Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Wisconsin: “A Black man was shot in the back multiple times by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday, a bystander’s video showed, prompting community protests and widespread anger…. The man, identified by his family as Jacob Blake, 29, is in serious condition at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, the Kenosha Police Department said in a statement. Blake’s family has since confirmed that he is out of surgery and stable.”
* A story we’ve been following: “Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a substance that can be used as a nerve agent before falling into a coma last week, German doctors treating him said Monday.”
* COVID-19: “A man in Hong Kong has become the first confirmed patient to be infected with the coronavirus a second time, according to researchers at the University of Hong Kong.”
* Impressive images out of Belarus: “Tens of thousands of protesters staged another mass demonstration in Minsk Sunday, a day after embattled President Alexander Lukashenko put the army on alert to protect his country’s ‘territorial integrity.’ Protesters filled Independence Square in the capital in defiance of Lukashenko’s claim of a landslide victory in an August presidential election over opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. A rally calling for the president’s resignation last weekend attracted 100,000 protesters.”
* The latest White House shake-up: “Kellyanne Conway, the longtime adviser to President Donald Trump and wife of outspoken Trump critic George Conway, is leaving the White House at the end of August, she said in a statement Sunday.”
* USPS: “Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testified before the House Oversight Committee Monday and grew increasingly defensive as Democrats asked pointed questions about delayed U.S. Postal Service mail delivery.”
* On a related note: “The House passed a bill Saturday giving $25 billion in emergency funds to the U.S. Postal Service and reversing recent cost-cutting operational changes. Democrats are seeking to reinforce the agency ahead of the November election when many voters are expected to cast mail-in ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic.”
* Speaking of Capitol Hill: “The House on Saturday unanimously passed a bill to provide emergency funding to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the primary agency running the nation’s immigration system that is set to furlough roughly two-thirds of its employees at the end of this month.”
* Alas, this seemed inevitable: “Minnesota announced that more than a dozen people who attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in neighboring South Dakota have tested positive for the coronavirus, making it the third state to link cases of the virus to the massive rally.” * Trump’s tabloid pal: “David Pecker is stepping down as chief executive of American Media, publisher of the National Enquirer, ending an era for the supermarket tabloid which played a key role in a campaign-finance scandal that sent Donald Trump’s lawyer to prison and implicated the president himself.” * Why do this? “The State Department is appealing a federal judge’s decision that it must recognize the U.S. citizenship of a young girl born via surrogate to a gay couple — prolonging one of many legal fights over its controversial policy that was deemed unconstitutional in June.” * Just when it seemed this story couldn’t get weirder, Giancarlo Granda takes it to a new level: “In a claim likely to intensify the controversy surrounding one of the most influential figures in the American Christian conservative movement, a business partner of Jerry Falwell Jr has come forward to say he had a years-long sexual relationship involving Falwell’s wife and the evangelical leader.” See you tomorrow.
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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