Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The trade war is just getting started: “China threatened on Friday to tax an additional $60 billion a year worth of imports from the United States if the Trump administration imposes its own new levies on Chinese goods.”
* I have a lot of questions about this: “Securities regulators dropped an investigation into whether Exxon Mobil Corp. misled investors about its accounting practices and the risks that climate change and greenhouse-gas regulations posed to its business.”
* A story we’ve been following: “Maine’s secretary of state says the now-disbanded voting integrity commission launched by the Trump administration uncovered no evidence to support claims of widespread voter fraud.”
* A tornado made of fire: “On July 26, the Carr Fire near Redding, Calif., unleashed a vortex with winds so strong it uprooted trees and stripped away their bark. On Thursday, the National Weather Service estimated the fire-induced tempest packed winds in excess of 143 mph. Such wind strength is equivalent to an EF3 tornado, on the 0-to-5 scale for twister intensity.”
* Why did the Trump International Hotel in Manhattan get a revenue bump in early 2018? “One major factor: ‘a last-minute visit to New York by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia,’ wrote general manager Prince A. Sanders in a May 15 letter, which was obtained by The Washington Post.” * I quite enjoyed the pictures of this: “Residents of an Idaho neighborhood woke up Friday morning to a sight that really got their goat. An invading herd of more than 100 goats rampaged through the neighborhood of West Boise, devouring flowerbeds, grass and leaves as they moved from yard to yard on Friday morning, NBC affiliate KTVB reported.” 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
