Trump political appointees took $300M from the CDC, steered some money to the business associates of a top appointee, and tried to race ads boosting Americans’ mood onto TV before the election. They also tried to get celebrities to participate — and vetted whether they were pro- or anti-Trump.

The celebrity ad campaign was already floundering before we wrote about it; it soon collapsed under the added scrutiny. But it did lead to this surreal lede in our follow-up story. www.politico.com/news/2020/09...