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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has fired Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community who handled the whistleblower complaint that triggered his impeachment. Trump informed the Senate intelligence committee Friday of his decision to fire Atkinson, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. Trump said in the letter that it is “vital” that he has confidence in the appointees serving as inspectors general, and “that is no longer the case with regard to this inspector general.” Atkinson was the first to inform Congress about an anonymous whistleblower complaint last year that described Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to investigate Democrat Joe Biden and his son.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The singer Pink says she had COVID-19 and is donating $500,000 each to two emergency funds. In a pair of tweets posted Friday evening, the singer says she tested positive after she and her three-year-old son started displaying symptoms two weeks ago. She says they were negative when they were tested again “just a few days ago." She announced she's donating $500,000 to the Temple University Hospital Emergency Fund in honor of her mother, who worked there for nearly two decades. She's giving the same amount to the Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles' COVID-19 response fund. Her post thanked health care workers and called upon the public to “Please. Stay. Home.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden is set to announce a committee to oversee his vice presidential selection process and is already thinking about whom he’d choose to join his Cabinet. Biden made the disclosure Friday during a virtual fundraiser. He holds a significant lead in delegates over primary rival Bernie Sanders but hasn't officially clinched the Democratic presidential nomination. He said he’s spoken to Sanders to let him know he’d be working on the vice presidential vetting process. Biden said he doesn't want Sanders to think he's “being presumptuous” by choosing a running mate. But he added that the vice presidential vetting process “takes time,” so he has to begin this month.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Some states and cities that have been shipped masks, gloves, ventilators and other essential equipment from the nation’s medical stockpile to fight the coronavirus have gotten an unwelcome surprise: the material is unusable. Nearly 6,000 medical masks sent to Alabama had dry rot. More than 150 ventilators sent to Los Angeles were broken and had to be repaired. In Oregon, it was masks with faulty elastic that could cause the straps to snap. The CDC has acknowledged that some items in the U.S. stockpile have exceeded their manufacturer-designated shelf life but still were being distributed because of the urgent demand.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend says authorities have shifted from a “rescue” search to a “recovery” search as they look for her daughter and a grandson. Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean and McKean’s 8-year-old son went missing while canoeing in the Chesapeake Bay. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend served two terms as Maryland’s lieutenant governor. She is the eldest daughter of the late U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. The search started Thursday afternoon after the authorities responded to a report of two people on a canoe who appeared to be overtaken by strong winds.
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