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Biden Says He Has Not Been Tested for Virus: Campaign Update

Pence Reports $480,000 in Gifts for Legal Funds: Campaign Update

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Tuesday he has not been tested for the coronavirus because he has not been ill and did not want to use a test someone else may need.

“I have not been tested for the coronavirus,” Biden said at a news conference in Wilmington, Delaware. “I have had no symptoms. I haven’t wanted to take anyone else’s place.”

Biden said staffers who come in contact with him are tested for the virus and his daughter has been tested twice. The former vice president added he believes he will receive a test soon. He has been wearing a mask whenever he is in public and has suggested other do the same.

President Donald Trump has been tested frequently for the virus but does not wear a mask.

The coronavirus is currently on the rise in the U.S. With some states in the Sunbelt and Texas having reported record-high cases and hospitalizations. To date over 2.6 million Americans have tested positive for Covid-19 and more than 126,000 have died.

Pence Reports $480,000 in Gifts for Legal Funds (2:51 p.m.)

Vice President Mike Pence reported at least $517,000 in assets, $175,000 in debts and almost $480,000 in gifts to cover legal expenses in his financial disclosure with the Office of Government Ethics released Tuesday.

Citing the ongoing response to the coronavirus pandemic, Pence, President Donald Trump and other White House officials received 45-day delays for filing the forms, which were originally due on May 15. OGE approved Pence’s 10-page filing, which covers his 2019 financial activity, one day after the extended deadline, but Trump, whose annual disclosures run to 88 pages and include hundreds of assets, has yet to be released.

Pence also disclosed payments of $479,680 to the law firm of McGuire Woods on his behalf. The firm represented Pence in the probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Three donors, Indiana real estate investor Herbert Simon and Michael Hayde and Laura Khoui of Western National Group, each gave $100,000 to the legal defense fund that raised the money, the disclosure says.

Pence’s biggest asset, worth between $500,000 and $1 million, is his state pension from Indiana, where he served as governor before Trump tapped him as his running mate in 2016. Officials report the value of their holdings in wide ranges. Pence’s debts are all for student loans. -- Bill Allison

Coming Up

Democatic nominee Joe Biden will host a celebration of LGBTQ pride month with Colorado Governor Jared Polis on Tuesday.

On Friday, President Donald Trump will attend a 4th of July celebration at Mount Rushmore.

Biden will attend a fundraiser with Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth on July 7.

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for the week beginning Aug. 17 in Milwaukee, while the Republicans are slated to meet a week later with events in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Jacksonville, Florida.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.