Today’s edition of quick hits:
* I’ll have more on this in the morning: “The top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, Bill Taylor, offered a ‘disturbing’ portrayal of President Donald Trump’s Ukraine dealings in closed-door testimony Tuesday to impeachment investigators, according to House Democrats.”
* Canada: “Justin Trudeau has won a second term as prime minister of Canada, overcoming recent scandals that had tarnished his standing as a leader of progressive politics in an age of growing right-wing nationalism, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and other major Canadian networks projected Monday night.”
* Brexit: “British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won one vote and lost another in Parliament on Tuesday, a result that inches him closer to his goal of leading Britain out of the European Union — but effectively guarantees it won’t happen on the scheduled date of Oct. 31.”
* This will probably sell a few copies: “The author of an anonymous opinion article about the ‘resistance’ inside President Donald Trump’s administration has written a book. The book — titled “A Warning” and credited to “Anonymous” — will be published on Nov. 19, Twelve, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book Group, announced Tuesday.”
* Trump doesn’t care about legal limits: “The White House personnel office chief has told President Trump that his top two picks to fill the Homeland Security secretary job aren’t eligible under a federal law dictating who can fill the role without Senate confirmation, said people familiar with the matter.”
* With Trump, one can never be too careful: “The Pentagon recently began drawing up plans for an abrupt withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan in case President Donald Trump surprises military leaders by ordering an immediate drawdown as he did in Syria, three current and former defense officials said.” * According to former Defense Secretary James Mattis’ former speechwriter, Donald Trump’s first Pentagon briefing in 2017 was kind of ridiculous. * Noted without comment: “CNN’s new hire, former Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI), has used his first two appearances on the network to push a conspiracy theory that has already been widely debunked — including by CNN’s own reporting.” 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." Recommended
