Who got half a trillion in COVID loans? The Trump administration won’t say

The Small Business Administration was supposed to release detailed information about who got hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer-backed Paycheck Protection Program loans. But at a hearing yesterday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said it’s “confidential information.” We’re going to talk a lot about the shredding of norms on today’s show … if Kai’s 6/10 recording setup can make it through the end of the taping.

Here’s a list of some of the stuff we’re talking about today:

• “Trump administration won’t say who got $511 billion in taxpayer-backed coronavirus loans” in the Washington Post
• “Billions in bailouts my never be fully disclosed to taxpayers” from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group
• “Milley Apologizes for Role in Trump Photo Op: ‘I Should Not Have Been There’” in the New York Times
• “Counting the Days Under Virus Lockdown by the Length of Trudeau’s Hair” in the New York Times
• Finally, Kai’s dismal “room rating”:

Correction (June 12, 2020): A previous version of this page misstated how much in PPP loans could be kept confidential. The headline and text have been corrected.

Stories You Might Like

The FDA’s formaldehyde fight

Let’s talk about accountability

The Biden administration’s first big faux pas

Where have all the minivans gone?

Who’s scared of a little inflation?

WeWork founder has reentered the chat … how?