Today’s edition of quick hits.
* An important warning: “If the United States postpones military aid to Ukraine, there is a ‘big risk’ the country could lose its war with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said Tuesday. Speaking at the U.S. Institute for Peace during a visit to Washington, Yermak said failure by Congress to approve more aid to Ukraine could make it ‘impossible’ to liberate more territory captured by Russia and ‘give the big risk to lose this war.’”
* In Gaza: “The Israeli military announced it was expanding its ground assault against Hamas to all of the Gaza Strip after the collapse of the truce deal in which more than 100 hostages and 240 Palestinian prisoners were freed.”
* Updating a story I’ve covered closely: “Republican leaders said Tuesday the House will likely vote to formalize their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden next week — the last week the chamber is scheduled to be in session before lawmakers leave for the holidays.”
* An ugly story gets worse: “Four gold bars connected to the FBI search of Sen. Bob Menendez’s home have direct links to a New Jersey businessman now accused of bribing Menendez, the state’s senior senator, Bergen County prosecutor’s records from a 2013 robbery case show.”
* SCOTUS: “The Supreme Court on Tuesday probed Congress’ power to tax certain business entities in a case that could have implications for any future effort to enact a wealth tax on the super-rich. The case had previously attracted scrutiny after Justice Samuel Alito rejected claims that he should not participate in it because of his ties with one of the lawyers challenging a one-off tax on foreign corporate investments.”
* It doesn’t have to be this way: “In less than 90 minutes on Sunday afternoon, two 911 calls led police in Texas and Washington to two mass shootings that pushed the nation to a gruesome milestone. They were the 37th and 38th shootings this year in which four or more victims were killed, the highest number of mass killings in any year since at least 2006. Last year’s 36 was the previous record.” * I wish this were more surprising: “Elon Musk’s social media platform X has fueled far-right disinformation in Ireland and played a key role in riots last month in the country’s capital Dublin, experts tell CBS News. The violent clashes erupted on Nov. 23 between about 200 civilians and riot police in central Dublin as demonstrators vented rage after a stabbing incident that left multiple people wounded earlier in the day, including a 5-year-old girl who was hospitalized with serious injuries.” * That’s 15 days, not 15 weeks: “Four Republican legislators in New Hampshire will introduce a bill that would ban abortion at ‘15 days’ gestational age, according to a copy of the bill they pre-filed.” 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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