Today’s edition of quick hits.
* In the Middle East: “Hamas’ Gaza chief Mohammed Sinwar, the younger brother of the group’s deceased leader Yahya Sinwar, has been killed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers Wednesday.”
* Kseniia Petrova’s case: “A federal judge on Wednesday granted bail to Harvard scientist Kseniia Petrova, who has spent more than three months in custody after failing to declare frog embryos upon arriving in the United States. U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss in Vermont said Petrova’s continued detention by immigration authorities was unjustified and raised serious legal concerns about the government’s actions.”
* A disappointing ruling from a Trump-appointed judge: “A federal judge refused Wednesday to temporarily block the Trump administration from removing and replacing the director of the U.S. Copyright Office. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled from the bench that the office director, Shira Perlmutter, hasn’t met her legal burden to show how removing her from the position would cause her to suffer irreparable harm.”
* Given that a majority of Missouri voters last fall approved a state constitutional amendment that guarantees the “fundamental right to reproductive freedom,” developments like these probably shouldn’t happen: “Planned Parenthood officials say they have halted abortions in Missouri after the state Supreme Court ruled that a judge must reevaluate orders that had allowed the procedure to resume earlier this year.”
* All things considered, Musk isn’t the only one “disappointed” with Republicans’ regressive bill: “Elon Musk broke with President Donald Trump on the House-passed domestic policy bill, saying in an interview that he was ‘disappointed’ that it would increase the federal deficit.” * The White House needs to dial down the inflammatory rhetoric: “Threats against federal judges have risen drastically since President Trump took office, according to internal data compiled by the U.S. Marshals Service. In the five-month period leading up to March 1 of this year, 80 individual judges had received threats, the data shows. Then, over the next six weeks, an additional 162 judges received threats, a dramatic increase. That spike in threats coincided with a flood of harsh rhetoric — often from Mr. Trump himself — criticizing judges who have ruled against the administration and, in some cases, calling on Congress to impeach them.” * Crypto scores another win: “The Labor Department on Wednesday yanked Biden-era guidance that strongly discouraged employers against offering cryptocurrency in workers’ 401(k) plan options.” 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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