A10 Friday, April 17, 2020 Austin American-Statesman Information adds to questions EPA guts rule credited with about Russia probe dossier cleaning up coal-plant toxic air By Ellen Knickmeyer for people to recover in the The Associated Press long run” from the disease By Eric Tucker caused by the coronavi- The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The rus, given the lasting harm Trump administration on the illness does to vic- WASHINGTON — Newly Thursday gutted an Obama- tims hearts and lungs, said released material raises the era rule that compelled the Delaware Sen. Tom Carper, possibility that Russian disin- country’s coal plants to cut the senior Democrat on the formation made its way into a back emissions of mercury Senate Environment and dossier of opposition research and other human health Public Works Committee. that the FBI relied on when hazards, a move designed The EPA move leaves in applying for warrants to eaves- to limit future regulation place standards for emis- drop on a former campaign of air pollutants from coal- sions of mercury, which adviser to President Donald and oil-fired power plants. damages the developing Trump. Environmental Protection brains of children and has The new material, con- Agency chief Andrew has been linked to a series tained in footnotes to a Justice Wheeler said the roll- of other ailments. But the Department watchdog report back was reversing what changes greatly reduce the that were recently declassified In a Nov. 2, 2017, file photo, Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to he depicted as regulatory health benefits that regula- by the Trump administration, Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, speaks with reporters overreach by the Obama tors can consider in crafting indicates the FBI was advised following a day of questions from the House Intelligence Committee, administration. “We have futures rules for power plant even as it sought the warrants on Capitol Hill in Washington. [J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/ASSOCIATED PRESS put in place an honest emissions. That undermines that some of the information FILE PHOTO] accounting method that the 2011 mercury rule and included in the dossier was balances” the cost to utili- limits regulators’ ability not accurate or was poten- in targeting Page “was riddled 2017 to monitor the commu- ties with public safety, he to tackle the range of soot, tially influenced by Russian with significant flaws.” nications of Page on suspicion said. heavy metals, toxic gases disinformation. One of the footnotes says that he was an agent of a for- Wheeler is a former coal and other hazards from It may add to accusations the FBI was alerted in 2017 that eign power. Page has denied lobbyist whose previous fossil fuel power plants. that the FBI did not take seri- a particular allegation included any wrongdoing and was never clients have gotten many The Trump administra- ously enough concerns that in the dossier was “part of a charged. of the regulatory rollbacks tion contends the mercury were raised about the dossier’s Russian disinformation cam- Inspector General Michael they sought from the Trump cleanup was not “appro- reliability as it investigated paign to denigrate U.S. foreign Horowitz said in his report that, administration. priate and necessary,” a ties between the Trump cam- relations.” though there was no evidence Environmental and legal benchmark under the paign and Russia. The Justice It also cites a February 2017 that the FBI was motivated by public health groups and country’s landmark Clean Department inspector general U.S. intelligence report saying political bias during the investi- Democratic lawmakers Air Act. report from December that that an individual with reported gation, the bureau made serious faulted the administration The Obama rule led to included the blacked-out foot- ties to Trump and Russia had errors during the application for pressing forward with what electric utilities say notes faulted the FBI for failing cautioned that certain alle- process, including by omitting a series of rollbacks easing was an $18 billion cleanup to reassess the credibility of the gations related to Trump’s information that called into pollution rules for industry of mercury and other toxins dossier after receiving informa- behavior during a trip to question the reliability of cer- — in the final six months of from the smokestacks of tion that called into question Moscow four years earlier were tain reporting included in the President Donald Trump’s coal-fired power plants. some of its reporting. false and the product of Russian dossier. current term — while the EPA staffers’ own analy- The FBI did not rely on intelligence “infiltrate(ing) a The inspector general report coronavirus pandemic sis said the rule curbed the dossier when it opened source into the network.” said the FBI could not corrobo- rivets the world’s attention. mercury’s devastating neu- the Russia investigation in An FBI spokeswoman rate certain allegations from the With rollbacks on air rological damage to children July 2016, instead relying on declined to comment Thursday. Steele dossier and did contem- pollution protections, the and prevented thousands of other information about pos- The FBI has acknowledged plate the possibility “that Russia “EPA is all but ensuring that premature deaths annually, sible Trump campaign links to problems during the Russia was funneling disinformation to higher levels of harmful air among other public health Russia. But it did rely in part on investigation and has instituted Steele, and the possibility that pollution will make it harder benefits. the document a couple months a series of changes designed to disinformation was included in later when it applied for a make its surveillance appli- his election reports.” warrant to monitor the com- cations more accurate and But, Horowitz said, more munications of former Trump thorough. should have been done by the campaign adviser Carter Page. The dossier of information FBI to determine if that was The fact that the dossier was was compiled during the course the case. used at all is one of the main of the 2016 presidential cam- One footnote says a January points cited by Trump support- paign by Christopher Steele, 2017 report identified an inac- ers in challenging the legitimacy a former British spy whose curacy in the dossier’s reporting of the probe. research into ties between on Michael Cohen, Trump’s The footnotes were released Trump and Russia was financed former personal lawyer. It does by two Republican senators, by Democrats. not detail the inaccuracy, but it Chuck Grassley of Iowa and The FBI relied in part on could be a reference to a claim in Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, information from the dossier the document that Cohen met who said in a joint statement during multiple applications with Kremlin representatives in In this Aug. 23, 2018, file photo, a coal-fired plant in Winfield, that the information makes to the Foreign Intelligence Prague in the summer of 2016. W. Va., is seen from an apartment complex in the town of Poca clear that the FBI’s justification Surveillance Court in 2016 and Cohen has long denied that. across the Kanawha River. [JOHN RABY/ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO]

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC Leading in pandemic becomes part of audition for Biden’s VP

By Sara Burnett has had on black Americans. equipped to handle a surge in and Bill Barrow In recent weeks, she’s talked cases. Klobuchar has touted The Associated Press with prominent black radio her record of winning in hosts and commentators rural, typically more conser- CHICAGO — California Steve Harvey, Roland Martin, vative areas and still sees her Sen. is rais- Zerlina Maxwell and Joe knowledge of rural issues as ing money for presumptive Madison and participated in a a point in her favor as a vice Democratic presidential coronavirus town hall hosted presidential pick. nominee Joe Biden while by Sean “Diddy” Combs on Biden’s team sees Whitmer, speaking out about the dis- the rapper-producer’s Revolt one of his campaign co-chairs proportionate number of TV. in a top battleground state, African Americans with A Harris adviser said the as consciously trying to be COVID-19. senator, the lone Democratic viewed as a serious contender. Minnesota Sen. Amy black woman in the Senate, is First, that means doing her Klobuchar has been prais- using her platform to high- job well in Michigan but also ing the former vice president light the racial disparities leveraging her role in national on television and Twitter as of the pandemic. The media media. She’s already shown she unveils a plan to fight the blitz comes after a presiden- an ability to handle criticism coronavirus in rural America. tial campaign in which she from Trump, whose leader- Michigan Gov. Gretchen Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., endorses presumptive Democratic had trouble connecting with ship during the pandemic she Whitmer went on “The Daily presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden, March 2, at a many black voters, especially has criticized. After Trump Show” to plead for help campaign rally in Dallas. [ERIC GAY/ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO] some of the young black pro- referred to Whitmer as “that addressing the pandemic gressives skeptical of Biden. woman from Michigan,” while wearing a T-shirt with who can project confidence to part of the speculation As many Democrats pressure she appeared on “The Daily a jab at President Donald voters that they can manage are Massachusetts Sen. Biden to select a black woman Show” wearing a T-shirt with Trump. a pandemic,” said Adrienne Elizabeth Warren, former as his running mate, it would the four-word description on As Biden begins the process Elrod, a Democratic strategist Georgia governor candidate make sense for Harris to shore it. of choosing a running mate, who was a senior adviser to Stacey Abrams, Nevada Sen. up any potential weaknesses Warren notably didn’t responding to the COVID- ’s 2016 presi- Catherine Cortez Masto, there. endorse Biden until 19 pandemic has become an dential campaign. “If you Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Klobuchar has been trying Wednesday, more than a unexpected part of the audi- can show that you’re doing Baldwin, Illinois Sen. Tammy to show the Biden campaign month after she dropped her tion. The women believed to that effectively, that makes Duckworth and New Mexico that she’s a good teammate presidential bid. But when be top candidates are com- you a more attractive choice, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. since she dropped her presi- asked Wednesday on MSNBC peting for the job by trying to obviously.” Almost all have said they dential bid and endorsed whether she would serve show off their leadership on There is only so much a are “flattered” or “honored” him ahead of the March 3 as Biden’s vice president if issues thrust into the spot- potential running mate can to be mentioned as likely Super Tuesday contests, just asked, she said yes. light by the virus. do to influence a decision short-listers but are focused in time to help him win her Warren has noted she That’s easier for some than that ultimately comes down on the pandemic. Warren said home state of Minnesota. released a plan to help fight for others. The coronavirus to who the candidate believes on MSNBC she would accept She campaigned for him in pandemics on Jan. 28, well has put politics on the back is the right choice. Biden the VP job if Biden offered it states including Michigan before Biden or any other burner for many. Rallies and has said he’ll pick a woman. to her. Abrams, the former and has been promoting him presidential candidate. She fundraisers — where potential He may consider whether minority leader of the Georgia on television and social media also founded an activist vice presidential candidates a senator hails from a state House of Representatives, while pushing issues such as group she’s dubbed Warren might essentially audition with a Democratic governor told Elle magazine she would vote by mail, which she says Democrats. She’s attempting for the position — are barely to ensure her replacement in be “an excellent running would allow people to safely to tap her sizable national col- happening. Meanwhile, gov- the Senate would be from the mate,” noting she has a record vote in November. lection of mostly small, online ernors in the running might same party. of executive management On Thursday, Klobuchar donors with an eye to boost- seem to have an advantage as But he also has stressed he’s and, as an African American released a plan to prepare ing her Senate reelection their official day job becomes looking for someone who’s woman, could motivate “typ- for and respond to the coro- campaign in 2024 — espe- a public test of their abil- “ready to be president on a ically ignored communities.” navirus in rural areas, where cially after she finished third ity to handle a crisis in the moment’s notice.” Harris has launched a COVID-19 has been slower in her home state during the spotlight. Besides Harris, Klobuchar campaign of sorts to shine to spread but where there presidential race — but also to “Everything has changed, and Whitmer, other light on the disproportion- are more older people and elect Democrats “who share and this time calls for a No. 2 women who’ve been ate effect the coronavirus health care systems are less our vision.”