Trump news: President tweets photo of himself wearing mask and calls Covid-19 ‘Invisible China virus’ after 140,000 Americans die

ICYMI: A heavily-redacted four-page document, the complaint accuses the Secretary of State of engaging in concerning activities throughout Washington, overseas and in New York and Florida

An anonymous official who said they possess detailed evidence of Mike Pompeo’s “questionable activities” as US Secretary of State was blocked from reporting those issues within the State Department, according to a newly-public whistleblower complaint.

The complaint was released during the weekend following legal challenges by the government watchdog group American Oversight, which sued the State Department in an effort to obtain access to whistleblower complaints filed against Mr Pompeo.

A heavily-redacted four-page document, the complaint accuses Mr Pompeo of engaging in concerning activities throughout Washington, in New York and Florida and overseas — all of which the whistleblower claimed to have witnessed.

“I directly witnessed much of the behaviour,” the complaint read. The anonymous official and State Department employees who “tried on several occasions to obtain clarifications and guidance from senior leadership” and “from the Office of Legal Advisors” about Mr Pompeo’s conduct were ultimately “blocked from doing so”, according to the complaint.

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Biden provides Trump with the Covid death chart he requested in Fox interview

Trump calls coronavirus "Invisible China Virus" in bizarre tweet

Trump is calling himself "your favorite president" and urging Americans to wear face masks after 140,000 people living in the US died from Covid-19:

Trump tweets picture of himself wearing 'patriotic' mask in gloating message as US coronavirus death toll hits 140,000

Alex Woodward writes: After weeks of refusing to wear a face covering in public, Donald Trump has posted to Twitter a black-and-white photo of himself wearing a mask and encouraged Americans to do the same as the nation's coronavirus death toll topped more than 140,000.

The president – calling Covid-19 "the Invisible China Virus" – said that "many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can't socially distance."

"There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President!" he added.

Trump visa policy causing shortage of foreign doctors needed to fight Covid-19

Hospitals across the US are finding that they are short of doctors, and one reason may be the Trump administration's ban on work visas.

With coronavirus cases still surging across much of the country, the change to immigration rules and its inconsistent implementation has led to a shortage of foreign medical residents, ProPublica reports.

The 22 June proclamation by president Donald Trump stopped the issuance of work visas and meant that many foreign doctors are unable to travel to the US to begin their residencies.

The immigration order included H1-B visas for highly-skilled workers which are often used by doctors that get a residency at a US medical facility, though most use a J-1 visa, not covered by the ban. Those on an H1-B visa usually have a higher level of qualifications having practised medicine in their home country.

While the order waived the new rules for those providing medical care to Covid-19 patients, guidance on implementation from the state department and department of homeland security has been slow to filter through to consulates and embassies around the world.

Oliver O'Connell reports.

BREAKING: St Louis couple charged for pulling guns on Black Lives Matter protesters

A gun-toting St Louis couple who pointed firearms at protesters during a Black Lives Matter demonstration face felony charges for the unlawful use of a weapon.

Mark and Patricia McCloskey could face up to four years in prison or fines of up to $5,000, if convicted, though Missouri Governor Mike Parson has said he would considering pardoning the couple.

Follow the story as it unfolds.

Trump committed impeachable offences but Democrats' moved too soon, Bolton

Former national security adviser John Bolton said Monday he believes President Donald Trump committed several impeachable offenses, but Democratic congressional leaders doomed their effort to remove him from office by rushing the process for partisan purposes.

Bolton told a Florida group in an online presentation that Trump's business and re-election concerns drive not only his dealings with Ukraine, which led to his impeachment by the House, but also with China, Turkey and other countries.

He said he would have voted to remove the president for his Ukraine dealings, but did not delve into specifics. Bolton, a longtime adviser to Republican presidents, told the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches, a nonpartisan organization that meets monthly to hear from prominent newsmakers, that life inside Trump's White House was like "living in a pinball machine."

"You need to have strategic vision. It certainly helps to have philosophical foundations and you have to think through pros and cons of different policies. Almost none of that happened with President Trump," said Bolton, who was promoting his book, "The Room Where it Happened: A White House Memoir."

Trump "does not have a basic philosophy. He is not a conservative Republican. I don't mean to say he is a liberal Democrat. He is just not anything," said Bolton, who served as Trump's national security adviser from April 2018 to September 2019. The president says he fired Bolton; Bolton says he resigned.

Associated Press

Trump consults 'waterboarding' lawyer on how to skirt Congress through executive order loophole

From The Independent's Graig Graziosi:

Donald Trump is exploring options for circumventing Congress by consulting with a Bush-era lawyer that tried to legally justify torture via waterboarding.

John Yoo told Axios that he was consulting Mr Trump on a US Supreme Court ruling on immigration that could allow Mr Trump to issue executive orders to skirt federal law.

Mr Trump said in a Fox News interview Sunday that he intended to use the interpretation of the law to attempt to force his decisions on healthcare and immigration, as well as "other plans" through.

Mr Yoo is a lawyer known for a legal defence of waterboarding he produced for the George W Bush administration in August 2002. He was the deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel at the time.

Read more:

 Who is the Trump supporter suspected in murder of judge's son?

Men's rights attorney and self-described "anti-feminist" Roy Den Hollander is suspected of killing and critically injuring the son and husband of federal Judge Esther Salas.

In 2016, Mr Hollander filed a lawsuit against reporters from NBC News, ABC News, CNN, PBS News Hour, The New York Times and The Washington Post, claiming how they reported on then-candidate Donald Trump was a violation of the civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act.

The New York attorney's body was reportedly found at a campsite near Liberty in the New York Catskills, about two hours from the New Jersey home where Ms Salas's husband, Mark Anderl, and son, Daniel Anderl, were gunned down on Sunday.

On Mr Hollander's website, the self-described anti-feminist says "now is the time for all good men to fight for their rights before they have no rights left."

Read more about Mr Den Hollander and his connections to Ms Salas.

Trump antagonist Michael Avenatti is broke and can't afford legal defense

Michael Avenatti, the attorney who formerly represented porn star Stormy Daniels in her case against Donald Trump, is reportedly broke after facing legal issues of his own.

According to the New York Post, Dean Steward, an attorney representing Mr Avenatti, said the lawyer's financial problems have left him without the means to defend himself in upcoming court battles.

"The bottom line is that Mr Avenatti has run out of funds and faces a complex trial lasting as long as six weeks," Mr Steward wrote to a judge overseeing one of Mr Avenatti's upcoming court cases.

Mr Avenatti -- who ran a short-lived presidential campaign in 2018 -- is facing charges related to tax evasion, approximately three dozen counts of fraud, was convicted of attempting to extort the Nike shoe company and was accused of trying to skim money from Stormy Daniels while she was his client.

Mr Steward wrote that Mr Avenatti has run out of money and has offered to stay on as his lawyer if he can receive payment under the rules regarding poor clients.

Graig Graziosi has the story.