Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The newest variants: “A new version of omicron is dominant in the U.S. The coronavirus subvariant known as BA.5 accounted for nearly 54% of the country’s Covid cases as of Saturday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A similar subvariant, BA.4, makes up 17% more.”
* Following up on an item from this morning: “The head of the IRS has asked the Treasury Department’s inspector general to review how former FBI Director James Comey and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe were both subjected to a rare and rigorous IRS audit.”
* This will be added to his existing sentence: “Derek Chauvin was sentenced to just more than 20 years in prison Thursday, nearly seven months after he pleaded guilty to federal charges that he violated George Floyd’s civil rights when he knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9½ minutes as he was detaining him in May 2020.”
* It’s rare to see this kind of security warning: “Speaking alongside his British counterpart in London, FBI Director Christopher Wray issued his starkest warning yet about the national security threat to the West from China, even as intelligence officials in Washington released a report about Beijing’s efforts to influence state and local politics in the U.S.”
* Guilty plea: “American basketball star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty to drug charges in a Moscow court Thursday, her lawyers said, leaving her facing the prospect of up to 10 years in prison as her family and friends step up their calls for the U.S. government to do more to free her.”
* The latest Secret Service shakeup: “U.S. Secret Service director James Murray is stepping down to take a job at the social media company Snapchat, according to a Department of Homeland Security official and a statement issued by the agency Thursday.”
* This is a bold and interesting move: “Governor Gavin Newsom announced Thursday a plan to allocate $100 million in state funding to have the state make its own insulin.”
* They’re obviously correct: “A trio of U.S. senators is urging support for a universal charging standard for smartphones and mobile devices after the European Union recently agreed on new rules.” * The Georgia Guidestones: “A Georgia monument that drew curious visitors and was derided by a gubernatorial candidate as satanic was destroyed Wednesday after authorities said someone detonated an explosive device at the site.” * And speaking of weird radicalism in the Peachtree State: “Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., suggested in a videotaped podcast this week that the shootings that occurred on the Fourth of July, including in Highland Park, Ill., were ‘designed’ to get Republicans to support gun restrictions.” 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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