Editor’s Note: This listicle is part of a weekly series by The Ball State Daily News summarizing five stories from across the United States. All summaries are based on stories published by The Associated Press.
Dr. Anthony Fauci’s warning on reopening the economy too soon, updates on the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, the Supreme Court hearing on the president’s taxes and bank records, cases of fraud during the virus pandemic and deficit spending threatening Pentagon’s arms projects make up this week’s five national stories.
Fauci warns of serious consequences if US reopens too soon
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, warned on Tuesday that “the consequences could be really serious” if cities and states reopen the U.S. economy too quickly. More COVID-19 infections are inevitable as people again start gathering, but how prepared communities are to stamp out those sparks will determine how bad the rebound is, Fauci told the Senate Health, Labor and Pensions Committee.
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Georgia AG seeks probe of prosecutors in Arbery killing case
Local law enforcers are now being investigated in the shooting of a black man who was chased down by two white men in Georgia. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and federal authorities to probe how local prosecutors handled the killing of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery. It took more than two months and the release of a video of the shooting before Gregory and Travis McMichael were charged with murder and jailed.
Read More: Georgia
Supreme Court hearing clash over Trump tax, bank records
The Supreme Court is taking up President Donald Trump’s bid to keep his tax, bank and financial records private, a major clash over presidential accountability that could affect the 2020 presidential campaign. Rulings against the president could lead to the campaign season release of personal financial information, including tax returns that have been made public by every other president in recent history, that Trump has kept shielded from investigators and the public.
Read more: U.S. Supreme Court
Virus unleashes wave of fraud in US amid fear and scarcity
Homeland Security Investigations, an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, is leading a nationwide crackdown, opening over 370 cases and so far arresting 11 people, as part of “Operation Stolen Promise.” Nationwide, investigators have turned up more than false purveyors of PPE. They have uncovered an array of counterfeit or adulterated products, from COVID-19 tests kits and treatments to masks and cleaning products.
Read more: Virus Outbreak
Bulging deficit may threaten prized Pentagon arms projects
The government’s $3 trillion effort to rescue the economy from the coronavirus crisis is stirring worry at the Pentagon. Bulging federal deficits may force a reversal of years of big defense spending gains and threaten prized projects like the rebuilding of the nation’s arsenal of nuclear weapons. Defense Secretary Mark Esper says the sudden burst of deficit spending is bringing the Pentagon closer to where it will have to shed older weapons faster and tighten its belt.
Read More: Nuclear weapons