yet, releasing a summary of a conversation with the president of Ukraine that’s at the center of an impeachment inquiry by House Democrats. In a series of public appearances, Mr. Trump argued the summary cleared him of wrongdoing, despite it showing he repeatedly urged the Ukrainian president to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, his potential Democratic rival.

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That HelSinking Feeling

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Standing side-by-side with Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday refused to blame the Russian leader for meddling in the U.S. 2016 election, casting doubt on the findings of his own intelligence agencies and sparking a storm of criticism at home.