POLITICO NIGHTLY: Are you better off today?

BY RENUKA RAYASAM Presented by With help from Myah Ward FIRST LOOK — Here’s another way to grab the latest Covid data each morning: Johns Hopkins University, with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, will release daily animations to summarize Covid-19 trends over the last 24 hours and provide a quick topline look at the country’s outbreak. Take a first look at the new resource here. Johns Hopkins University THE COVID CAMPAIGN — Are you better off now than you were four years ago? Most voters say no: Tens of millions of people have lost their jobs, nearly 5 million people have gotten sick from Covid, hundreds of thousands of businesses have shuttered for good, kids have lost months of schooling. So how, then, does an incumbent member of Congress convince this battered electorate that they deserve to stick around? Today, voters headed to the polls in Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington — the last mega-primary day of 2020 and a major test of how the pandemic is shaping the campaign. The states feature incumbents facing primaries, senators from both parties gearing up for tough general election fights and one constant: frazzled, dispirited voters. “When you look at the entire electorate,” said Republican strategist Kristin Davison, “they are scared and angry.” Some incumbents are deflecting blame. As Democrats tie Arizona Sen. Martha McSally to Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and the Trump administration’s handling of coronavirus, McSally is pointing the finger at China, saying the country misled the world about the severity of the outbreak. McSally isn’t in danger of losing her primary today, but she is already locked in an expensive general election contest against Democrat Mark Kelly, as Covid case counts and deaths have skyrocketed in Arizona in recent weeks. More than half of her TV ads over the last few months have focused on coronavirus, according to Advertising Analytics, a political ad tracking firm. In Michigan, Democratic Sen. Gary Peters also took a tough tone on China with ads in the spring, tying it into his advocacy for Michigan businesses against Chinese competitors during his career. Focus on what’s next. Both Republican and Democratic strategists say as November nears, more candidates will be talking about rebuilding post-pandemic life. Voters aren’t really looking for someone to blame, said Democratic strategist Jill Alper. Some incumbents who can tout a role in containing the virus, as well as those who voted for congressional relief efforts to address the pandemic’s fallout, will see a boost. “People are looking for a culture of can do leaders who are going to eradicate the virus,” Alper said, “rather than those who have no plan and attack leaders who are stepping up to do something about it.” Missouri Rep. Lacy Clay, a 10-term incumbent whose family has represented the St. Louis-based House seat since the late ’60s, is running on the slogan #StaywithClay as he faces a progressive primary challenge. McSally, Peters and others battleground-state senators are talking up their support, fixes and suggestions for the Paycheck Protection Program and other plans for economic relief amid coronavirus. The pandemic isn’t changing the local dynamics in every race. Our review of Advertising Analytics data showed that Democratic campaigns are more likely to discuss coronavirus in their recent advertising. In competitive open primaries for a House seat in Kansas or a Tennessee Senate seat on Thursday, GOP candidates will stick with President Donald Trump even as opponents attack his handling of the crisis, said Davison. But Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s Democratic primary versus Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones demonstrates how all members of Congress, regardless of party and reputation, feel the pressure to prove things are terrible in spite of their efforts, not because of them. Republicans may have a harder case to make with Trump atop their ticket, but Democrats are also trying to show they are softening the blow of coronavirus. Earlier this year, Tlaib made good on her promise to vote for Trump’s impeachment. These days, she’s turned her attention to making sure that her constituents don’t have their water shut off during the crisis and helping them pay for burial costs. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly: Coronavirus Special Edition. Today WNBA players with the Atlanta Dream and Phoenix Mercury arrived at their game wearing T-shirts supporting Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat challenging Atlanta Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) for her Senate seat. Reach out rrayasam@politico.com or on Twitter at @renurayasam.   A message from PhRMA: America’s biopharmaceutical companies are sharing manufacturing capabilities with each other so that once a treatment or vaccine is ready, they can get it to millions of people fast. And there’s no slowing down. America’s biopharmaceutical companies will continue working day and night until they beat coronavirus. More.   FIRST IN NIGHTLY KNOCK THE VOTE — Trump’s campaign says it knocked on more than 1 million doors in the past week alone. Joe Biden’s campaign says it knocked on zero. The Republican and Democratic parties — from the presidential candidates on down — are taking polar opposite approaches to door-to-door canvassing this fall, writes reporter Alex Thompson. The competing bets on the value of face-to-face campaigning during a pandemic has no modern precedent, making it a potential wild card in November, especially in close races. Republicans say their door-knocking dominance could make a difference, since in-person conversations have long been considered the most effective type of voter contact. “From now to Election Day, voters may only see one campaign at their doors,” said Elliott Echols, national field director of Trump Victory, the campaign and RNC’s joint field operation. “If this were Barack Obama running, Democrats would want to be out there knocking doors. They don’t have enthusiasm or a strong field operation, so it is a convenient excuse. We can do this safely for President Trump and Republicans up and down the ballot.” Police stand guard as demonstrators protest outside of Chicago's City Hall calling for classes to be held remotely when public school begins in the fall. | Getty Images AROUND THE NATION ‘NO EXPLANATION’ — When Trump directed late Monday that states now pick up some of the tab for the nationwide deployment of the National Guard to respond to the coronavirus, he carved out two big exceptions: Texas and Florida. While all other states and territories will have to shell out millions to cover 25 percent of their National Guard costs, Texas and Florida will be fully covered, prompting accusations of an ulterior motive, health care reporter Alice Miranda Ollstein writes. An estimated 25,000 Guard troops are on duty across the country running testing sites, contact tracing positive virus cases, beefing up overtaxed hospitals, and carrying out a host of other logistical tasks, including delivering supplies. The decision was hailed by officials in Texas and Florida today. But the National Guard Association, which represents tens of thousands of Guard personnel, said it has received “no explanation” for why they are getting special treatment when they are far from the only states relying heavily on the citizen-soldiers to battle high rates of sickness and death and with treasuries that are similarly under enormous financial strain. The two key states, which voted for Trump in 2016 and are hotly contested this year, are struggling to contain coronavirus surges. But other states are worse off by several metrics — including total Covid-19 cases and the percentage of people testing positive. “There are some other states with very high rates and they weren’t included," the advocacy group’s spokesman John Goheen told POLITICO. “We’re shrugging our shoulders."   BECOME A CHINA WATCHER : Tensions between the U.S. and China continue to rise following the shuttering of China's consulate in Houston. Is it possible for the two countries to hit the "reset" button or is that just a pipe dream? Join the conversation and gain expert insight from informed and influential voices in government, business, law, tech and academia. China Watcher is as much of a platform as it is a newsletter. Subscribe today.     PALACE INTRIGUE LIGHTING A FIRE — The White House is considering a trio of executive orders aimed at shaking up coronavirus relief negotiations with Democrats, a sign of frustration within the Trump administration at the sluggish pace of the talks with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. The three actions under consideration would delay the collection of federal payroll taxes, reinstitute an expired eviction moratorium, and in the riskiest gambit of them all, extend enhanced federal unemployment benefits using unspent money already appropriated by Congress, Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan write. This plan is the brainchild of White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Issuing the orders is aimed at shifting the power dynamics in high-level talks between the two top administration officials on one side, and Pelosi and Schumer on the other. But it may give embattled Senate Republicans a lifeline as they try to save their majority heading into Nov. 3. The White House believes it could tap $81 billion in unspent aid approved by Congress as part of the Cares Act to offer states the ability to take advantage of beefed up unemployment benefits. Administration officials also think the Labor Department can loan state unemployment agencies additional money to boost payments to laid-off workers. Under this scenario, states could offer anywhere from $200 to $600 per week.       FROM THE HEALTH DESK Nightly’s Myah Ward chatted with health care reporter Adam Cancryn about the shortcomings of U.S. Covid-19 data and how to parse through the conflicting numbers. Since the beginning of the pandemic, what has changed about data collection and reporting? In short, a lot. But for context, it’s important to first understand the one thing that hasn’t changed: There’s no central federal database that vacuums up and stores all the country’s health information. So what we’ve seen over the past six months is this piecemeal scramble by the federal government and states to assemble all the indicators from disparate sources that might help us understand and track this virus. Now some data is going to HHS instead of the CDC. Has this caused any problems? It’s certainly created some disruptions, and at this point only time will tell how serious they end up being. One thing HHS has already acknowledged is that the changeover was made too abruptly — and so there are still states and hospitals playing catch up. That appears to be at least part of the reason why Covid-19 data reporting has been more inconsistent of late. And if in a few weeks we end up with a much-improved system for tracking the virus, maybe it’s worth the hassle. The real question in my mind, though, is what exactly the Trump administration does with the information that it’s collecting. How is it informing their response? Do you have any tips about how people should dig through and understand the data for themselves? It’s hard even for us health care reporters, so my first piece of advice is not to be discouraged! But maybe more helpfully, I’d recommend starting with your state health department’s website — nearly all of which have dashboards now that can give you a quick sense of how the virus is spreading and what the risk is in the area that’s going to affect you most directly. And if you want a wider picture, there are some great resources — POLITICO's live tracker, The Atlantic’s Covid Tracking Project and Covid Exit Strategy, to name a few — that make it easy to see how the disease is progressing overall. Where is the U.S. succeeding in data collection and reporting? Where are the holes? We’re doing a pretty good job at giving people a basic sense of how the virus is spreading across the U.S. We know generally how many people are infected, how many have died from Covid-19, whether cases are increasing, are decreasing, etc., down to the state and county levels. That said, the holes are still pretty big — especially when it comes to calculating the toll on communities of color. We don’t know the race or ethnicity of more than half of the nation’s coronavirus patients. Many states group Native American patients into an “other” category or don’t collect that information at all, limiting our ability to target care to a historically underserved population. What are you struggling with as you dig through the data? A lot of our job as reporters digging through this information every day is figuring what it can tell us about the pandemic and our response to it. And that’s not always easy: A sudden daily spike in cases in one state could be the start of an outbreak, or it could simply be a lag in how infections were reported. Was a new cluster because of people crowding into bars and restaurants, for example, or crowding the streets for a protest? Do you think Americans trust the data? Should they? Broadly, I think Americans can trust the data — we just have to understand its limitations. Whether Americans actually do trust the data is a tougher question, and more dependent on how political leaders treat the facts in front of them. When Trump claims the situation is improving and the virus will soon disappear, for example, there’s a percentage of the population that’s going to believe him no matter what any data says. COVID-2020 KEYS TO KEYSTONE — In the latest edition of 2020 Check-In, video reporter Eugene Daniels takes us through the state of play in Pennsylvania, where the Obama-Trump voter holds the keys to victory and an East-West divide defines the political environment. ROCKY IN ROCKY TOP — An orthopedic surgeon with Indian immigrant parents. A former ambassador with ties to Trump and Mitt Romney. Both anti-abortion and pro-gun. Both criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement. Two Republicans vie for who is more conservative as a Tennessee Senate race heats up. In the latest edition of POLITICO Dispatch, Alex Thompson talks about why this race is a reflection on larger shifts in the party. Listen to the latest POLITICO Dispatch podcast ASK THE AUDIENCE Nightly asks you: What concerns you the most about the November election? Let us know your thoughts, and we’ll include select answers in our Friday edition. NIGHTLY NUMBER 12 The number of days between national security adviser Robert O’Brien’s positive Covid-19 test and his return to work at the White House today. O’Brien is resuming in-person duties, having been cleared by doctors after two negative tests in a row and a week of being asymptomatic. During his self-isolation period, O’Brien worked remotely from his house, which has a secure facility that lets him view classified information. (h/t Daniel Lippman) THE GLOBAL FIGHT A sign directs travelers to a coronavirus testing station at Schoenefeld Airport near Berlin. So far one percent of those tested at the Berlin airports of Tegel and Schoenefeld are showing positive for Covid-19 infection. | Getty Images GESUNDHEITSPROBLEME — Germany’s steadfast approach has made the country a model for combatting the coronavirus, but that success is helping to spread another ill across German society: pandemic denial. A mass demonstration in central Berlin over the weekend that drew an estimated 20,000 protesters underscored the allure of Germany’s burgeoning coronavirus-denial movement, a motley group whose adherents span the political spectrum, chief Europe correspondent Matthew Karnitschnig writes. Saturday’s marchers included everyone from neo-Nazis waving the Reichsflagge (a symbol of the German Empire displayed by many on the extreme right in lieu of the banned swastika) to dreadlocked peace protesters and LGBTQ activists carrying rainbow banners. Hardly any of the protesters, who accuse the government and press of lying about the pandemic, wore masks or followed social distancing rules, prompting authorities to put an early end to the demonstration. The potency and political breadth of Saturday’s demonstration (dubbed “The end of the pandemic — day of freedom," by its organizers) rattled political leaders. “The scenes we were forced to witness are unacceptable,” a spokeswoman for Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday, adding that the demonstrators had misused Germany’s constitutional right to protest and flouted public health warnings. “The irresponsibility of a small few poses a risk for us all,” President Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned in a video statement. Though Germany, a country of more than 80 million, has fared well during the pandemic compared to most large countries (some 9,200 people have died of Covid-19), authorities are bracing for a second wave and, as elsewhere in Europe, are already seeing signs of a resurgence.   POLITICO'S "FUTURE PULSE" - THE COLLISION OF HEALTH CARE AND TECHNOLOGY : As the United States remains stuck in a screening crisis, a worldwide competition has been launched to find the top Covid-19 rapid testing solutions. The contest aims to find a system with a painless sample and quick turnaround for results. When will a breakthrough come? From Congress and the White House, to state legislatures and Silicon Valley, Future Pulse spotlights the politics, policies and technologies driving long-term change on the most personal issue for voters: Their health. SUBSCRIBE NOW.     PARTING WORDS FLOATING THE IDEA OF MASKS — In a new public service announcement, a hot dog softly sways from the top of the frame to the bottom with the help of a mask-shaped parachute. The sounds of bat hitting a baseball and a stadium organ play in the background. The point: Wearing a mask can hasten the return of the things we love the most, said Tom Ortega, principal and chief creative officer at RIESTER Public Affairs. The company designed the series of “Let’s Land Safely” PSAs at the request of Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey’s office, who unveiled them in his weekly news conference last week. Ducey has resisted a statewide mask mandate even as Covid case counts have skyrocketed in Arizona. But the series of ads , which also feature a parachute-wearing guitar and art piece, were more of a soft diplomacy ploy to encourage people to wear masks. Ortega said that his team showed Ducey’s staff multiple campaigns, and they pretty quickly picked the parachuting hot dog as a way to gently win over mask skeptics. “Wearing a mask is a little divisive,” said Ortega. “If people can remember the parachute when they wear a mask and think about the state landing safely, then we give them a sense of purpose.”   A message from PhRMA: America’s biopharmaceutical companies are sharing their knowledge and resources more than ever before to speed up the development of new medicines to fight COVID-19. They’re working with doctors and hospitals on over 1,100 clinical trials. And there’s no slowing down. America’s biopharmaceutical companies will continue working day and night until they beat coronavirus. Because science is how we get back to normal. See how biopharmaceutical companies are working together to get people what they need during this pandemic.   Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter Renuka Rayasam @renurayasam   FOLLOW US

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RSN: Garrison Keillor | One Man's Pandemic Is Another Man's Picnic

02 August 20

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Garrison Keillor | One Man's Pandemic Is Another Man's Picnic

Garrison Keillor, Garrison Keillor's Website
Keillor writes: "I love reading columns that snap and crackle and poke powerful people in the kisser and I am bored by columns like this one, which is about the goodness and generosity of life, but what can I say?"
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US ambassador Todd Chapman exits a 2018 meeting in Ecuador. (photo: Dolores Ochoa/AP)

US Ambassador to Brazil Reportedly Asked Brazilian Officials to Help Trump's Reelection
Anya van Wagtendonk, Vox
van Wagtendonk writes: "The Trump administration has been accused of attempting to pressure another foreign country into helping Trump's reelection prospects, according to a letter from the House Foreign Affairs Committee." 

Brazilian news reports say the ambassador asked for a “favor.” Democrats are demanding answers.

he Trump administration has been accused of attempting to pressure another foreign country into helping Trump’s reelection prospects, according to a letter from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. 

That letter cites Brazilian news articles that report US Ambassador to Brazil Todd Chapman pressured members of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration to lower ethanol tariffs in order to support President Donald Trump’s reelection efforts.

In the letter, Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Eliot Engel demands Chapman explain an article in which the ambassador is said to have asked for the tariffs to be lowered as a “favor” from the Brazilian government to the Trump reelection campaign. 

“Iowa is the largest ethanol producer in the United States…and could be a key player in Trump’s election,” an article in the Brazilian newspaper O Globo reads, according to the letter. “Hence the importance – according to Chapman – for the Bolsonaro government to do the U.S. a favor.”

Beyond the report in O Globo, the New York Times notes, another Brazilian outlet, Estadão, published a similar story based on its own reporting, with its journalists finding that Chapman had made the request, and was rebuffed by government officials.

Alceu Moreira, a Brazilian congressman, also told the Times that Chapman “had made repeated references to the electoral calendar during a recent meeting the two had about ethanol.”

Engel has called for Chapman to respond to the reports by August 4, and for him to provide “any and all documents referring or related to any discussions” with Brazilian officials.

If the reports are accurate, the letter states, Chapman’s actions could be in violation of the Hatch Act, which prevents federal employees from engaging in certain political activities, such as partisan campaigning for candidates.

A State Department spokesperson said in a statement that Chapman’s efforts were part of a policy of pushing for lower tariffs in general, not narrowly focused on supporting an incumbent presidential campaign.

“Allegations suggesting that Ambassador Chapman has asked Brazilians to support a specific U.S. candidate are false,” the statement reads. “The United States has long been focused on reducing tariff barriers and will continue do so.”

Foreign interference marred the 2016 election. Requests for interference led to impeachment.

The reports are also of concern because of how closely they echo the request that led to Trump’s impeachment. 

Last July, Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to “do us a favor” during a phone call in which he asked the leader to look into the business dealings of Hunter Biden, the son of then-candidate, now presumed Democratic nominee Joe Biden. In that call, Trump appeared to condition military aid badly needed by Ukraine on Zelensky’s willingness to search for information that might be used to discredit Biden.

A congressional investigation into that call revealed the ways the Trump administration used traditional diplomatic channels — most notably the office of the US ambassador to the European Union — to forward that goal.

It isn’t clear whether Trump was involved in Chapman’s reported pressure campaign about ethanol, but as Vox’s Zack Beauchamp wrote during 2019’s impeachment hearings, the testimony of another of Trump’s ambassadors — former US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland — showed a willingness on Trump’s part “to use US foreign policy as a tool to cement his own hold on power.”

And that has Trump critics concerned about the Brazilian reports, with Engel warning Chapman in his letter, “Elections in the United States are for the American people and the American people only to decide.”

In delivering that warning, the letter explicitly links Chapman’s reported campaign to the 2016 election, the outcome of which foreign governments repeatedly attempted to sway, according to the results of a Senate investigation.

“Given the events of 2016, it is all the more important for U.S. ambassadors serving our country abroad to not insert themselves into U.S. elections or encourage foreign government officials from any branch of government to do so,” the letter reads.

This warning follows intelligence reports that find Russia has actively worked to disrupt November’s elections — as well as the Democratic presidential primary. But politicians and experts have warned that the US is not as prepared as it ought to be to combat such interference, leaving it vulnerable to meddling attempts not just by adversaries, but by also by Americans who, as Engel writes, “should know better.”

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Bill Barr. (photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Is Trump's Top Cop, Attorney General William Barr, a Danger to Democracy?
David Smith, Guardian UK
Smith writes: "William Barr was hungry. 'Mr Chairman, could we take a five-minute break?' the attorney general asked Jerry Nadler of the House of Representatives' judiciary committee. 'No,' retorted Nadler, his hearing almost done. Barr responded sardonically: 'You're a real class act.'"
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President Trump stops to talk to reporters as he walks to board Marine One and depart from the South Lawn at the White House on July 31. (Jabin Botsford/WP)

Trump Promises Health-Care Overhaul That Never Arrives
Anne Gearan, Amy Goldstein and Seung Min Kim, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "It was a bold claim when President Trump said that he was about to produce an overhaul of the nation's health-care system, at last doing away with the Affordable Care Act, which he has long promised to abolish."
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The intensive care unit at OakBend Medical Center in Richmond, Texas, on July 15. Hospitals are supposed to report data to the federal government each day about the COVID-19 patients they are treating. (photo: Mark Felix/AFP/Getty Images)

How Many People in the US Are Hospitalized With COVID-19? Who Knows?
Charles Ornstein, ProPublica
Ornstein writes: "In mid-July, the Trump administration instructed hospitals to change the way they reported data on their coronavirus patients, promising the new approach would provide better, more up-to-the-minute information about the virus's toll and allow resources and supplies to be quickly dispatched across the country."
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White supremacists attacked with bats and stones Mapuche community members, Municipality of Victoria, Chile, August 1, 2020. (photo: Twitter/ @DiablaSandi)

Chile: Civilians Violently Attack Hunger-Striking Mapuches With Police Complicity
teleSUR
Excerpt: "A group of civilians, in complicity with the Chilean police (carabineros) and right-wingers, on Saturday night attacked with bats and stones Mapuche community members who were on a hunger strike in front of the Municipality of Victoria, in Chile's Araucania." 

"Chile's ultra-right wing acts like U.S. white supremacists, ignoring the mestizo origin of the our people," TeleSUR's correspondent in Chile Paola Dragnic tweeted.

The Mapuches set out in front of the Municipality of Victoria, in Curacautin, last Monday to demand the release of Mapuches' political prisoners.

On Saturday, Araucania's Ultra-Right Group (APRA) spokeswoman Gloria Naveillan spread an audio message on Twitter urging to act against the Mapuche community members.

"How many are raising their hands to join us tonight in the Plaza? Bring sticks and everything you need to defend yourselves," Naveillan urged.

TeleSUR's correspondent in Chile Paola Dragnic released photographs showing the attack by armed white supremacists against the Mapuche people in Curacautin.

"White supremacists in Chile now attack Municipality of Victoria taken over by Mapuche community members in protest of Mapuche political prisoners and burn Chemamull located in Plazs de Victoria."

"There are people who celebrate this attack in Curacautin. The ultra-right wing acts like the U.S. white supremacists, ignoring the mestizo origin of the Chilean people," Dragnic tweeted.

Dragnic also shared a video of the moment when civilians attacked the Mapuche community members and burned the wooden Mapuche statue Chemamull located in the Plaza de Victoria.

Officers from the militarized Carabineros Police did nothing to stop the armed civilians, not even when they set fire to a truck.

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Thousands of protesters gathered in downtown Portland Saturday, July 25, 2020, for the 59th consecutive night of protests. (photo: Dave Killen/The Oregonian)

'Unprecedented' Use of Tear Gas Against Portland Protesters Prompts State Regulators to Call for Environmental Testing
Andrew Theen, The Oregonian
Theen writes: "Oregon environmental regulators are requiring the city of Portland to test stormwater around the federal courthouse and parts of downtown, citing the 'unprecedented amount of tear gas' used by local and federal law enforcement agencies since May." 

The Department of Environmental Quality sent a letter Thursday to Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Quality outlining its expectations. The city must send a monitoring plan to state officials within the next three weeks describing how it will monitor for specific heavy metals and chemicals that regulators believe are likely associated with CS gas, a strong form of toxic tear gas used against protesters for months.

City officials said they are aware of the letter and are working in conjunction with the state to do more than just monitor for the roughly half dozen metals required by the state. Diane Dulken, a spokesperson for the sewer and stormwater agency, said Portland is working to “prevent the pollutants from getting into the Willamette River.” She said the agency “regularly” tests for contaminants at locations along the river but will now test specifically near the courthouse, two public parks and Justice Center due to the extensive tear gas used there.

But Portland also raised an alarm bell: It doesn’t know much about tear gas or its residue, and it said those materials are likely already in the sewer system. Dulken noted that tear gas residue is in the trees, on the ground and likely throughout the area near the courthouse and justice center, which has been the centerpiece of nightly protests for months.

“Maybe these materials aren’t hazardous, maybe they are,” Dulken said. “We’re researching that. There isn’t a lot of information.”

The letter is just one of many tear gas related developments wafting through political circles, from Salem to Portland to Washington DC.

It landed the same day that Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler apologized for the city police bureau’s “indiscriminate” use of tear gas in late May or June during months of racial justice protests and demonstrations. Wheeler oversees both the Police and Bureau of Environmental Services, which operates the city’s’ sewer and stormwater system.

In Salem, lawmakers discussed a bill that would prevent law enforcement agencies across the state from using “chemical incapacitants” like tear gas. The legislation would create an exemption for a single less-noxious gas, pepper spray, under certain circumstances and with sufficient announcements.

And U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer and state Rep. Karin Power, the Milwaukie legislator who chairs the state’s House Energy and Environment Committee, on Thursday sent a letter to state and federal environmental leaders asking a series of health and policy questions related to gases police use for crowd control.

“While we work to stop the use of these gases altogether,” they wrote in a letter to the heads of the state DEQ and federal Environmental Protection Agency, “we are also seeking greater transparency about what chemicals have been deployed to date against protesters in Portland, and potential impacts on human health, wildlife, aquatic life, and local air and water quality.”

The Democratic politicians said they want to know the number of tear gas cartridges fired, how many were beyond their expiration date and what agency will pay for associated cleanup. They demanded a response by Aug. 6.

Late Wednesday night, on their last night in charge of policing protests at the courthouse, federal law enforcement and border security officials again launched tear gas across a swath of city parks and streets surrounding the downtown Portland federal courthouse. Tear gas clouds stretched across the entirety of Lownsdale Square and enveloped broad sections of Southwest Third and Fourth avenues. Protesters wore gas masks, goggles, helmets and poured milk into the eyes of those in the thickest areas of tear gas clouds. The gas stings, burns and irritates exposed skin. OPB this week documented dozens of instances in which woman exposed to the gas subsequently had irregular menstrual cycles.

Harry Esteve, a spokesperson for the state environment agency, said the city will likely have to wait until it rains to get reliable test results. According to the National Weather Service, Portland’s last measurable rainfall, three-hundredths of an inch, occurred July 7.

The state is asking Portland to collect and analyze stormwater for chromium, hexavalent chromium, lead, zinc, copper, barium and perchlorate. Most of those substances are toxic to humans at even at extremely low levels.

“We’re taking a close look at the situation,” Esteve said.

Following the monitoring request, Portland must submit a report that includes comparisons to previous tests at the same locations. The state called for the monitoring under the stormwater permit it issued to the city.

Portland police have used tear gas on demonstrators for years, although never with the frequency that federal and local officers have deployed it this spring and summer.

Since July 24, the state fielded 160 official complaints about the gas, Esteve said, plus additional outreach through social media. Those complaints center on concerns for health and the environment.

Esteve said that CS gas, a form of which has been used on Portland streets for months, is “not considered a federal hazardous substance.”

He said DEQ won’t analyze the public health effects of recent tear gas apart from looking at its effects on stormwater runoff, which leads to the Willamette River, saying that “is not something that we regulate.” He said the potential public health impacts are a matter for the Oregon Health Authority to address. 

“The thing about tear gas is it dissipates pretty quickly, so it’s not something that we would respond to like a spill or something like that,” Esteve said.

Jonathan Modie, a spokesperson with the Oregon Health Authority, cited the fact that CS gas is considered toxic by the Centers for Disease Control. Modie referred to federal documents, which indicate people exposed to the gas should “as quickly as possible” wash their skin with “large amounts of soap and water” if they are exposed. The CDC states that “long-lasting exposure” to riot control agents like tear gas in closed spaces could lead to blindness or “respiratory failure possibly resulting in death.”

Dulken, the city spokeswoman, said the agency received information that federal officers were hosing down the streets outside the federal courthouse, spraying the residue into storm drains. “That is not allowed,” she said, “but it was done.”

She said her agency is investigating how it can prevent the tear gas residue that’s already in the system from being flushed into the river when rain comes.

Dulken said it’s not unusual for the bureau to sample stormwater and test for five of the metals included in the state letter, but she said the bureau doesn’t test for hexavalent chromium or perchlorate. She did not have immediate information regarding how frequently the bureau samples in general, but said testing occurs more frequently during the rainy season.

On Friday, crews are expected to examine storm drains near the Justice Center. Dulken said crews will try to take advantage of the dry weather to find residue and clean it out.

That residue will likely flush into the sewers and Willamette River when the rain comes.

Portland, Dulken said, is in uncharted territory. No other city has had so much tear gas deployed over an extended period of time.

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