Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A devastating death toll: “More than 5,900 people have died in the Middle East, nearly one-third of them in Lebanon, since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran in late February. In Beirut and elsewhere, last week’s strikes, which Israel called its most intense of the war, killed more than 350 people in Lebanon, the Lebanese branch of the World Health Organization said.”
* Stay tuned: “Trump told the New York Post in a phone interview today that more discussions between the U.S. and Iran ‘could be happening over the next two days’ in Islamabad.”
* Difficult diplomacy: “Speaking to reporters after the roughly two-hour meeting between U.S., Israeli and Lebanese officials in Washington, D.C., Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter appeared positive about his country’s first high-level diplomatic dialogue with Lebanon in over three decades.”
* Credibility problems: “U.S. Central Command said today that ‘no ships made it past the U.S. blockade’ of the Strait of Hormuz in the 24 hours after it was implemented, even as shipping data from MarineTraffic shows at least two vessels bypassed the blockade.”
* I think this was the 49th such strike: “The Defense Department said on Monday that it had blown up a boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean earlier in the day, killing two people. The strike raised the death toll in the campaign by the United States against people it accuses of smuggling drugs at sea to at least 170.”
* In this case, the administration was very fortunate to get two Trump-aligned judges: “Facing a criminal contempt probe, President Donald Trump’s administration has been seeking legal shelter. Trump-appointed appellate judges have been providing it. The latest example came Tuesday, when a divided three-judge panel granted what it admitted was the government’s ‘extraordinary’ request for relief, to terminate contempt proceedings stemming from last year’s deportation flights to a Salvadoran terror prison.”
* Brutal new accusations against Swalwell: “A woman who has accused former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., of drugging and raping her in a West Hollywood hotel room addressed the public at a press conference on Tuesday and said she plans to file a police report with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.” (Swalwell has denied any wrongdoing in response to previous allegations by other women.)
Recommended
* A welcome settlement: “The Trump administration has reached a settlement with the American Library Association and a union of cultural workers, bringing to an end its yearlong effort to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency.”
* Elections have consequences in Virginia: “Gov. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia has signed into law a bill to end tax exemptions for a slate of Confederacy-related organizations in the state.”
* On Capitol Hill: “Federal Reserve Chair hopeful Kevin Warsh is worth at least $131 million, according to newly released financial disclosures that were unveiled ahead of a nomination hearing that the Senate Banking Committee is aiming to hold next Tuesday.”
* Someone should let RFK Jr. know about this: “Tests of intelligence and brain function showed the same results whether or not people drank fluoridated water growing up, a highly anticipated, long-term study found.”
* During JD Vance’s latest Fox News appearance, the vice president actually said, “What [Iranian officials] have done is engage in this act of economic terrorism against the entire world. … As the president of the United States showed, two can play at that game.”
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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