The Weekly List

This week, nearly 12,000 Americans died of the  coronavirus. The U.S. became not only the country with the most cases by  a factor of three, but also the country with the most deaths in the  world. As American bodies piled up, Trump was obstinate and refused to  change his approach, instead continuing to tweet grievances and holding  daily campaign rallies masquerading as...

This week coronavirus cases and deaths in the  U.S. spiked, adding close to 200,000 reported cases, and by midweek,  more than a thousand Americans were dying each day. Trump pivoted from  denying the crisis and wanting to reopen the country, to suddenly  acknowledging the gravity and claiming if 100,000 to 200,000 Americans  die, he will have done a “very good job” — a re...

This week the U.S. continued exponential growth  of coronavirus cases, finding itself with the most cases in the world on  Thursday — surpassing Italy and China. The number of deaths likewise  continued to grow exponentially. New York was hardest hit, accounting  for roughly half the cases, but was also ahead of the rest of the  country in aggressively testing and quarantining. An impetuous Trump,...

This week the United States had the highest  spread rate of the coronavirus of countries reporting, starting the week  with roughly 2,500 cases, and ending the week fourth in the world with  more than 22,000. Countries that had early testing available like South  Korea saw their daily adds ebb to below 100, while daily growth in U.S.  cases was close to 50%. Despite Trump’s promises last Friday fo...

This week Trump finally was no longer able to  sustain a narrative minimizing the severity of the coronavirus outbreak.  The week started with 387 cases in 28 states, and ended with more than  2,500 cases in 49 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico, with 51 Americans dead.  Trump continued to blame everyone but himself: the Obama administration  for lack of testing, the Federal Re...

This week the coronavirus spread in the U.S.  from 15 to 387 cases in 28 states, with at least 19 people dead. The  number of cases is likely well under-reported due to the lack of  available testing kits — one of many signs that the Trump regime is  ill-equipped to tackle what is likely to become a global pandemic. The  lack of verified information, combined with the cons...

This week the coronavirus consumed the country  and the world, as it spread from continent to continent. Trump’s  strategy in recent weeks of ignoring and minimizing the virus’ import  became untenable as his precious stock market plummeted, and country by  country news spread of deaths and disruptions. The global stock markets  have lost $6 trillion in value from the outb...

This week the country strayed further from  democracy, as Trump purged the Office of the Director of National  Intelligence. The firings started when Trump learned a senior official  at ODNI had briefed House lawmakers on Russia’s efforts to interfere in  the 2020 election, with the intent to help Trump. Trump fired his acting  director, installing a loyalist with no intel...

This week, unchecked by checks and balances,  Trump continued his retaliation tour, unabashedly showcasing his will to  control the Justice Department. After career prosecutors made  recommendations for sentencing for his longtime associate Roger Stone,  which were overridden by the DOJ, a mass exodus ensued, nicknamed the  ‘Tuesday massacre’ — a nomenclature now familiar...

This was one of the most frightening weeks, as  Trump seized on his impeachment acquittal to retaliate against his  perceived enemies. Within 48 hours, Trump’s Department of Homeland  Security suspended the Global Entry program for New York residents,  Trump’s Treasury Department turned over confidential records on Hunter  Biden to Senate Republicans opening investigations...

This week, despite explosive new allegations  implicating Trump in leaked portions of the manuscript for John Bolton’s  upcoming book, the Senate voted 51–49 on Friday not to call witnesses,  all but ensuring Trump will be acquitted in the impeachment trial. This  marks the first time in U.S. history that an impeachment trial will  occur with no witnesses. Both House Speak...

This week the Senate impeachment trial of Donald  J. Trump began, even as evidence continued to trickle out. House  Democrat impeachment managers made their case for the two articles over  three days, laying out their argument with an intricate presentation and  appealing to Republicans’ better angels to put partisanship aside for  the sake of preserving our fragile democr...

This week the articles of impeachment were  transmitted to the Senate, and the impeachment trial formally began.  Senators were sworn in, but it was unclear if they planned to follow the  oath they swore to deliver impartial justice. This week the House released hundreds of pages  of documents provided by Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani.  Parnas made stunning dis...

This week as the country was on the brink of war  with Iran, we stood alone, with the Trump regime having neglected to  consult with our allies in Europe or the region. Reporting indicated the  decision to strike that precipitated the latest crisis was made by  Trump and Trump alone, amid his shrinking circle of less experienced but  more compliant national security expert...

Throughout my time keeping the list, I have been  concerned that since Trump would do anything to stay in power, when he  felt he was losing his grip, we risked him taking extraordinary actions.  This week, Trump assassinated Iran’s top general Qasem Soleimani — a  decision he made while vacationing in Mar-a-Lago, and unilaterally,  without seeking approval or consulting w...

This was the quietest week in months as Congress left Washington for a  two-week holiday break. After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to  transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate, Trump spent the week  stewing and repeatedly attacking her on Twitter and in his limited  public appearances. Sen. Lisa Murkowski became the first Republican  Senator to speak out agains...

In this historic week, Trump became the third  president in U.S. history to be impeached. Unlike his recent  predecessors who faced the process, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton,  Trump showed no remorse; rather as the vote was occurring, Trump blasted  impeachment and his political opponents in a two-hour meandering speech  at a campaign rally in Michigan. Even by his standards, his rhetoric  was m...

This week, the House Judiciary Committee debated  and voted to approve two articles of impeachment against Donald J.  Trump, for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. After two fiery  days of debate, the panel took a somber vote Friday, marking the fourth  time in U.S. history the Judiciary passed articles of impeachment.  Remarkably, Senate Leader Mitch McConnell ap...

This week, Trump traveled to London for the NATO  summit as impeachment hearings got underway in the House Judiciary  Committee, and Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee issued a  scathing 300-page report. While Trump sought to display strength abroad,  and used the summit as an excuse not to participate in impeachment  hearings, a video at a Buckingham Palace rec...

This week, more conspiracy theories were  debunked, as a draft of the Department of Justice Inspector General  report found the FBI did not try to place spies in Trump’s 2016  campaign, nor did Obama wiretap him. Trump allies continued to push the  conspiracy that Ukraine, not Russia, may have interfered in 2016,  despite it being thoroughly and widely disproved. Trump sou...

This was a remarkable week in impeachment  hearings as nine witnesses testified. By week’s end, it was clear that  there was a coordinated effort that included multiple senior Trump  officials “in the loop” seeking investigations from Ukraine in exchange  for aid and a White House visit — an effort that went against U.S.  national security interests. Trump and his allies’...

This week public impeachment hearings started,  with three career diplomats testifying before the House Intelligence  Committee. Senate Republicans were notably quiet in their defense of  Trump, while Republican House members focused mostly on the process,  especially for the third witness, Maria Yovanovitch, who proved  unassailable. William Taylor testified about a previ...

This week, House Democrats released transcripts  of eight depositions, and announced a schedule for public hearings next  week. As support for impeachment plateaued, Democrats tentatively  planned to fast-track hearings, with a vote on articles of impeachment  before the holiday break. Republicans meanwhile, careened from varying  defenses of Trump, from it was not a bad q...

This week, further testimony in the impeachment  probe brought the fifth and sixth public confirmation of a quid pro quo  between Trump and Ukraine, including so far William Taylor, Gordon  Sondland, Sen. Ron Johnson, Mick Mulvaney, Alexander Vindman and Tim  Morrison. By week’s end, Senate Republicans discussed shifting their  defense of Trump to acknowledging his quid pr...

This week marked a major shift in the world  order, as Trump finalized the evacuation of troops on Turkey-Syria  border, and the void of leadership was instantaneously filled by Russia.  Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Turkish President Recep Tayyip  Erdogan in Sochi, before hosting 40 African nations there, at what was  dubbed the first Russia-Africa summit. As Ho...