Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani on Fox TV, December 6, 2020

Another 1,100 Americans die from Coronavirus as Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani tests positive.

The US death toll reached 282,299 on Sunday. Confirmed cases are 14,757,000, an increase of 173,434 in 24 hours. Hospitalizations rose slightly to a new record of 101,487, with 20,145 patients in intensive care.

Giuliani’s positive test was announced on Twitter on Sunday afternoon by Trump, who linked it to his racial term for Coronavirus and his disinformation about his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden.

Trump made no other comment on the pandemic yesterday, and has said little since the November 3 election.

“A person who was aware of his condition” said Giuliani, 76, was admitted to Georgetown University Medical Center. The attorney wrote later on Twitter: “Thank you to all my friends and followers for all the prayers and kind wishes. I’m getting great care and feeling good. Recovering quickly and keeping up with everything.”

Giuliani’s son Andrew, a White House adviser, said on November 20 that he had tested positive. A day earlier, he appeared at a news conference with his father. Several other White House personnel and Donald Trump Jr. also announced positive cases, in the latest wave across more than 40 Administration and Republican officials including Trump, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, and campaign advisor Corey Lewandowski.

But Giuliani continued to go without a mask and to take no notice of social distancing, as he made a series of public appearances to press the false claims about the election and to pursue a series of futile lawsuits. Under his watch, attorneys for Trump and his allies have lost 46 of 47 cases, with the only victory affecting just a few hundred ballots in Pennsylvania.

It was revealed last week that Trump is considering a pre-emptive pardon for Giuliani, with the two men discussing the matter days earlier. Federal prosecutors have investigated the attorney over his business dealings in Ukraine and his 11-month effort in that country, seeking disinformation to damage Democratic nominee Joe Biden — an initiative that led to the impeachment of Trump.

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Giuliani’s appearances have included:The unusual presentation at Four Seasons Total Landscaping, mistaken for the Four Seasons Hotel, in Philadelphia;

  • A press conference, with Giuliani’s hair dye dripping down the sides of his face, alleging an election plot including the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, the financier and philanthropist George Soros, Joe Biden, Democratic leaders in 10 US cities, “Antifa”, Cuba, and China;
  • Last Wednesday’s “hearing” in Michigan where a “witness” named Mellissa Carone, possibly drunk, rambled and ranted as Giuliani tried to silence her.

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    Giuliani was maskless as he sat next to Carone, and at a Thursday hearing at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta.

    The Trump campaign insisted, “Mayor Giuliani tested negative twice immediately preceding his trip to Arizona, Michigan, and Georgia. The Mayor did not experience any symptoms or test positive for COVID-19 until more than 48 hours after his return.”

    But “a person in contact with the former mayor” said Giuliani began feeling ill late in the previous week.

    On Sunday morning, the attorney spoke via satellite with Fox TV’s Maria Bartiromo, repeating disinformation about “fraud” in Georgia and Wisconsin and insisting Trump still had a path to victory, a week before the Electoral College vote.

    Biden to Name Becerra as Health Secretary

    President-elect Biden will name California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as Health and Human Services Secretary, according to “people familiar with the transition’s deliberations”.

    Becerra is the latest addition to the incoming Biden Administration’s team to fight the pandemic, including Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, a 13-member Task Force, and Dr. Anthony Fauci as Biden’s chief medical advisor.

    The first Latino to be named Health Secretary, Becerra has led 20 states and the District of Columbia in a legal campaign to protect the Affordable Care Act from being dismantled by the Trump Administration. He has also been prominent in efforts for women’s health.

    In June, filing a brief with the US Supreme Court, Becerra wrote:

    The ACA has been life-changing and now through this pandemic, we can all see the value in having greater access to quality health care at affordable prices.

    Now is not the time to rip away our best tool to address very real and very deadly health disparities in our communities.

    Biden is expected to formally announce Becerra and several other top health advisors early this week. They will include Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Jeffrey Zients, who led the Obama Administration’s National Economic Council and fixed the launch of ObamaCare’s online insurance marketplace, will lead the White House Coronavirus efforts to coordinate with agencies and state authorities.