In February 2020, the Trump administration drafted a policy document—stamped “not for public distribution or release” and indeed kept from public view for months—that would guide decision makers at every level of government and every sector of the economy in dealing with a new virus that came to be known by the scientific shorthand “Covid-19.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Feb. 7 declared a heightened terrorism threat due to “false and misleading narratives,” misinformation, and “conspiracy theories.”
When Joe Biden’s administration was asked for evidence to back up dramatic claims about national security developments this past week, it demurred with a simple rejoinder: You’ll have to trust us on that.
