Today’s edition of quick hits:
* At the White House: “President Joe Biden on Thursday named Karine Jean-Pierre as the new White House press secretary, succeeding Jen Psaki. Jean-Pierre will be the first black woman and the first openly gay person to hold the position.”
* The Pentagon took issue with this reporting today: “The United States has provided intelligence about Russian units that has allowed Ukrainians to target and kill many of the Russian generals who have died in action in the Ukraine war, according to senior American officials.”
* Moscow obviously noticed: “Western attempts to transmit intelligence to Ukrainian armed forces will not prevent Russia from achieving its goals in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.”
* SCOTUS fencing: “Workers began installing tall fencing around the Supreme Court Wednesday night after another evening of protests over the leaked opinion that signaled justices plan to overturn Roe v. Wade.”
* Speaking of the court: “Chief Justice John Roberts said Thursday that the leak of a draft opinion that would strike down Roe v. Wade is ‘absolutely appalling’ and stressed that he hopes ‘one bad apple’ would not change ‘people’s perception’ of the nation’s highest court and workforce.”
* As for Alito: “U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has canceled an appearance at a judicial conference set to begin on Thursday after a draft decision he wrote indicating the high court would overturn its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed the right to abortion nationwide was leaked. Alito had been set to appear at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ judicial conference…. But he has since canceled, the person said, and Patricia McCabe, a spokesperson for the Supreme Court, on Wednesday said he was not attending.”
* I hope you saw our coverage of this last night: “The Oath Keepers founder facing seditious conspiracy charges tried to speak directly with President Donald Trump on the night of Jan. 6, 2021, and implored an intermediary to tell the president to use militia groups to stop the transfer of power, a fellow Oath Keepers member said in court Wednesday.” * DOJ: “The Justice Department is ramping up enforcement of environmental cases that officials say disproportionately harm poor and marginalized communities, creating an office to help coordinate investigations and expanding the breadth of litigation against companies and local or state governments that appear to violate federal laws or commit civil infractions.” * Climate data that climate deniers should care about, but won’t: “Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached the highest levels on record for any calendar month during April, averaging 420 parts per million (ppm) for the first time since observations began in 1958, according to new data.” 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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