Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Against the backdrop of a looming deadline: “The Senate inched Friday toward a final vote on a major government funding bill to keep a slew of agencies afloat through September. But the timing of a final vote remains up in the air, with the possibility of a brief shutdown lingering.”
* A story we’ve been following: “Attorneys for former President Donald Trump filed official notice Friday they’re appealing the $83 million defamation verdict awarded to writer E. Jean Carroll — and that they’ve posted the $91 million bond needed to keep her from collecting while the appeal plays out. The lawyers asked the judge in a court filing for an order approving the $91,630,000 bond and staying execution of Carroll’s judgment.”
* The latest Jan. 6 arrest: “A Donald Trump enthusiast who appeared to fire two gunshots at the Capitol on Jan. 6 was arrested by federal authorities on Friday. NBC News identified John Emanuel Banuelos two years ago as the man in photos and video footage who appeared to be flashing a gun in his waistband as he fought officers on Jan. 6, 2021.”
* The White House will be pleased: “Seizing one of his biggest media moments ahead of the election in November, President Biden delivered a State of the Union address on Thursday that doubled as a campaign kickoff speech, presenting himself to Americans as a still-feisty leader prepared for the rigor of a grueling campaign. Whether his pitch resonates with voters remains to be seen. But plenty tuned in to see what he was offering. The live viewership for Mr. Biden’s speech will probably exceed last year’s television audience of 27.3 million, according to early figures released by Nielsen on Friday.”
* It’s important to be a savvy news consumer: “Into the depleted field of journalism in America, a handful of websites have appeared in recent weeks with names suggesting a focus on news close to home: D.C. Weekly, the New York News Daily, the Chicago Chronicle and a newer sister publication, the Miami Chronicle. In fact, they are not local news organizations at all. They are Russian creations, researchers and government officials say, meant to mimic actual news organizations to push Kremlin propaganda by interspersing it among an at-times odd mix of stories about crime, politics and culture.”
* In Iowa: “Iowa Republicans passed a personhood bill in the state House on Thursday night that would make it a felony to ‘cause the death’ of an ‘unborn person,’ putting the conservative Midwestern state directly into the national battle over protections for in vitro fertilization.” * I couldn’t think of anything insightful or original to say about it, but of course I saw it: “With a sunny, inviting smile, Senator Katie Britt of Alabama welcomed Americans into her kitchen on Thursday night. Many soon backed away nervously.” * Among the things I learned in this article: The Pentagon has something called an All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office: “The new congressionally mandated Pentagon report found no evidence that the government was covering up knowledge of extraterrestrial technology and said there was no evidence that any U.F.O. sightings represented alien visitation to Earth.” Have a safe weekend.
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."
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