Today in one sentence: A federal appeals court ruled that Manhattan's district attorney can enforce a subpoena for eight years' worth of Trump's tax returns; top Justice Department officials were "a driving force" behind Trump’s child separation policy; Trump urged Congress to pass a new coronavirus stimulus package hours after abruptly ordering his negotiators to stop talks with Democrats until after the election; and Trump told the White House medical staff "I feel great!" and that he has been "symptom-free" from the coronavirus for over 24 hours, as White House aides offered conflicting statements about whether Trump had returned to the Oval Office.

1/ A federal appeals court ruled that Manhattan’s district attorney can enforce a subpoena for eight years’ worth of Trump’s tax returns, rejecting arguments by Trump’s lawyers that the subpoena was too broad, politically motivated, and issued in “bad faith” and “out of malice” with “an intent to harass.” The Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the arguments, saying “There is nothing to suggest that these are anything but run-of-the-mill documents typically relevant to a grand jury investigation into possible financial or corporate misconduct. […] We have considered all of the President’s remaining contentions on appeal and have found in them no basis for reversal.” Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, meanwhile, agreed not to enforce the subpoena for now, giving Trump’s legal team a chance to petition the Supreme Court – for a second time – for a stay. Vance issued the subpoena in August 2019. (Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News / CNN / Politico / CNBC / Associated Press / Reuters)

2/ Top Justice Department officials were “a driving force” behind Trump’s child separation policy. In 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, and others at the DOJ pushed Trump’s “zero tolerance” family separation policy at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a two-year inquiry by the Justice Department’s inspector general. “We need to take away children,” Sessions told the five U.S. attorneys along the border with Mexico in May 2018. Rosenstein went further about a week later, telling prosecutors that it did not matter how young the children were. The draft report says that Justice Department officials understood and encouraged the separation of children as an expected part of the desire to prosecute all undocumented border crossers. Trump abandoned the policy amid global backlash. (New York Times / NBC News / The Independent)

  • The Trump administration announced new H-1B visa restriction. Under the new Departments of Labor and Homeland Security rules, employers will need to pay high-skilled foreign workers significantly higher wages, while narrowing the types of colleges degrees that qualify, and shorten the length of visas for certain contract workers. (Wall Street Journal / CBS News)

3/ Trump urged Congress to pass a new coronavirus stimulus package hours after abruptly ordering his negotiators to stop talks with Democrats until after the election. Trump tweeted for Congress to “IMMEDIATELY” approve a “Stand Alone Bill” for a new round of $1,200 stimulus checks, as well as $25 billion for the airline industry, and an additional $135 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, adding, “I am ready to sign right now. Are you listening Nancy?” Efforts between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to negotiate a broad stimulus package ended Tuesday after Trump tweeted that he had “instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election.” Trump’s tweets sent the stock market into a sharp downward slide. Hours later, Trump reversed himself and called on Congress to approve additional assistance for airlines, a small business aid program, and direct checks for many Americans. (NBC News / Politico / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / CNN / New York Times / Bloomberg)

4/ Trump told the White House medical staff “I feel great!” and that he has been “symptom-free” from the coronavirus for over 24 hours, as White House aides offered conflicting statements about whether Trump had returned to the Oval Office. White House physician Dr. Sean Conley said Trump hadn’t had a fever in four days, his oxygen saturation and respiratory rate were stable and normal, and his blood work on Monday showed “detectable levels” of COVID-19 antibodies. Dr. Conley, however, offered no information about what medication Trump is taking or the timing of Trump’s last negative test, which Conley also refused to provide at a Monday briefing. Meanwhile, in a two-hour stretch, Trump posted at least 50 tweets and retweets attacking Biden, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, Obama, Michelle Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, and journalist Lester Holt. Trump also tweeted that he was declassifying documents related to the Russia investigation, shared a conspiracy video from 2018, predicted the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court would be “fast and easy,” called presidential debate moderator Chris Wallace “a total JOKE,” and criticized his own FDA’s coronavirus vaccine safety standards as “another political hit job.” Trump, who is supposed to be observing a period of self-isolation in accordance with CDC guidelines, has insisted on returning to work in the Oval Office. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, meanwhile, told reporters that safety precautions would be taken to accommodate Trump’s request But after Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, said that Trump had been working from the Oval Office a day after returning from the hospital, the White House clarified Trump remained isolated in his residence. (Politico / Bloomberg / New York Times / Washington Post / The Guardian / CNN / Wall Street Journal / ABC News / Axios / Bloomberg)

  • [Developing] Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe approved the release of documents assist the Department of Justice’s review of the Obama administration’s handling of the Trump-Russia investigation. (Axios)

  • Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller tested positive for the coronavirus. Miller said in a statement that he has been “working remotely and self-isolating, testing negative every day” over the last five days, but has since tested positive. Miller is the eleventh official to test positive after attending a White House event in the Rose Garden and the latest member of Trump’s presidential debate prep team to test positive. Miller also traveled aboard Air Force One on a Minnesota campaign trip with Trump and Hicks. (CNN / Axios / The Guardian / Washington Post / NBC News)

  • Chris Christie remains hospitalized after testing positive COVID-19 a day after Trump and Melania Trump announced they had tested positive. (NJ.com)

  • 😷 Dept. of “We Have It Totally Under Control.”

  • Global: Total confirmed cases: ~35,988,000; deaths: ~1,053,000

  • U.S.: Total confirmed cases: ~7,539,000; deaths: ~212,000

  • Source: Johns Hopkins University

  • 💻 COVID-19 Live Blogs: New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / The Guardian / CNBC / New York Times / Bloomberg / ABC News

5/ The White House told staff that it had completed “all contact tracing” for positive COVID-19 cases. An email was sent to staff working across the White House complex and urged anyone who hasn’t been contacted, but suspects they’ve been in contact with someone infected to reach out to the White House Medical Office. At least one White House correspondent who tested positive for the coronavirus following direct interaction with White House officials, said there’s been no outreach by the White House to do contact tracing or to follow up. At least one other White House official said they’ve also alerted officials that they have had direct contact with positive White House personnel, but received no guidance on how to proceed. (CNN)

  • The White House informed a veterans group that there was a COVID-19 risk stemming from a Sept. 27 event at the White House. (Daily Beast)

poll/ 46% of Americans do not want the Senate to confirm Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, while 42% say the Senate should confirm her. (CNN)

poll/ Biden leads Trump in Florida (51% - 40%), Pennsylvania (54% - 41%), and Iowa (50% - 45%) among likely voters. (Quinnipiac)