Today’s edition of quick hits:
* After expressing his “frustration and disappointment” with Hong Kong and China this afternoon, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said he “expects” Russian officials to note the bilateral cooperation that has existed in the recent past when it comes to extradition options for Edward Snowden.
* State is leaning in, too: “U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday called on Russia to ‘do the right thing’ and prevent professed NSA leaker Edward Snowden from fleeing Moscow and instead return him to the United States.”
* In related news, Snowden reportedly told the South China Morning Post that he became an NSA contractor specifically so that he could gain access to evidence that he later leaked. Greg Sargent talked to Glenn Greenwald about this and published a really interesting report.
* Why the New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin thinks Greenwald should be prosecuted is a mystery to me. How bizarre.
* Iraq: “Ten car-bomb explosions killed at least 39 people across the Iraqi capital on Monday, police and medical sources said.”
* More on this in the morning: “Internal Revenue Service Principal Deputy Commissioner Danny Werfel said Monday that the IRS had continued to use other ‘inappropriate’ or ‘questionable’ criteria in their targeting of applicants for tax-exempt status.”
* What an aggressive leak crackdown looks like: “Even before a former U.S. intelligence contractor exposed the secret collection of Americans’ phone records, the Obama administration was pressing a government-wide crackdown on security threats that requires federal employees to keep closer tabs on their co-workers and exhorts managers to punish those who fail to report their suspicions.”
* Italy: “A court in Milan on Monday found former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi guilty of paying for sex with a minor and abusing his office to cover it up, handing him a seven-year jail sentence and banning him from public office for life.” * Virginia: “Federal authorities are asking Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell’s associates about previously undisclosed gifts given by a campaign donor to McDonnell’s wife that total tens of thousands of dollars and include money and expensive designer clothing, according to people familiar with the inquiry.” * And I don’t think I’ve ever seen the kind of on-air misogyny on display on Sean Hannity’s Fox show last week, when Bill Cunningham told Fox contributor Tamara Holder to to “know your role and shut your mouth,” adding, “Are you going to cry?” Unbelievable. Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
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