Today’s edition of quick hits.
* In the Middle East: “The Israeli military’s chief of staff told troops that today’s barrage of airstrikes was in preparation for a possible ground offensive in Lebanon. The IDF had earlier said it was calling up two reserve brigades to the northern border, as the United States and others urge against an expansion of its conflict with Hezbollah.”
* Hurricane Helene “is strengthening as it moves past Mexico and toward the U.S. Gulf Coast. It became a Category 1 hurricane today and is expected to hit Florida’s Big Bend late tomorrow. Helene is expected to become Category 3 storm. Around 32 million people are under flood watches.”
* The Secret Service really didn’t need another controversy, but it appears to have one anyway: “The U.S. Secret Service is investigating allegations that one of its agents sexually assaulted a female staff member of the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, the agency confirmed Wednesday.”
* In Missouri: “A Missouri man convicted of murder was executed Tuesday evening after the governor and the Supreme Court rejected efforts by his attorneys and the prosecutor’s office to halt the execution. Marcellus Williams, 55, was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1998 murder of Felicia ‘Lisha’ Gayle, a newspaper reporter found stabbed to death in her home in the St. Louis area. He maintained his innocence.”
* An ill-equipped judge gets another huge case: “The federal judge who presided over — and threw out — the criminal classified documents case the Justice Department brought against Donald Trump is now set to oversee the case into the latest apparent assassination attempt against the former president. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon — a Trump appointee — was randomly assigned the attempted assassination case Tuesday.”
* A worthwhile hearing, Part I: “Congressional Democrats spent Tuesday pressing Republicans on a slew of policies outlined by Project 2025 — a 922-page proposal for a future GOP presidency, written in part by allies of former President Donald Trump — holding a mock hearing on Tuesday on some of the key planks in the agenda.”
* A worthwhile hearing, Part II: “Democrats used a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday to rail against a Supreme Court decision that gave criminal immunity to presidents for official acts, which wiped out part of the allegations in the Washington case against Donald Trump related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.” * Liquidating Infowars: “Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Infowars media platform and its assets will be sold off piece by piece in auctions this fall to help pay the more than $1 billion he owes relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, under an order expected to be approved by a federal judge.” * The Affordable Care Act continues to generate good news: “The Treasury Department’s report shows that 4.2 million small business owners and self-employed workers have coverage through the ACA Marketplaces, up from 3.3 million in 2022 and 1.4 million in 2014.” 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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