| THE BIG STORY Trump vaccine adviser warns that scrutinizing him will delay arrival of the coronavirus vaccine Operation Warp Speed is the name of the Trump administration’s program focusing on discovering a coronavirus vaccine. The government has invested billions into it.
The chief adviser to Operation Warp Speed, Moncef Slaoui, says media scrutiny of his stock ownership may delay a vaccine or make its discovery less likely because it is distracting him from his work.
Slaoui is working as a contractor voluntarily, drawing payment of only $1. This exempts him from ethics rules that would apply to federal employees.
The reason this is drawing closer scrutiny: Slaoui worked for 30 years in senior roles at pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. He still holds significant stock in the company.
Frustrated by the news stories, Slaoui said on a recent podcast that coverage of his stock ownership “frankly distracts my energy and the energy of all the teams we’re working together with.”
Drew Angerer / Getty Images STAYING ON TOP OF THIS Judge Esther Salas broke her silence on the gunman who targeted her family and killed her son
Last month, a shooting at the home of US District Judge Esther Salas left her son dead and her husband injured.
On Monday, Salas released a nine-minute recorded statement, detailing the tragic day a gunman — suspected to be a men's rights activist lawyer — targeted her family at their home.
“My life as I knew it changed in an instant, and my family will never be the same,” Salas said in the video. “A madman, who I believe was targeting me because of my position as a federal judge, came to my house.”
Salas urged those in power to find a way to “safeguard the privacy of federal judges” and to make it harder to track them down.
SNAPSHOTS A scientist is being accused of inventing a colleague she said died from COVID-19. BethAnn McLaughlin, who has come under fire for harassing people in her group MeTooSTEM, is now suspected of faking an online persona: a woman of color who she said died of COVID-19.
New FBI documents from Mueller’s investigation reveal what witnesses said about Trump. BuzzFeed News filed a public records lawsuit to get the documents Robert Mueller used to write his report. Today, we are publishing the ninth installment of what witnesses in the investigation told Mueller’s team.
Chris Pratt joked about Katherine Schwarzenegger giving birth while hiking after posting a picture of her “ready to pop.” The couple are about to become parents. After a hike, Pratt posted a photo, saying he’s “kinda grateful it didn't go down on the trail though to be real.”
Taylor Swift just became the first artist in history to have both an album and a single debut at No.1 in the same week. In addition to Folklore’s sales dominance, “Cardigan” debuted at No. 1, making it Taylor’s sixth single to top the chart.
PRIMARY CHALLENGE Ilhan Omar didn’t expect a “red carpet welcome” to Congress Rep. Ilhan Omar is facing a primary challenge in her district, and the contest has commanded the same kind of outsized national attention that she has drawn her entire career.
Her challenger, local lawyer Antone Melton-Meaux, has raised huge sums of money to challenge Omar, much of it from the many people who dislike her. At the core of Melton-Meaux’s campaign is Omar’s national profile and the partly self-created controversies she has courted — from her use of anti-Semitic tropes to questions about her ties with her husband’s political firm.
Omar spoke to BuzzFeed News about the race and the ways her identity has shaped every facet of her time in Congress.
“To be the only member in Congress that comes from a country that is currently on the president’s Muslim ban — I did not expect there to be a red carpet welcome situation,” she told us.
Eman Mohammed For BuzzFeed News "SHAME ON ALL OF YOU" A woman’s obituary for her husband who died from the coronavirus is being shared widely After David W. Nagy, 79, died from the coronavirus, his wife Stacey Nagy, 72, wrote a devastating six-paragraph tribute. In it, she channeled her anger about people who are not taking the coronavirus seriously.
Stacey blamed David’s death on President Trump, the governor of Texas, and “the many ignorant, self-centered and selfish people” who refuse to wear a mask.
“Dave did everything he was supposed to do, but you did not,” she wrote. Her words resonated with a lot of people, and the obituary is being shared widely.
Wishing you an easy time sharing your story today, Elamin P.S. If you like this newsletter, help keep our reporting free for all. Support BuzzFeed News by becoming a member here. (Monthly memberships are available worldwide). 📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by Elamin Abdelmahmoud and BuzzFeed News. You can always reach us here.
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