Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Georgia: “Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday extended Georgia’s coronavirus restrictions while explicitly banning cities and counties from adopting rules requiring masks or other face coverings, a measure that could bolster the state’s case in a possible legal battle.”
* Russia: “Hackers from Russia’s intelligence services are attempting to steal coronavirus vaccine research from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, officials said Thursday. The attacks have been carried out by a group called “APT29, also known as ‘the Dukes’ or ‘Cozy Bear,’ which has been been using malware to target various organizations involved in the industry, American, Canadian and British intelligence agencies said in a joint statement.”
* As usual, Fauci’s right: “Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday the White House’s attempts to discredit him are ‘a bit bizarre’ and ‘it doesn’t do anything but reflect poorly on them.’”
* Uncertainty surrounds the airline industry: “American Airlines Group Inc. told 25,000 workers that their jobs are at risk after federal aid expires Oct. 1, as air-travel demand falls again amid climbing coronavirus case numbers.”
* Iowa: “A longtime spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Public Health said she was ousted Wednesday, and she believes it was partly because she was seen as too aggressive in sharing information with the media. Polly Carver-Kimm said that also may be why she was removed in March from the department’s team responding to the coronavirus pandemic.”
* I meant to mention this yesterday: “A court on Wednesday unsealed new police body camera video taken during the arrest of George Floyd, showing him being startled, apologetic and fearful before being pinned under an officer’s knee and ultimately dying.”
* USA Today‘s editorial page editor, Bill Sternberg, conceded yesterday that White House trade adviser Peter Navarro’s anti-Fauci op-ed included misleading claims and “did not meet” the newspaper’s fact-checking standards.
* On a related note, Attorney General Bill Barr recently lied during an NPR interview, and NPR’s ombudsman, Kelly McBride, concluded that she agrees “with the audience members who have cried foul” at how Barr’s demonstrable falsehoods were aired. * It seems every time Wells Fargo makes headlines, it’s never for good reasons: “Troy Harlow has always made sure to pay his monthly mortgage bill on time, even after he filed for personal bankruptcy protection in late 2017 following a kidney transplant that put him on permanent disability…. But Wells Fargo, the bank that handles Harlow’s mortgage, had other ideas for him.” * The trouble is, this is very easy to believe: “President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would welcome retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn back into his administration now that the former national security adviser’s legal troubles are on the verge of receding.” 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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