POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: HIGH COURT to hear MAIL-IN ballot suit — MORSE and KENNEDY chase CHANGE — DA at odds with BAIL FUND

 

BY STEPHANIE MURRAY GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Happy Monday! HIGH COURT TO HEAR BALLOT ACCESS CASE — The state's highest court could deliver another unexpected twist in the Sept. 1 primary this week. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is holding an emergency hearing this morning on a lawsuit brought by Newton City Councilor Becky Grossman, who is running for Congress. Grossman is asking that the state count ballots postmarked by Sept. 1 and received up to 10 days later. Right now, city and town officials must receive ballots by voting day. The primary was already hard to predict. The state is testing its new vote by mail program for the first time, we're in the middle of a pandemic and the final campaign push is happening in the last days of summer. If the court sides with Grossman, campaigns will again have to retool their get-out-the-vote strategies and turnout models. The lawsuit comes amid concerns that the U.S. Postal Service may be unable to handle the volume of mail-in ballots leading up to the election. The USPS warned Massachusetts last month that ballots may not arrive on time. And Secretary of State Bill Galvin is now asking voters to return their mail-in ballots by hand to local drop boxes. Voters can also cast ballots early in-person ahead of the primary, or head to the polls on Sept. 1. Grossman's lawsuit is garnering support from other primary election candidates. Dr. Robbie Goldstein, the infectious disease specialist running against Rep. Stephen Lynch, filed an amicus brief. And Jordan Meehan, a Democrat running against state Rep. Kevin Honan, also voiced his support. Rep. Joe Kennedy III said it's clear many in Massachusetts want to vote by mail, citing the 1 million voters who requested mail-in ballots , when I caught up with him at a campaign stop in Medford on Sunday morning. Kennedy said Grossman's effort is something he would consider supporting, and warned that the state legislature took too long to craft a vote by mail program. "I haven't looked into the details of the case yet but it's certainly something I would consider. Look, as you know, I've been leaning into the issue about ballot access for a while now," Kennedy said. "It was the reason why I was pushing on this back in March and April. … Leaving this to the last second to try to figure out — You are asking for problems." Down the street in Malden, Sen. Ed Markey encouraged voters to use drop boxes when I asked whether he was concerned the postal service may not be up to the task of delivering ballots. Markey dropped off his own ballot yesterday. "I'm here to urge people to just go down to the local voting station and to vote by mail, hand in their ballot right now, they can do it," Markey told me. "I hope everyone who can does that, and if they can't and they want to be more safe, then they should vote by mail." Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com. TODAY — The Republican National Convention begins. Sen. Ed Markey campaigns in Chelsea, Revere, Everett and Lynn. Rep. Joe Kennedy III campaigns with Texas Rep. Al Green in Worcester, Brockton and Boston.   PLUG IN WITH PLAYBOOK AT THE RNC : Join POLITICO Playbook co-authors Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman for "Plug In with Playbook," our new political show popping up at the Republican National Convention each morning at 9 a.m. EDT. Cut through the noise and go behind the scenes with elected officials, political VIPs and top journalists for the latest campaign news and whispers, in-depth analysis of down-ballot races, and the latest juicy nuggets from reporters' notebooks. Aug. 25-27. Watch it live here.     DATELINE BEACON HILL – “Race for vaccine raises ethical dilemmas,” by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: “The race for a coronavirus vaccine is showing positive results, but medical experts say when it becomes available drug makers won't be able to produce enough doses for the entire country, creating difficult questions about who gets it first. Large-scale trials of vaccines developed by companies including Pfizer and Cambridge-based Moderna are underway.” – “Licensing of new childcare providers on hold,” by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: “As many existing childcare providers struggle with the decision about whether to reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a crop of potential new providers have been prevented from opening by pandemic-related delays in the state’s licensing process.” – “New State Guidance: Remote Teaching Should Happen From The Classroom,” by Carrie Jung, WBUR: “Massachusetts education leaders say they expect teachers working in districts using a remote learning model to conduct their lessons from inside their classrooms or learning spaces each day. The announcement was one of several updates included in a memo from education commissioner Jeff Riley on Friday afternoon.” FROM THE HUB – “The lack of Black leaders in New England college sports is ‘what institutional and systemic racism look like,’” by Bob Hohler, Boston Globe: “For 40 years, Charlie Titus witnessed up close one of the starkest racial inequities in American sports. From the summer of 1980, when he became UMass Boston’s first athletic director, until he retired in June, Titus could count on one hand the number of Black men and women running intercollegiate athletic departments in New England.” – “State criticized over calls for teachers to work from empty classrooms this fall,” by John Hilliard, Boston Globe: “New state guidelines calling for K-12 educators to work from empty classrooms while students learn remotely from home was blasted Saturday by teacher unions who said the plan needlessly risked public health as schools move to reopen amid the pandemic.” THE NATIONAL TAKE – “In Mass., two Democrats chase generational change from opposite corners of the movement,” by Paul Kane, The Washington Post: “Alex Morse and Joe Kennedy both want to turn the page to a new generation of Democrats, suggesting that entrenched incumbents sometimes just tend to coast. Who should have the real clout on Capitol Hill?” – “Kennedy turns to family’s 'legacy' in final days of Senate race,” by Zach C. Cohen, National Journal: “Rep. Joe Kennedy III was pleading. Early voting in his primary against Democratic Sen. Ed Markey was starting in just two days, and many voters had already received their ballots at home.” – “Alex Morse Was Accused, Condemned and Then Vindicated. Will His Experience Change Anything?” by Jeremy W. Peters, The New York Times: “Mr. Morse is a 31-year-old, gay, small-city mayor and a rising star in national progressive politics. It wasn’t just his job on the line, but also the hopes of an entire movement: His primary challenge against one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress is being closely watched as an indicator of the strength of the Democratic Party’s insurgent left wing.” THE SENATE SHOWDOWN – “Joe Kennedy wages fierce campaign to reach voters,” by Dugan Arnett, Boston Globe: “For generations, no name in Massachusetts politics has held more clout. But Joseph P. Kennedy III — 39-year-old congressman, heir to the Kennedy dynasty — suddenly finds himself in the fight of his political life.” – “Ed Markey defines self with digital strategy aimed at young voters,” by Hanna Krueger, Boston Globe: “As he vies for his second full term as the state’s junior senator, he’s in a close race with his opponent, 39-year-old Joe Kennedy III. Those Air Revolutions — conspicuously weathered, but perennially hip — are a focal point of the 74-year-old’s campaign.” – “‘Wildly overdrawn’: Kennedy-Markey race becomes referendum on who is the real progressive,” by Victoria McGrane, Boston Globe: “At an early June debate, incumbent Senator Edward J. Markey got right down to framing the race as he saw it: ‘Congressman Kennedy is a progressive in name only,’ he declared. It’s a narrative that has been seized by Markey’s campaign and his Internet-savvy supporters.” – “Kennedy Fails to Return Fossil Fuel Lobbyist Donations,” by Donald Shaw, Sludge: “Joe Kennedy’s campaign did not refund contributions it received from an oil and gas lobbyist in violation of the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge despite telling Sludge earlier this month it would do so, according to a recently filed Federal Election Commission report.” PRIMARY SOURCES – FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: “Two More Bristol County Leaders Endorse Becky Grossman,” from the Grossman campaign: “Today, Becky Grossman’s campaign announced two more endorsements from Bristol County activists: Rehoboth Democrats Chair Paul Jacques and Attleboro Council on Human Rights Chairperson Laurie Sawyer. Jacques and Sawyer join a dozen other Bristol County leaders and elected officials in endorsing Grossman’s campaign to replace Joe Kennedy III.” – “Super PACs flex muscle in race to replace Kennedy, shelling out $1.6M,” by Ted Nesi, WPRI: “ Democrat Alan Khazei is criticizing super PAC spending in the race to succeed Congressman Joe Kennedy — even as one of the groups starts spending big money to prop up Khazei’s own candidacy. So far none of the eight Democrats competing in the 4th Congressional District primary have run negative TV ads, other than a fairly mild spot from Wellesley tech entrepreneur Chris Zannetos.” – “Candidates for Congress keep pitching as voters start casting ballots,” by Stephanie Ebbert, Boston Globe: “On one side of City Hall Sunday, Fourth Congressional District candidates campaigned side-by-side with advocates for affordable housing. On the opposite side, voters were depositing ballots into a specially marked drop box casting their votes in a primary that was still nine days away.” – “Race to replace Joe Kennedy III in 4th Congressional District a heated affair,” by Lisa Kashinsky, Boston Herald: “There’s an open congressional seat in Massachusetts where 10 candidates are waging war across a 34-town battlefield, each attempting to drown the others out on the airwaves as outside groups fan the flames and pot shots fly.” THE WILD WEST – “Alex Morse promises to change system that Richard Neal has mastered in 1st Congressional District race,” by Jim Kinney, Springfield Republican: “One man has mastered the system. The other wants the system, politically and economically, to change.” YOU'VE GOT MAIL – “Letter carriers rally for postal service in Cambridge,” by Gal Tziperman Lotan, Boston Globe: “Letter carrier Bob Tremarche, a 38-year veteran of the US Postal Service, said he’s recently found himself trying to reassure people on his route through East Cambridge. They’ve been worried, he said. Will their mail-in ballots get to the city on time? Will their medication be delivered quickly?” THE OPINION PAGES – “What did Mayor Alex Morse do when Holyoke police beat a 12-year-old boy?” by David Daley, Boston Globe: “We’re unable to shake the terror of George Floyd’s final eight minutes and 46 seconds. We say the names of Breonna Taylor and Philando Castile to assert that Black Lives Matter in the face of unnecessary, overwhelming police force against people of color. Yet it might come as a surprise that a horrifying example of police brutality occurred in Western Massachusetts.” DAY IN COURT – “DA seeks bail increase after learning nonprofit fund would pay it,” by Michael Jonas, CommonWealth Magazine: “In a move that reform advocates call an alarming turn away from the effort to reduce the role of bail in the criminal justice system — a position her own campaign embraced two years ago — Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins’s office is seeking a dramatic increase in bail for a defendant after learning that the Massachusetts Bail Fund was prepared to post the money to free him.” TRUMPACHUSETTS – “Someone painted ‘TRUMP 2020’ on the streets of Southie, and people are riled up about it,” by Ainslie Cromar, Boston.com: “After South Boston woke up to the phrase 'Trump 2020' painted in bright yellow on the streets of Southie Saturday morning, residents took to the city’s 311 website and app, sharing their frustration and support. One complaint read ‘This doesn’t represent all of South Boston, can we have this removed and people arrested for illegal graffiti and littering?’” – “Trump ‘boat parade’ splashes along Massachusetts shore,” by Lisa Kashinsky, Boston Herald: “Fans of President Trump hoped to make a splash Saturday in Newburyport, bringing one of the Republican’s ‘boat parades’ to the shores of the Bay State. ‘It’s way beyond what we thought it was going to be,’ organizer James Haynes told the Herald. ‘The interest just exploded.’” IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN – “Climate Activists Gain Seats on Harvard Oversight Board,” by John Schwartz, The New York Times: “Bucking tradition, a group of climate activists has won three seats in an election to an important governing body at Harvard University, the Board of Overseers, the university announced Friday. The slate of candidates ran on a platform that included calls for the university to drop fossil fuel investments from its portfolio, part of a divestment movement that has swept college campuses for the better part of a decade.” – “Alleging ‘environmental racism,’ residents protest plan to remove scores of mature trees in Roxbury,” by David Abel, Boston Globe: “In a vast expanse of asphalt, it’s a rare stretch of urban greenery. The rows of oaks, lindens, maples, and other trees that line Melnea Cass Boulevard in Roxbury have for decades provided vital shade, fresh air, and a leafy balance to a city corridor that can feel like a furnace in summer and a windswept tarmac in winter.” MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE – “N.H. Demands Massachusetts Stops Taxing Remote Workers Living In Granite State,” WBUR: “New Hampshire is demanding that Massachusetts stop imposing a state income tax on New Hampshire residents working remotely from their homes for Massachusetts companies. In a letter to the Baker administration sent on Friday, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu says he would like to avoid taking the issue to court.” – “Trump to hold rally in Manchester, N.H., on Friday,” by Alyssa Lukpat and Caroline Enos, Boston Globe: “President Trump will hold a rally in Manchester, N.H., on Friday night — a month after he canceled a planned rally in Portsmouth. Trump will speak at the PeriCohas Hangar near Manchester-Boston Regional Airport at 6 p.m., his campaign team said in a statement.” ABOVE THE FOLD — Herald: “PUMPED,” — Globe: “Generations apart, together in pursuit," "COVID plasma treatment gets emergency OK.” FROM THE 413 – “MASS MoCA’s Founding Director to Step Down,” by Colin Moynihan, The New York Times: “Joseph C. Thompson, who became the founding director of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in 1988, will step down from that post near the end of October, the institution announced on Friday. Mr. Thompson spent his first 11 years as director working to open the museum in an industrial complex of brick buildings that had formerly been home to a textile mill and an electronics plant.” – “7th Hampden District state rep. race pits ‘life experience’ against youth: James ‘Chip’ Harrington vs. Jake Oliveira,” by Stephanie Barry, Springfield Republican: “Two Ludlow School Committee members and town natives — one Republican, one Democrat -- pitching experience against youth are running for the 7th Hampden state representative seat left open when longtime Rep. Thomas Petrolati announced he would not run for another term.” THE LOCAL ANGLE – “Two Wellfleet beaches temporarily shut after shark detections,” by Alyssa Lukpat, Boston Globe: “Wellfleet’s Newcomb Hollow and Lecount Hollow beaches were closed to swimmers Sunday after a shark was detected in the water, officials said. Newcomb Hollow Beach was closed for an hour four times starting at 12:05 p.m., 1:22 p.m., 2:05 p.m., and 3:40 p.m. after a shark pinged a buoy, according to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Sharktivity app.” – “After 19 years in refugee camps, a new home in Lowell,” by Sarah Betancourt, CommonWealth Magazine: “Paw Pya, spent more than half of her life in Thai refugee camps, longing for a permanent home. Coronavirus tacked another five months onto her wait. But following the July 29 lifting of a ban on refugee admissions put in place when the pandemic broke out, Pya and her family became the first refugees to arrive in Massachusetts in five months through standard resettlement channels.” TRANSITIONS – Alexis Finneran Tkachuk is starting her own law firm focused on administrative and municipal law, regulatory processes and public policy. Tkachuk leaves her role as director of emerging industries in Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s office, and previously served in the mayor’s administration as chief of staff for the law department and director of labor relations. HAPPY BIRTHDAY – to Lawrence Bacow and Sarah Heinonen. Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.   INTRODUCING POLITICO MINUTES: These unprecedented times demand an unconventional approach to political news coverage. POLITICO Minutes is a new, interactive content experience that delivers the top takeaways you need to know in an easy-to-digest, swipeable format straight to your inbox. Get a breakdown of what we've learned so far, why it matters and what to watch for going forward. Sign up for POLITICO Minutes, launching at the 2020 Conventions.       Follow us on Twitter Stephanie Murray @StephMurr_Jour   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters FOLLOW US

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RN: Charles Pierce | The Postmaster General Stonewalled His Way Through a Senate Hearing

 

 

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Charles Pierce | The Postmaster General Stonewalled His Way Through a Senate Hearing

Charles Pierce, Esquire
Pierce writes: "You may have missed it, having lives and all, but the administration* launched its first rebuttal on Friday to the charges leveled against it at the Democratic National Whatever this past week."

Louis DeJoy was not convincing when it came to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's role in all this.

 It was delivered by Louis DeJoy, the postmaster general, before a Senate committee, and it can be fairly well summarized as, “Yeah? You and what army?” For example, he was asked if he would turn over transcripts of conversations he’d had with various governors and/or documents relating to the new work rules that seem designed for ratfckng purposes.

I don’t know, I don’t have the authority to do some of those things. And that is something that I would need to discuss with counsel and the board’s counsel, so I can’t commit to that.

Under questioning from committee Democrats, DeJoy ducked and stonewalled through most of the hearing. Asked about discussing the new rules with Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin, here was DeJoy’s answer: 

During the discussion and negotiating the note, I told him that I'm working on a plan, but I never discussed the changes to improve service.

I’m certainly convinced.

And next week, he gets to meet the House of representatives. You could sell tickets to Congresswoman Katie Porter’s question time.

Weekly WWoZ Pick To Click: “Shreveport Stomp” (Wilbur DeParis): Yeah, I pretty much still love New Orleans.

Weekly Visit To The Pathe Archives: Here’s the opening of the 1924 Republican National Convention. Yes, a silent film for Silent Cal. “Keep Cool With Coolidge” was the slogan. Of course, had the president he’d been elected with in 1920 not kicked in office, the slogan would’ve been, “Stay Hard with Harding,” which would’ve occasioned hilarity. History, like Cal, is so cool.

Is it a good day for dinosaur news, CNN? It’s always a good day for dinosaur news!

A team of paleontologists, mechanical and biomedical engineers examined the upper and lower leg bones of duck-billed hadrosaurs and sauropods, long-necked and big-bodied plant eaters, whose fossils have been found on every continent. "The structure of the trabecular, or spongy bone that forms in the interior of (the) bones we studied is unique within dinosaurs," said Anthony Fiorillo, a Southern Methodist University paleontologist and one of the authors of the study that published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One...

"Unlike in mammals and birds, the trabecular bone does not increase in thickness as the body size of dinosaurs increase," he said. "Instead it increases in density of the occurrence of spongy bone. Without this weight-saving adaptation, the skeletal structure needed to support the duck-billed, plant-eating hadrosaurs would be so heavy, the dinosaurs would have had great difficulty moving.”

There seems to be little that nature did to keep the dinosaurs alive, one way or the other. At least it left them in the ground for us to find so they could make us happy now.

I’ll be back Monday to preview American Carnage II: The Carnaging. Be well and play nice, ya bastids. Stay above the snake-line, and wear the damn mask.

READ MORE

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) removes his face mask July 1 as he begins a news conference in Nashville. (photo: Mark Humphrey/AP)

Tennessee Adopts New Law That Could Strip Some Protesters of Voting Rights
Colby Itkowitz and Amy Gardner, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "Tennessee protesters could now lose their right to vote under a new law Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed with little fanfare Thursday."
READ MORE

Maryanne Trump Barry, a former federal judge and the sister of Donald J. Trump, during the president's election night rally in New York in 2016. (photo: Julie Jacobson/AP)

'Donald Is Cruel': In Bombshell Secret Tapes, Trump's Sister Says He Has 'No Principles'
Amanda Holpuch, Guardian UK
Holpuch writes: "Donald Trump's older sister, a former federal judge, can be heard sharply criticizing her brother in a series of recordings released on Saturday, at one point saying of the president: 'He has no principles.'"

Maryanne Trump Barry was secretly recorded by her niece, Mary Trump, who in July released a book denouncing the president, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.

Mary Trump said on Saturday she made the recordings, which are legal under New York law, in 2018 and 2019. In the acknowledgements for her book, she thanks her aunt for “all of the enlightening information”.

In one conversation, Barry, now 83, says she had heard a 2018 interview with her brother on Fox News in which he suggested he would put her on the southern border to oversee immigration cases, while his government was separating children from their parents.

“His base, I mean my God, if you were a religious person, you want to help people,” Barry says. “Not do this.”

At another point, she decries “the phoniness of it all … the phoniness and this cruelty. Donald is cruel.”

Barry also guesses that her brother has never read her opinions on immigration cases because he doesn’t read at all.

“What has he read?” Mary Trump asks. Barry responds: “No. He doesn’t read.”

She also says: “His goddamned tweet and lying, oh my God.”

She adds: “I’m talking too freely, but you know. The change of stories. The lack of preparation. The lying. Holy shit.”

After the recordings were reported by the Washington Post, Donald Trump said in a statement: “Every day it’s something else, who cares.” On Sunday, the White House continued to push back, chief of staff Mark Meadows decrying “politics as usual”.

“The president that I have the privilege of serving is not the one that’s being described on a 15-hour ... secret tape,” Meadows said. “I mean, what family member tapes another family member for 15 hours secretly?

“This is politics as usual by a niece that was written out of a will that … just has an axe to grind because she wants Joe Biden to be president.”

Mary Trump and her brother settled with their uncles and aunts in 2001, after a dispute over the will of Fred Trump Sr, the family patriarch. That settlement was the basis of a family attempt to stop publication of Too Much and Never Enough.

“Mary realized members of her family had lied in prior depositions,” said Chris Bastardi, a spokesman, adding: “Anticipating litigation, she felt it prudent to tape conversations in order to protect herself.”

Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, dismissed Barry’s quotes as a “sibling rivalry”. After NBC Meet the Press host Chuck Todd pointed out that the president’s sister may have more credibility because she is a retired federal judge, Miller said: “I can tell you my conversations with the president over the years, I’ve only heard him say positive things about his sister, as someone who’s a very accomplished judge.”

Meadows took a shot at Barry for not attending a White House funeral on Friday for Robert Trump, the president’s younger brother who died last week at the age of 71.

“I can tell you that I’ve never met the judge,” Meadows said. “I was at the funeral the other day. I was hoping to meet her there. She didn’t show up for her brother’s funeral.”

In her book, a searing account which also describes how the author helped the New York Times expose the family’s tax affairs, Mary Trump writes about how her father, Fred Trump Jr, died of problems relating to alcoholism in 1981, at the age of 42.

“As my father lay dying alone,” she writes, “Donald went to the movies.”

In his statement on Saturday, Donald Trump said: “I miss my brother [Robert], and I’ll continue to work hard for the American people. Not everyone agrees, but the results are obvious. Our country will soon be stronger than ever before.”

The president has frequently spoken highly of his sister and the recordings are the first time a family member, other than Mary Trump, has been critical of him.

Mary Trump’s book includes the assertion – denied by Trump – that he paid someone to take exams for him as he sought to transfer into the University of Pennsylvania.

In one recording, the federal judge says a Joe Shapiro took the SAT for Trump. The president was friends with a person at Penn named Joe Shapiro, who is deceased. Shapiro’s widow and sister have said he never took a test for anybody.

Bastardi said Mary Trump “never expected to learn much of what she heard, including the president’s sister, federal judge Maryanne Trump Barry, state that Donald Trump had paid someone to take an SAT exam for him”.

On ABC, Meadows was asked if the president had evidence to prove the test story was not true.

“Well, he does,” Meadows said, though he did not provide any such evidence before pivoting to Barry’s claim that her brother does not read.

“There’s a cardboard box that is brought on Marine One,” Meadows said, referring to the presidential helicopter. “What’s in there are clippings and clippings, each and everyday, he reads probably more than anybody I know, which causes me to have to read more because every morning he’s giving me a to-do list. Every evening he’s giving me a to-do list.”

READ MORE

'Save the Post Office' rally. (photo: The Morning Call)

ALSO SEE: Democrats Push for $25 Billion for the Postal Service.
The White House Says It Will Reject It.

USPS Delays 'Far Worse Than We Were Told,' Internal Docs Show
Jason Koebler, VICE
Koebler writes: "You're not just imagining it: The mail really is experiencing widespread delays, according to new internal United States Postal Service documents."

Across the board, “on-time” scores have fallen sharply since early July, the presentations show.

ou’re not just imagining it: The mail really is experiencing widespread delays, according to new internal United States Postal Service documents.

The documents were published by Rep. Carolyn Maloney ahead of a Monday hearing with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Motherboard previously reported that a mix of the coronavirus pandemic, more restrictive overtime policies, and a restriction on the amount of time that mail can be sorted and loaded onto mail trucks before they go out has led to delays in mail delivery. Maloney said that "these new documents show that the delays are far worse than we were told” by DeJoy.

The new documents, a Postmaster General “Service Performance Measurement” briefing prepared for DeJoy on August 12, seemingly show the actual impact of those policies. Across the board, “on-time” scores have fallen sharply since early July. Presorted first-class mail is getting delivered late 8.1 percent more often than baseline, marketing mail (8.42 percent), periodicals (9.57 percent), and even Priority Mail (7.97 percent) have seen similar drops. 

“A marked decline in service performance observed for Priority Mail starting week 7/11/2020,” the document reads. 

USPS has faced an incredible amount of scrutiny in recent weeks as president Donald Trump has tried to sow discord and discourage people from voting by mail in the upcoming election. The Post Office has also decommissioned and dismantled a series of mail sorting machines across the country. 

“After being confronted on Friday with first-hand reports of delays across the country, the Postmaster General finally acknowledged a ‘dip’ in service, but he has never publicly disclosed the full extent of the alarming nationwide delays caused by his actions and described in these new documents,” Maloney said in a statement. “To those who still claim there are ‘no delays’ and that these reports are just ‘conspiracy theories,’ I hope this new data causes them to re-think their position and support our urgent legislation today. We have all seen the headlines from every corner of our country, we have read the stories and seen pictures, we have heard directly from our constituents, and these new documents show that the delays are far worse than we were told.”

READ MORE

Boulder Creek, CA. (photo: Stephen Lam/Reuters)

California Seeks Help as Wildfires Threaten Communities
Sharon Bernstein, Reuters
Bernstein writes: "Nearly two dozen massive wildfires continued to ravage parts of California on Saturday, fueled by high temperatures and ongoing lightning strikes, including 100 that hit on Friday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) said."
READ MORE

Ukrainian prosecutors display $6m they say was offered as a bribe to drop their long-running investigation into Mykola Zlochevsky and Burisma. (photo: Al Jazeera)

Cyprus Sold Passports to Criminals and Fugitives
Al Jazeera
Excerpt: "The Cyprus Papers is a leak of more than 1,400 passport applications approved by the government of the island nation between 2017 and 2019, and it raises serious questions about the Cyprus Investment Programme."

A leak of government documents reveals Cyprus sold citizenship to dozens of foreigners linked to crime and corruption.

onvicted fraudsters, money launderers and political figures accused of corruption are among dozens of people from more than 70 countries who have bought so-called "golden passports" from Cyprus, according to a large cache of official documents obtained by Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit.

The Cyprus Papers is a leak of more than 1,400 passport applications approved by the government of the island nation between 2017 and 2019, and it raises serious questions about the Cyprus Investment Programme.

Passports from the Republic of Cyprus can be important for individuals from countries that have restricted access to Europe, as Cyprus is a member of the European Union (EU) and a passport offers its holder access to free travel, work and banking in all 27 member states.

In the coming days, Al Jazeera will reveal the identities of dozens of people who acquired Cypriot citizenship who, according to the country's own rules, in many cases should not have received a passport.

Security risk

To apply for a Cypriot passport, applicants must invest at least 2.15m euros ($2.5m) in the Cypriot economy, usually by buying real estate, and have a clean criminal record.

However, applicants provide their own proof of eligibility, and although Cyprus claimed to check applicants' backgrounds, the documents obtained by Al Jazeera prove that this did not always happen.

Since its inception in 2013, the programme has received repeated criticism from the EU, which has called for it to be closed down.

Do you have more info about golden passport sales or want to share another tip? Find out how to get in touch with us on our Tips page.

"It's high value for everyone who comes from a country where there's a lot of dirty money involved", German MEP Sven Giegold, a strong critic of the programme, told Al Jazeera.

"You open a bank account, a business relationship and less questions asked, no visa requirements, easier to get access to get everywhere to travel than if you are from Russia, China or even more doubtful countries."

Since 2013, when the passport programme started, the country has made more than 7 billion euros ($8bn), used to keep afloat the nation's failing economy.

Burisma and Gazprom officials

Between 2017 and 2019, the countries with the highest number of people applying were Russia, China and Ukraine.

Among the approved applications seen by Al Jazeera was Ukrainian tycoon Mykola Zlochevsky, owner of the giant Burisma energy company.

When Zlochevsky bought his Cypriot passport in 2017, he was already under investigation for corruption in his home country.

In June 2020 Ukrainian prosecutors said they were offered $6m in cash to drop the investigation.

Zlochevsky and Burisma deny any knowledge of the bribe.

Like many on wanted lists in their home country, Zlochevsky's Cypriot passport allows him to live beyond the reach of Ukrainian law enforcement.

A similar application came from Russian national Nikolay Gornovskiy, former boss of the state-owned energy giant Gazprom.

Gornovskiy was already on Russia's wanted list for abuse of power when Cyprus approved his passport in 2019 and has so far thwarted all attempts to extradite him.

Other applications were approved even after the applicant had been arrested and sometimes even served their time in prison.

Ali Beglov, a Russian national, bought his passport despite serving a prison sentence for extortion, which should not have been possible according to Cyprus's rules.

Chinese businessman Zhang Keqiang also received a Cypriot passport, despite having spent time in prison for a fraudulent share deal.

Vietnamese businessman Pham Nhat Vu's passport was approved a month after he was charged with giving millions of dollars in bribes in a telecoms deal.

He is now serving three years in jail.

According to Laure Brillaud, Senior Policy Officer with Transparency International, an NGO focused on combatting international corruption, these results are worrying but not surprising.

"These programmes bear inherent risks of money laundering, corruption and tax evasion. They were designed to attract people just looking for a fast track to the EU," she told Al Jazeera.

Stricter rules

In May 2019, Cyprus introduced tougher rules on who was eligible for citizenship, which banned anyone under investigation, wanted, convicted or under international sanctions from buying a passport.

Cypriot parliamentarians in July finally passed a law that gave the country the power to remove citizenship after several scandals involving notorious golden passport investors, but politicians voted against any move to publish the names of those who buy Cypriot citizenship.

The new stricter law applies to anyone who commits a serious crime, is wanted by Interpol or subject to sanctions in the 10 years after they bought their passport.

Cyprus is reviewing all past applications and announced about 30 unnamed people face losing citizenship, but The Cyprus Papers reveal many more may fall foul of the new law.

They include people such as Venezuelan Leonardo Gonzalez Dellan, an ex-banker, who was sanctioned by the United States for laundering millions in illegal currency deals for the Venezuelan government.

Another person who could lose his passport is Oleg Bakhmatiuk, under investigation in Ukraine for embezzlement and money laundering relating to his giant agricultural firm.

He called the charges "a complete fabrication and politically motivated".

Although Bakhmatiuk told Al Jazeera the proceedings against him had ended with the charges dropped, the country’s official prosecutor confirmed he is still on Ukraine's wanted list.

Embezzlement and money laundering

Some other examples of passport holders facing serious charges are Russian brothers Alexei and Dmitry Ananiev, who bought citizenship in 2017.

They are accused in Russia of embezzling from the bank they once owned.

Another person who received Cypriot citizenship is Chinese national Li Jiadong, who was sanctioned by the US for laundering $100m in cryptocurrency related to North Korean hackers.

Lastly, there are Maleksabet Ebrahimi and his son Mehdi, who are both on Interpol's most-wanted list for money laundering and fraud in Iran and facing similar charges in Canada.

Maleksabet Ebrahimi denies the charges against him and says he complied at all times with Iranian and Cypriot laws.

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