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Today’s @washingtonpost story says that within days of China’s notice to CDC on Jan. 3, a warning about the coronavirus was specifically included in the President’s Daily Brief.
That’s new information, not previously reported in the Post’s March 20 story. https://wapo.st/2xR6oEd
That’s new information, not previously reported in the Post’s March 20 story. https://wapo.st/2xR6oEd
The 3/20 article referred to daily briefing papers from ODNI and CIA "toward the end of January and into early February," by which time "a majority" of the briefed intel was on COVID.
Today's report moves the time line up and links it directly to Trump. https://wapo.st/2QzhNiS
Today's report moves the time line up and links it directly to Trump. https://wapo.st/2QzhNiS
Today's @washingtonpost report also advances the time line of early warnings to the Trump administration. "The CDC learned of a cluster of cases in China on Dec. 31 and began developing reports for HHS on Jan. 1." That was days before the official notice from China on Jan. 3.
Trump wasn't "substantially briefed by health officials" until Jan. 18, according to the Post. But note: This is *separate* from intelligence briefings. And according to Azar, who did the Jan. 18 briefing, Trump dismissed him as "alarmist."
Why did Trump restrict travel from China on Jan. 31? The Post says this move was prompted by China's Jan. 30 lockdown of the entire province around Wuhan. We followed their lead.
"By that point, 300,000 people had come into the United States from China over the previous month."
"By that point, 300,000 people had come into the United States from China over the previous month."
Health advisers wanted to stop travel from Europe. Mnuchin and others resisted, saying it would hurt the economy. "Those backing the economy prevailed with the president." Trump didn't act till March 11. "Hundreds of thousands of people crossed the Atlantic during that interval."
