RSN: Obama Is Against Torture, but Afraid of CIA Torturers

THIS ARTICLE WAS INITIALLY POSTED IN 2016, BUT DEFINES HOW THE US GOT TO WHERE IT IS AS THE WORLD'S GREATEST THREAT.

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FOCUS: Obama Is Against Torture, but Afraid of CIA Torturers 
 
Consortium News 
Excerpt: "We believe that more needs to be done to replant the moral moorings of honesty that must anchor the intelligence profession to which we have given so many years." 
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MEMORANDUM FOR: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Vice Chairman, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity

SUBJECT: U.S. Media Mum On How Your Committee Faced Down Both CIA and Obama

e write to thank you for your unwavering support for your extraordinarily courageous and tenacious staff in (1) investigating CIA torture under the Bush/Cheney administration and (2) resisting CIA/White House attempts under the Obama administration to cover up heinous torture crimes like waterboarding.

We confess to having been shocked at the torture detailed in the version of the executive summary your Committee released on December 9, 2014.  We found ourselves wondering what additional behavior could have been deemed so repugnant that the White House and CIA insisted it be redacted; and if the entire 6,700-page investigation – with whatever redaction might be truly necessary – would ever see the light of day. We think you could take steps now to make it less likely that the full report be deep-sixed, and we will make some suggestions below toward that end.

With well over 400 years of intelligence experience under our collective belt, we wondered how you managed to get the investigation finished and the executive summary up and out (though redacted). We now know the backstory – thanks to the unstinting courage of the committee’s principal investigator Daniel Jones, who has been interviewed by Spencer Ackerman, an investigative reporter for The (UK) Guardian newspaper. The titanic struggle depicted by Ackerman reads like a crime novel; sadly, the four-part series is nonfiction:

I. “Senate investigator breaks silence about CIA’s ‘failed coverup’ of torture report”

II. “Inside the fight to reveal the CIA’s torture secrets”

III. ” ‘A constitutional crisis’: the CIA turns on the Senate”

IV. “No looking back:  the CIA torture report’s aftermath“

Ackerman’s reporting on Jones’s tenacity in facing down the gorilla CIA makes abundantly clear how richly deserved was the encomium you gave Jones when he left the committee staff in December 2015.

You noted, “Without his indefatigable work on the Intelligence Committee staff, the Senate report on the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program would not have been completed, nor would its 525-page executive summary have been released to the public.”

It seems equal praise might well be due to any Snowden-like patriot/whistleblower who “inadvertently” included the “Panetta Review” in the reams of material given your committee by the CIA.

Remarkably, a full week after The Guardian carried Ackerman’s revelations, none has been picked up by U.S. “mainstream” newspapers. Not the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post – not even The Hill.

(As for alternative media, Charles P. Pierce’s timely piece for Esquire whetted his readers’ appetite for the gripping detail of the Guardian series, explaining that it would be “unfair both to Ackerman’s diligence and Jones’s courage” to try to summarize even just the first installment. “Read the whole damn thing,” Pierce advises.)

And so, the culprits who should be hanging their heads in shame are out and about, with some still collecting book royalties and some blithely working for this or that candidate for president. As if nothing happened. Sadly, given the soporific state of our mainstream media – particularly on sensitive issues like these – their silence is nothing new, although it does seem to have gotten even worse in recent years.

The late William Colby, CIA director from 1973 to 1976, has been quoted as saying: “The CIA owns everyone of any significance in the major media.” Whether or not Colby was quoted correctly, the experience of the past several decades suggests it is largely true. Better sourced is a quote from William Casey, CIA director from 1981 to 1987: “We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.”

In these circumstances, we know from sad experience that there is no way any of us can get on any of the Sunday talk shows, for example – despite our enviable record for getting it right. Nor does it seem likely that any of the “mainstream” media will invite you to discuss the highly instructive revelations in The Guardian. We respectfully suggest that you take the initiative to obtain media exposure for this very important story.

One additional request: As you and your investigators know better than anyone, it is essential to safeguard the integrity not only of the unredacted executive summary but also of the entire 6,700-page committee report on the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program.

And, again, you are aware that as soon as Sen. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, took the gavel from you, he took steps seemingly aimed at ensuring that the full report never sees the light of day. Could you ask him why, as soon as he became chair, he asked the executive branch to transfer their copies to the Senate Intelligence Committee?

Many interpreted that as an ill-disguised attempt to thwart holding accountable those responsible for the abuses. Moreover, if the report cannot be reviewed by those who might be asked to participate in activities like torture in the future, how is it even possible for anyone to learn from the prior unfortunate experience?

The public is entitled to the entire story about the CIA torture program and its lies to Congress, the White House, and to us. Any attempt to bury the fullest investigation of the torture program – an investigation that provides an example of Congressional oversight at its best – would undermine the democratic accountability that is supposed to be provided by the separation of powers.

Furthermore, as you were quoted in the Guardian series, the agency searches “may have undermined the constitutional framework essential to effective congressional oversight of intelligence activities or any other government function . . .”

Senator Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, was exactly on point: “You either have oversight and separation of powers with the checks and balances that come with that, or you don’t. It’s amazing that, once again, no one at the CIA was held accountable.”  Consequently, the issue now is not only the cover-up of torture by the CIA but – at least equally important – the “unbridled agency that spied on Americans (including Senate Intelligence Committee staffers) as eagerly as they spied on foreign adversaries,” as the Guardian described it in referring to the Church Committee investigation in the 1970s.

Does American democracy deserve any less than an intense investigation of the CIA’s obstruction of the democratic process in the 2000s?

The Guardian revelations make it still more difficult for the kind of excuses made by those who can hardly pretend to be disinterested observers – former CIA directors George Tenet, Porter Goss, Michael Hayden, for example – who wrote Rebuttal: The CIA Responds to the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Study of Its Detention and Interrogation Program, published on September 9, 2015. We published our own (VIPS) critique of “Rebuttal” five days later. And before the final vote on John Brennan’s nomination to become CIA director, we tried to warn you not to trust him.

We believe you will agree that more needs to be done to replant the moral moorings of honesty that must anchor the intelligence profession to which we have given so many years. And we think that one step in that direction would be for you to seize this new opportunity to give prominence to the edifying story of how your committee and its staffers stepped up so effectively to their responsibilities in investigating and exposing the very sad and delicate chapter of CIA torture.

The play-by-play provided by the Guardian series, with its appropriate focus on the top investigator Daniel Jones, has created an opportunity we hope will not be squandered; a chance to tell a truly uplifting story sure to encourage others to behave in similarly exemplary manner.

For the Steering Group, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)

Jean Maria Arrigo, PhD, member of 2005 American Psychological Association task force evaluating the role of psychologists in U.S. intelligence and military interrogations of detainees (associate VIPS)
Eugene DeFriest Betit, Ph. D., DIA, US Army (ret.)
Thomas Drake, former Senior Executive, NSA
Bogdan Dzakovic, Former Team Leader of Federal Air Marshals and Red Team, FAA Security, (ret.) (associate VIPS)
Mike Gravel, former Adjutant, top secret control officer, Communications Intelligence Service; special agent of the Counter Intelligence Corps and former United States Senator
Matthew Hoh, former Capt., USMC, Iraq & Foreign Service Officer, Afghanistan (associate VIPS)
Larry C Johnson, CIA & State Department (ret.)
Michael S. Kearns, Captain, USAF (Ret.); ex-Master SERE Instructor for Strategic Reconnaissance Operations (NSA/DIA) and Special Mission Units (JSOC)
John Kiriakou, Former CIA Counterterrorism Officer and former senior investigator, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Edward Loomis, NSA, Cryptologic Computer Scientist (ret.)
Linda Lewis, WMD preparedness policy analyst, USDA (ret.) (associate VIPS)
David MacMichael, National Intelligence Council (ret.)
Ray McGovern, former US Army infantry/intelligence officer & CIA analyst (ret.)
Elizabeth Murray, Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Near East, CIA and National Intelligence Council (ret.)
Todd E. Pierce, MAJ, US Army Judge Advocate (Ret.)
Coleen Rowley, FBI Special Agent and former Minneapolis Division Legal Counsel (ret.)
Scott Ritter, former MAJ., USMC, former UN Weapon Inspector, Iraq
Peter Van Buren, U.S. Department of State, Foreign Service Officer (ret.) (associate VIPS)
Kirk Wiebe, former Senior Analyst, SIGINT Automation Research Center, NSA
Lawrence Wilkerson, Colonel (USA, ret.), Distinguished Visiting Professor, College of William and Mary (associate VIPS)
Valerie Plame Wilson, former CIA Operations Officer
Ann Wright, Col., US Army (ret.); Foreign Service Officer (resigned)

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/39232-focus-obama-is-against-torture-but-afraid-of-cia-torturers

ORIGINAL POST

 

Falmouth officials left in dark on planned machine gun range

By Jessica Hill 

Posted Sep 22, 2020

FALMOUTH — Members of the Falmouth Select Board have sent a letter to the Massachusetts Army National Guard asking that additional public comment be allowed on plans for a machine gun range at Camp Edwards on Joint Base Cape Cod.

Select Board members said Monday they were disappointed to hear about plans for the proposed range, which would abut the towns of Mashpee, Bourne and Sandwich as well as Falmouth. They also said the range was planned without any input from the board.

The proposal calls for clearing 170 acres of forest and disturbing about 199 acres of land. More than 5,000 acres would be required to accommodate the operation, as it would include the area where projectiles fired on the range would land. Weapons that are expected to be used at the range include different machine guns, 12-gauge shotguns, grenade launchers and pistols.

A 100-page environmental report prepared by the Guard says the project would not have significant environmental impacts.

Town Manager Julian Suso sent a letter concerning the range to Keith Driscoll with the Massachusetts Army National Guard. The letter was dated Aug. 31 and sent on behalf of Select Board Chairwoman Megan English Braga and Vice Chairman Doug Brown.

The letter asks that the Guard extend the public comment period on the report for an additional 30 days to allow more opportunity for public review, discussion and input. It also asks that the Guard hold a formal public presentation on the project.

The Select Board has received numerous emails from residents raising concerns about the clear-cutting on the base and the environmental impacts of the firing range, which would be located within the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve, according to the letter.

“This strategic water supply reserve serves the Upper Cape Towns of Bourne, Falmouth, Mashpee and Sandwich and occupies a fundamental location within Cape Cod’s sole source aquifer,” the letter states.

During the Select Board’s Monday meeting, Suso said he invited a representative to join the board that night and give a presentation but said he was told by Matthew Porter of the Massachusetts Army National Guard that nobody would be available at that time. Suso said he was told by Porter that the Guard will be presenting and distributing a “robust information product” that will answer the relevant questions on the project. 

Brown said it was concerning that the planning of the project has been going on for two to three years without the Select Board’s input, even though base leaders come to the board every year to give an update on what is going on at the base.

“It’s unfortunate that we have to find this out by a clip in the newspaper instead of at least a letter to us.” he said.

Brown also expressed concern that the machine gun range will move forward without much public input.

“I find that troubling given that the base had so much already cleared space that is being unused,” Brown said, “and now we’re going to clear another 170 acres of deep forest, which I know it’s a military reserve, but it’s also a pretty important natural resource.”

“To get this far in the process, they clearly knew the last time they came to us that they were planning it,” Jones said. “I’m really quite angry that they would do this to us.”

English Braga said some residents have expressed concerns about water contamination that was caused by operations on the base.

Since then Joint Base Cape Cod has implemented water treatment systems to clean the water. Firefighting foam once was used at a firefighting training area on the base and contaminants known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, seeped into groundwater plumes. Because of fuel spills and other activities that happened in the past at Camp Edwards and Otis Air National Guard Base, parts of the aquifer have been contaminated.

“The water contamination is not gone,” English Braga said. “We still have PFAS. We still have emerging contaminants. ... We are still, as a community and the surrounding communities, dealing with the fallout from that contamination.”

English Braga said the board needs to have a representative from the base come to a board meeting so the public can have an opportunity to ask questions about the project.

Brown suggested the board partner with other organizations like Sierra Club or Conservation Law Foundation and get their input.

“It might come to the point where we might have to intervene with legal action to get a voice in this,” Brown said. “I hate to say that, but it’s a possibility. It’s pretty far along.”

The board decided that Brown would reach out to other organizations and communities about the proposed project.

 

Bill filed to ban sheriffs, deputies from polling places

By Colin A. Young / State House News Service

Posted Sep 22, 2020 

BOSTON -- A New Bedford lawmaker is proposing to amend the state law that deals with the preservation of order by police at polling locations by banning sheriffs and their deputies from showing up to maintain order among voters and sign-holders.

Under a bill (HD 5270) filed Friday by Rep. Antonio Cabral, no county or state law enforcement officer, sheriff, deputy sheriff or special sheriff would be “permitted on the premises of a polling place or within 300 feet of a polling place to preserve order or to protect the election officers and supervisors from any interference with their duties or to aid in enforcing the laws relating to elections without the express written approval of both the secretary of public safety and security and the board or officer in charge of the police force of the city or town.”

People who work for a sheriff or on a sheriff’s behalf would similarly be banned.

Among those who would be barred from polling places under Cabral’s bill would be Bristol County Sheriff Tom Hodgson, a Republican and staunch supporter of President Donald Trump with whom Cabral has previously feuded.

In 2017, the House passed a Cabral bill to ban inmate labor outside the borders of Massachusetts. The legislation was aimed at Hodgson, who had suggested he would offer up his prisoners as labor to build Trump’s border wall.

Nine other representatives, including co-filer Rep. William Straus of Mattapoisett, and Sen. Michael Brady have co-sponsored Cabral’s bill, which is on the docket in the House clerk’s office but has not yet been assigned to a committee.

Though Cabral’s bill does not appear to address this type of situation, a 2016 visit to a New Bedford polling place sparked outrage and concern.

In 2016, former President Bill Clinton met Hillary Clinton supporters and voters outside a polling location in the city, which led to complaints that access to the voting booth was infringed upon by the large crowd gathered near the entrance and a shortage of parking.

Citing statements by President Trump, Attorney General Maura Healey last Thursday issued a formal advisory to local officials and community organizations to highlight laws stating that intimidating or interfering with voters is illegal.

The advisory referenced an Aug. 20 TV interview in which the president was asked if he would send poll watchers to monitor elections for possible voters fraud.

“We’re going to have everything. We’re going to have sheriffs and law enforcement and we’re going to have, hopefully, U.S. attorneys, and we’re going to have everybody, and attorney generals, but it’s very hard,” Trump said, according to Healey’s advisory, which was issued in English and Spanish.

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: MAYORS press CONGRESS for CASH — TRUMP sparks debate over POLICE at the POLLS — Heading for the EXIT —Boston eyes FENWAY PARK as early voting site

 

BY STEPHANIE MURRAY Presented by CuriosityStream GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. MAYORS PRESS CONGRESS FOR CASH — Massachusetts mayors have one question for Congress: Where's the money? It would be easy to overlook the fact that Congress has not reached a deal on the next pandemic stimulus bill — Washington is in overdrive. An unprecedented fight over the Supreme Court has broken out weeks before the election, Democrats and Republicans are jockeying for control of the Senate next year, and the much-anticipated presidential debate is only days away. And looming over everything is the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has upended the way we live, work and go to school. It's also created financial chaos for the local governments on the front lines responding to the crisis. To have any shot at returning to normal, cities and towns desperately need federal funds. That's the message Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and nearly two dozen other Bay State mayors and town officials argued in a letter to Washington lawmakers this week. Walsh led the group in writing to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. "The pandemic and necessary response measures have stalled municipalities' economies, triggering sharp declines in tax revenues. We have experienced substantial revenue loss across nearly all funding streams," the letter reads. The document includes signatures from Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera, Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo, Framingham Mayor Yvonne Spicer, Newton Mayor Ruthannne Fuller and Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone, among others. "Each day that Congress does not reach a compromise , the ability of local governments to maintain stable operations and provide the most needed services to our residents becomes even more difficult," the letter continues. The coronavirus question mark has also delayed the state budget, which is typically due by start of the fiscal year on July 1. Beacon Hill lawmakers pressed pause on crafting a yearlong budget this spring because state revenues and the health of the economy were so difficult to predict. The legislature instead opted to pass an interim budget, which funds the state through October. State lawmakers are preparing for what comes next. Secretary of Administration and Finance Michael Heffernan, and Ways and Means Committee co-chairs state Sen. Michael Rodrigues and state Rep. Aaron Michlewitz announced yesterday they will convene a virtual roundtable to talk about the economic impact of Covid-19 on Oct. 7. "It is crucial that we have as clear of a picture as possible before we make any significant budgetary decisions,” Michlewitz said in a statement to reporters. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com. TODAY — Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito make a Commonwealth Places program announcement in Lowell. Rep. Seth Moulton hosts a town hall with the Institute for Democratic Engagement & Accountability at The Ohio State University. Rep. Lori Trahan joins a U.S. Census phone bank with Massachusetts Voter Table and MassCounts. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Rep. Katherine Clark and Rep. Stephen Lynch hold a press conference to discuss their recent visit to Fort Hood. Clark hosts a Facebook Live with Illinois Rep. Chuy Garcia on the Health Equity and Accountability Act.   A message from CuriosityStream: Is docu-binging a thing? If it isn’t, then it definitely should be. Discover a treasure trove of enlightened entertainment with CuriosityStream, the first on-demand documentary streaming service. Unlock access to thousands of streamable documentaries and non-fiction TV shows on History, Nature, Science, Food, Technology, Travel, and more for just $14.99 for the whole YEAR by using the code POLITICO when you sign up. Sign Up Today.     JOIN OUR THURSDAY TOWN HALL - CONFRONTING INEQUALITY IN AMERICA: The current wave of protests have surfaced long simmering racial inequalities in a pronounced way, making it harder for Americans to ignore. On Thursday, POLITICO Live will convene scholars, activists and public officials for a virtual town hall focused on education inequality and the policies and measures needed to overcome disparities that persist in how Black and minority students are educated. REGISTER HERE.     THE LATEST NUMBERS – “Massachusetts reports 11 new COVID deaths, 143 new cases as US passes 200K deaths on Tuesday,” by Tanner Stening, MassLive.com: “State health officials said on Tuesday another 11 Massachusetts residents died from coronavirus on Tuesday, which comes as the nation eclipses 200,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic. … Massachusetts health officials also confirmed another 143 cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide tally to at least 125,866.” DATELINE BEACON HILL – “Union lashes out at UMass administration during trustees meeting,” by Ron Chimelis, Springfield Republican: “According to representatives of University of Massachusetts employees, the COVID-19 slogan ‘We’re All in This Together’ is not being practiced by those who run the system. Three speakers gave scathing assessments of administration handling of the funding crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, while trustees disputed some of their assertions but also promised better communication in the future.” – “Firing of Holyoke Soldiers’ Home Superintendent Bennett Walsh was ‘invalid’, judge rules,” by Stephanie Barry, Springfield Republican: “A Hampden Superior Court judge ruled the Baker administration’s firing of former Holyoke Soldiers' Home Bennett Walsh ran afoul of state law, invalidating Walsh’s termination in a ruling issued late Monday afternoon. In the same ruling, Judge John Ferrara rejected a countersuit by the state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services arguing the firing must stand.” – “As Temperature Drops, Restaurant Owners Urge State Lawmakers To Pass Relief Bill,” by Adrian Ma, WBUR: “A group representing chefs and restaurant owners is urging lawmakers to help the struggling industry before it becomes too cold for outdoor dining to continue. About a dozen people, speaking on behalf of the group Massachusetts Restaurants United, gathered on the steps of the State House in Boston on Tuesday and called for the passage of an economic aid package that would include a fund for distressed restaurants.” – “Mass. legislators urge MassDOT to consider purchasing Pan Am assets to secure a Fitchburg to North Adams passenger rail corridor,” by Douglas Hook, MassLive.com: “Massachusetts has the right of first refusal in the potential sale of Pan Am Railways that could ‘be a major boost for our regional economy and invaluable’ to the state and the environment, according to a letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack by legislators on Tuesday.” – “How The Battle Over Replacing Ruth Bader Ginsburg Is Shaping Massachusetts Politics,” by Anthony Brooks, WBUR: “Republican attorney Kevin O'Connor, who is challenging Democratic Senator Ed Markey in November, is blunt about what the U.S. Senate should do following the death of Justice Ginsberg. ‘They should do their job,’ he said. O'Connor says that means as soon as President Trump nominates a successor, the Senate should hold hearings and vote.” – “Massachusetts National Guard members to receive to a $500 bonus for work responding to COVID-19 crisis,” by Douglas Hook, MassLive.com: “Massachusetts announced that National Guard members will receive a $500 bonus for their response and aid to residents during the pandemic. ‘Massachusetts veterans and service members always put our safety ahead of their own and we wanted to find a way to thank them for their bravery,’ said State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg.” THE RACE FOR CITY HALL – “Michelle Wu touts $100G in donations in first two days of Boston mayoral race,” by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: “Newly minted mayoral challenger Michelle Wu is boasting $100,000 in fundraising in the first 48 hours of her campaign last week. Wu’s campaign claimed in a news release Tuesday that supporters tossed the 100-large her way in the two days after her announcement last Tuesday morning, Sept. 15.” FROM THE HUB – “The 7 minutes of chaos and confusion that led to the police shooting of Juston Root,” by Dugan Arnett, Boston Globe: “The call would spark a stunning series of events, seven minutes of mayhem that would shut down a hospital and neighboring communities, prompt an all-hands response from four law enforcement agencies, and leave a hospital parking attendant with a gunshot wound to the head. It would end with the man in the long coat, a 41-year-old with a long history of mental illness and a habit of carrying fake guns, dead in a barrage of police bullets. It would also leave some unanswered questions: What exactly happened here? And why?” – “Boston Police Reform Task Force Hears Calls For Real Change, More Training For Police,” by Ally Jarmanning, WBUR: “The public got one last chance to offer ideas to the task force charged with recommending reforms for the Boston Police Department. Speakers during Tuesday's remote hearing asked for more mental health training for officers, and cautioned that real cultural change is needed.” – “Buying a home? Good luck. Prices soared 14 percent last month,” by Tim Logan, Boston Globe: “The region’s housing market surged in August, with prices for single-family homes both statewide and in Greater Boston leaping by double digits compared with the same month last year. Fueled by strong demand — despite the pandemic-induced recession — coupled with a severe shortage of properties for sale, prices for single-family homes jumped 14 percent to a record-high median of $480,000.” – “The state’s emergency child-care centers kept COVID-19 in check. Here’s how,” by Stephanie Ebbert, Boston Globe: “As schools and day-care centers were shuttered last spring to slow the spread of the coronavirus, hundreds of emergency child-care centers stayed open to serve the children of essential workers, even amid concerns that little was known about the risk of infection and transmission among children.” PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES – “New highway, route exit numbers are coming to Mass. starting next month,” by Christopher Gavin, Boston.com: “New exit numbers are coming to highways and routes across Massachusetts beginning next month, state Department of Transportation officials said Monday. The switch to mileage-based numbering rather than the current sequential numbering system emblazoned on green road signs around the commonwealth comes under a mandate from the Federal Highway Administration, an initiative MassDOT announced last year.” TRUMPACHUSETTS – “Trump's remarks prompt posturing over poll security,” by Christian M. Wade, CNHI News: “A group of Democratic lawmakers want cities and towns to send extra police to the polls this November, while at the same time keeping out sheriffs and state police. Rep. William Straus, D-Mattapoisett, said the bill was prompted by comments last week by President Donald Trump, who vowed to dispatch law enforcement to the polls to guard against voter fraud. In an interview last Thursday on Fox News, Trump said he plans to enlist local sheriffs and U.S. attorneys to monitor the vote.” NOVEMBER IS COMING – “Fenway Park expected to be approved as an early-voting site,” by Peter Abraham, Boston Globe: “Fenway Park is one of the sites in line to be certified as an early-voting center when the City of Boston Board of Election Commissioners meets Thursday. If approved, as expected, the ballpark would be used for voting Oct. 17 and 18 only for Boston residents, according to the Election Commission.”   A message from CuriosityStream:     DAY IN COURT – “State high court rejects Sudbury’s challenge to power line being built under MBTA right-of-way,” by John R. Ellement, Boston Globe: “The state’s highest court ruled Tuesday that Sudbury cannot block a $9.3 million lease between the MBTA and Eversource that allows the utility to build a 4-mile-long underground transmission line on an unused railroad right-of-way. Residents fear the project will cause harm to the watershed and environmentally sensitive lands. But in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Judicial Court said the town lacks the legal standing needed to get the courts involved.” YOU'VE GOT MAIL – “Mail-in ballots were most popular in primary in Attleboro,” by George W. Rhodes, Sun Chronicle: “There were four ways to vote in the Sept. 1 primary and the most popular was by mail. According to numbers provided by the city’s election office, 5,517 people, or 60.3 percent of the 9,142 people who cast ballots for the primary election, voted by mail.” DATELINE D.C. – “Romney backs vote on Supreme Court nominee, clearing way for Trump,” by Burgess Everett, POLITICO: “Sen. Mitt Romney said Tuesday he would support a floor vote to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, essentially clinching consideration of President Donald Trump’s nominee this year despite the impending election. Just two Republican senators have asked for the party to put the brakes on the confirmation. And with a 53-seat majority, Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) now has the votes he needs to move forward with a nominee.” THE PRESSLEY PARTY – “Pressley applauded on House floor after moving speech on living with alopecia,” by John Bowden, The Hill: “Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) received a round of applause from fellow lawmakers on Tuesday after delivering an emotional speech on the House floor regarding her life with alopecia areata, a condition that causes hair loss. In the five-minute speech, the freshman congresswoman shared intimate details about coming to terms with the reality of her condition and urged support for a bill authored by herself and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) that would allow seniors to purchase medical wigs using Medicaid funds.” THE CLARK CAUCUS – “The Rise Of Katherine Clark: From Small-Town School Board To Contender For Assistant Speaker Of The House,” by Callum Borchers, WBUR: “In 2004, a little-known member of the Melrose School Committee ran for state Senate. She lost by double digits. That candidate was Katherine Clark, now a congresswoman and a contender to become assistant speaker of the House next year. Clark has come a long way in 16 years — from small-town politics and a resounding defeat to the top tier of the Democratic Party — but she says the seemingly little job she used to hold isn't so different from the very big job she's running for today.” MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE – “‘Four more years means more judges,’ Pence declares, rallying Trump supporters in N.H.” by Zoe Greenberg, Dugan Arnett and James Pindell, Boston Globe: “Vice President Mike Pence rallied Trump supporters at the Laconia Airport here Tuesday afternoon, arriving in the Granite State just a few days after the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg heightened the stakes of an already pitched election battle. The now-vacant seat was a central rallying cry for the vice president.” ABOVE THE FOLD — Herald: “HUNGRY FOR HELP," "HIGH NOON ON THE HILL,” — Globe: “A closer look sheds light on 7 minutes of chaos," "Stimulus talks take a back seat in D.C.” FROM THE 413 – “Great Barrington to ask Gov. Baker, AG for help with Housatonic water woes,” by Heather Bellow, The Berkshire Eagle: “Town officials will ask Gov. Charlie Baker and the Office of the Attorney General to help solve water quality problems in Housatonic, after another summer of rusty water. The Select Board on Monday signed off on a letter asking Baker to ‘ensure that water quality and infrastructure improvements can be expedited’ to fix the system privately owned by Housatonic Water Works Co.” THE LOCAL ANGLE – “Sudbury police want end to ‘volatile’ comments about gathering amid coronavirus that led to charges,” by Travis Andersen, Boston Globe: “Sudbury police want town residents to stop making ‘volatile’ comments on social media about a recent large gathering of high schoolers in town, noting Tuesday that the parents and teen child who allegedly held the party all stand accused of violating the state’s social host law.” – “State coalition of police union denounces violence, hostility against officers,” by Elaine Thompson, Telegram & Gazette: “As the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts launches an initiative Wednesday to highlight police misconduct, the state’s largest police union is calling on elected officials to denounce violence and hostile actions towards law enforcement.” – “Coastal study reveals Falmouth spots vulnerable to climate change,” by Jessica Hill, Cape Cod Times: “As sea levels continue to rise, residents and town officials should prepare to retreat from the coast as a recent report presented to the town’s Coastal Resiliency Action Committee recommends major changes to undertake in the decades ahead.” – “COVID-19 outbreak closes Merrimack College dorm; 17 students test positive, 266 are quarantined,” by Mike LaBella, Eagle-Tribune: “Merrimack College has placed one of its dorms under quarantine after 16 students tested positive Tuesday for COVID-19, officials at the school said. One other student tested positive for the virus last week, officials said. According to an announcement college officials sent to students, teachers and staff, Merrimack placed all students who live in Monican Hall on quarantine as of 8 a.m. Tuesday after five students tested positive for the virus.” SPOTTED: At a virtual fundraiser for state Sen. Eric Lesser on Tuesday night … Dave Mandel, Timothy Simons, Jimmy Tingle, Anita McBride, Candy Glazer, Linda O'Connell, Michael Baick, Beth Dindas, Deborah Sirulnik, Laura Settlemyer, Susan Knightly, Dianne Doherty, Josh Levine, Margaret Child, Kait Saier, Sara Slavin and Brianna Pereira. TRANSITIONS – FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Former congressional candidate Jesse Mermell joins the Yes on 2 campaign as honorary co-chair and senior adviser. Yes on 2 is advocating for the November ballot question that would bring ranked-choice voting to Massachusetts. – Autumn Gould McLaughlin joins nonprofit BlueHub Capital as manager of communications. 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