Today’s edition of quick hits:
* I’m not sure these folks know what they’re doing: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday that the United States is terminating the Treaty of Amity reached with Iran in pre-revolutionary days, calling it an ‘absolute absurdity’ given the tensions between the two countries.”
* The Senate vote on this was 98 to 1: “The Senate passed the final version of a sweeping opioids’ package Wednesday afternoon and will send it to the White House just in time for lawmakers to campaign on the issue before the November midterm elections.”
* The Julie Swetnick story: “In an unprecedented move, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday released an explicit statement that purports to describe the sexual preferences of a woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh of misconduct.”
* A new Gallup poll shows a narrow plurality of Americans support Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation; a new NPR/PBS/Marist poll shows the opposite.
* The team is down to 13 people: “Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is shrinking by two in the wake of its successful prosecution of Paul Manafort and amid signs the Russia investigation may be nearing its final stages.”
* A story to keep an eye on: “Russia must halt its covert development of a banned cruise missile system or the United States will seek to destroy it before it becomes operational, Washington’s envoy to NATO said on Tuesday.”
* A predictable outcome from Mick Mulvaney: “The acting chief of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said Tuesday that an official under fire for blog posts dismissing racism will remain in charge of the agency’s lending discrimination cases.” * Better late than never? “The White House on Tuesday corrected its official transcript of President Donald Trump’s Monday press conference in which he insulted an ABC reporter.” * This was a bit jarring: “Millions of cellphones across the U.S. buzzed at 2:18 p.m. ET on Wednesday in the first test of the new ‘Presidential Alert’ wireless warning system.” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
