Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Removing all doubt: “Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on Tuesday that the evidence connecting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the brutal killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was so strong, it amounted to ‘a smoking saw.’”
* Jeffrey Epstein: “A politically connected multi-millionaire sex offender accused of sexually abusing dozens of teenage girls struck a last-minute deal to avoid a civil trial that would have allowed some of his victims to finally testify against him in open court.”
* Republicans may find it tough to blame Dems for this one: “The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by almost 800 points Tuesday, to close at 25,027, continuing a shaky start to the week prompted by confusion over a thaw in U.S.-China trade relations. The Dow finished the day down 3.06 percent. The S&P 500 lost 3.2 percent of its value, and the Nasdaq fell by 3.8 percent.”
* France takes a step back: “Trying to quell its most serious political crisis, the government of President Emmanuel Macron announced on Tuesday that it would suspend the gasoline tax increase that had set off three weeks of increasingly violent protests in Paris and around France by the so-called Yellow Vest movement.”
* November was reportedly the deadliest month for American servicemen and women in Afghanistan since December 2015.
* It had to be Florida, didn’t it? “A Florida sheriff’s sergeant who wore a QAnon conspiracy theory patch on his uniform while greeting Vice President Mike Pence last week has been reprimanded and removed from special assignments for ‘conduct unbecoming an employee.’” * E.J. Bradford Jr: “An independent autopsy of an Alabama man killed by police officers responding to a shooting at a mall on Thanksgiving has found that the victim was shot three times from behind, casting more doubt on the official justification for the shooting, an attorney for the man’s family said Monday.” * Did you hear about the 69-year-old guy in the Netherlands who went to court, asking that he be legally considered 49? It’s a very odd story. Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
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
