Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A dramatic step in a dangerous direction: “The Trump administration on Thursday rolled back federal regulations restricting greenhouse gas emissions, repealing a landmark 2009 finding on global warming and sparking outrage.”
* A new day is emerging in Minnesota, but the damage will not be easily undone: “Border czar Tom Homan said Thursday that the federal law enforcement operation in Minnesota, which killed two U.S. citizens and sparked national protests, is ending.”
* The latest in a series of fiascos surrounding the administration and aviation policy: “The Federal Aviation Administration’s haphazard closure of the skies over El Paso, Texas, devolved into finger-pointing and recriminations inside the Trump administration.”
* The right’s newest conspiracy theory about the tech industry and politics: “The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has raised concerns with Apple about accusations that Apple News promotes news articles from left-wing news outlets and suppresses content from conservative publications, the FTC’s chairman said on Wednesday. In a letter sent to Apple CEO Tim Cook, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson noted the commission does not have authority to require Apple or any company to take positions on any political issue or to curate news based on ideology.”
* The Justice Department’s credibility is gone: “The federal government accused dozens of Minnesota’s anti-ICE protesters of attacking law enforcement agents and ramming their cars into federal vehicles, inflicting bodily injury. …Yet weeks later, federal prosecutors quietly charged the protesters with less serious crimes in about 20 cases. In at least three instances, charges were dismissed. Former federal prosecutors say it’s unprecedented to allege assault on a law enforcement agent and then charge it as a misdemeanor rather than a felony.”
* Another Gabbard flop: “After a little less than a year, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is ending the work of a task force she created to look at big changes to the U.S. intelligence community. The panel known as the Director’s Initiative Group was formed in April and charged with rooting out what Gabbard called the politicization of intelligence gathering. The group also studied ways to reduce spending on intelligence and whether reports on high-profile topics like COVID-19 should be declassified.” * This degree to which this commission is a mess is becoming increasingly obvious: “A member of the federal Religious Liberty Commission has been ousted after a hearing this week that featured tense exchanges on the definition of antisemitism. The ousted member, Carrie Prejean Boller, had defended prominent commentator Candace Owens, who routinely shares antisemitic conspiracy theories.” * All is not well at CBS: “A ‘CBS Evening News’ producer sent a fiery goodbye note to colleagues this week, citing a ‘shifting set of ideological expectations’ as the reason for her departure. She’s the latest CBS News staffer to exit after Bari Weiss became editor-in-chief last fall. The producer, Alicia Hastey, wrote in her note that a ‘sweeping new vision’ at CBS News is making it increasingly ‘impossible’ to report the stories she wants to tell.” 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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