2020 Day 1342: Trump lied and claimed that the coronavirus "affects virtually nobody" as the U.S. death toll crossed 200,000; the Pentagon spent money meant for medical equipment on defense contracts for military equipment; the FDA is expected to announce a new, tougher standard for issuing an emergency authorization for a coronavirus vaccine; the Manhattan district attorney suggested that it has grounds to investigate Trump and his businesses for tax fraud and falsifying business records; the CIA assessed that Putin and Russian officials "are aware of and probably directing Russia's influence operations" aimed at interfering in the 2020 presidential election by denigrating Joe Biden; and one of Robert Mueller’s top deputies accused the special counsel's office of failing to fully determine what happened in the 2016 election. Sep 22, 2020
2021 Day 246: The House passed legislation to fund the government through Dec. 3 and extend the debt limit until after the 2022 elections; Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas vowed to complete an investigation into the treatment of Haitian immigrants at the Texas-Mexico border after videos showed mounted Border Patrol agents running down migrants and using their reins as whips; Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent hundreds of state-owned vehicles to the southern border to form a "steel wall" to block migrants from crossing the border; and Trump filed a $100 million lawsuit against his niece, the New York Times, and three of its reporters. Sep 22, 2021
2022 Day 611: A federal appeals court ruled that the Justice Department could use the classified documents that were seized from Mar-a-Lago in its ongoing criminal investigation; the special master overseeing the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation ordered Trump’s lawyers to submit a sworn declaration saying if they believe the Justice Department lied about the documents seized; Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, agreed to participate in a voluntary interview with the Jan. 6 committee; the House passed an electoral reform bill to prevent future presidents from trying to steal an election through Congress; Senate Republicans blocked an effort to require the disclosure of large campaign donations to so-called dark money groups; and an Indiana judge temporarily blocked enforcement of the state’s near-total ban on abortion a week after it took effect. Sep 22, 2022
2025 Day 1707: Trump demanded that Attorney General Pam Bondi prosecute his political rivals a day after he forced out the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia; Bondi swore in Trump’s former personal lawyer and current White House aide as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; the Justice Department closed a bribery probe into Trump’s border czar Tom Homan, who was recorded in Sept. 2024 accepting $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents; Trump, without evidence, promoted unproven ties between Tylenol, vaccines, and autism despite decades of research showing no proven link; Senate rejected two stopgap spending bills, leaving Congress with no plan to keep the government open past Oct. 1; the House and Senate both passed resolutions creating a “National Day of Remembrance for Charlie Kirk”; and Trump’s press secretary said he “wouldn’t oppose” Congress making Kirk’s birthday a national holiday. Sep 22, 2025