Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Russia continues to take advantage of Trump’s 50-day timeline: “Russia pounded four Ukrainian cities overnight into Wednesday, injuring at least 15 people in an attack that mostly targeted energy infrastructure, officials said. The latest bombardment in Russia’s escalating aerial campaign against civilian areas came ahead of a Sept. 2 deadline set by President Donald Trump for the Kremlin to reach a peace deal in the three-year war.”
* Maurene Comey, among other things, played a role in Jeffrey Epstein’s prosecution: “Federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, was fired by the Justice Department on Wednesday, according to four sources familiar with the matter.”
* In related news: “Fired federal prosecutor Maurene Comey sent an email Thursday morning to her former colleagues at the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, warning that it’s becoming harder for them to do their jobs ‘without fear.’”
* Speaking of Trump’s DOJ: “The Justice Department is seeking no prison time for a former officer who blindly shot into Breonna Taylor’s home during a botched 2020 raid that sparked a federal inquiry into policing in Louisville, Kentucky.”
* The latest on Donald Trump’s health: “The president has been diagnosed with ‘chronic venous insufficiency’ after he was checked out for ‘mild swelling in his lower legs,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at the press briefing today.”
* “Obliterated” was obviously incorrect: “One of the three nuclear enrichment sites in Iran struck by the United States last month was mostly destroyed, setting work there back significantly. But the two others were not as badly damaged and may have been degraded only to a point where nuclear enrichment could resume in the next several months if Iran wants it to, according to a recent U.S. assessment of the destruction caused by the military operation, five current and former U.S. officials familiar with the assessment told NBC News.”
* No one will benefit from this: “The Trump administration on Thursday afternoon officially terminated the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ Youth Specialized Services program, which gave callers under age 25 the option to speak with LGBTQ-trained counselors.” * All is not well at HHS: “Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired two of his top aides this week, shaking up his leadership team at the Department of Health and Human Services amid an aggressive effort to reshape public health policy.” * It sure would be nice if Americans could have some confidence that there was a connection between presidential claims and reality: “President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Coca-Cola in the United States will begin to be made with cane sugar, but the company did not explicitly say that was the case when it was asked later about Trump’s claim.” 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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