Today’s edition of quick hits:
* PDB: “Three weeks after the election, the White House has given formal approval for President-elect Joe Biden to receive the President’s Daily Brief, a White House official told CNN Tuesday. Coordination on when Biden will receive his first briefing is currently underway, but the move is another step toward a transition of power that President Donald Trump held up for weeks after it was clear he lost the 2020 election.”
* CDC: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is finalizing plans to shorten the recommended length of quarantine for those exposed to Covid-19.”
* These incidents always make me nervous: “A Russian warship chased a U.S. Navy destroyer from waters in the Sea of Japan, known in South Korea as the East Sea, on Tuesday, Russia’s military said — the latest in a string of close contacts between Russian and American forces across the globe.”
* The wrong person for the job: “Kash Patel, a Trump loyalist who was connected to efforts to spread conspiracy theories about Joe Biden has been put in charge of the Pentagon transition effort with the incoming Biden-Harris administration, according to two US defense officials. Patel is the chief of staff to Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller.”
* It’s almost as if Trump’s boasts about the world respecting him weren’t true: “German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Tuesday he hopes a reset of U.S.-European relations under the Biden administration can end years in which Europe was mainly concerned with ‘damage control.’”
* What could possibly go wrong? “A firearms-toting congresswoman-elect who owns a gun-themed restaurant in Rifle, Colorado, has already asked Capitol Police about carrying her weapon on Capitol grounds, her office has acknowledged.”
* What an odd story: “A mysterious metal monolith was discovered in Utah after public safety officers spotted the object while conducting a routine wildlife mission. A helicopter crew with the Utah Department of Public Safety Aero Bureau was assisting Wildlife Resources on Wednesday to count bighorn sheep in southeastern Utah, the department said.” * Conservative media: “As it seeks to overturn the election results and keep President-elect Joe Biden from assuming power, President Donald Trump’s legal team, fronted by lawyers such as Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, and until recently Sidney Powell, has been operating out of a conference room at the 2020 campaign’s downsized headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. Aiding Trump’s so-called “elite strike force” team in that effort has been an on-air host at One America News Network (OAN), a vociferously pro-Trump cable-news channel that has been endorsed by the president.” * Have they learned nothing? “All those warnings from public health officials begging Americans to limit gatherings this holiday season amid a surge in coronavirus cases aren’t stopping the White House from planning a host of festivities and holiday parties in the midst of a pandemic.” 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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