Today’s edition of quick hits.
* If all goes according to plan, this is just a couple of hours away: “Former President Donald Trump is expected to voluntarily surrender at the Fulton County Jail on Thursday night, where he’ll be booked on felony charges in connection with efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.”
* The first White House chief of staff to be arraigned was H. R. Haldeman. Mark Meadows is the second: “Meadows, who served as White House chief of staff at the end of the Trump administration, was booked at the Fulton County Jail today after being charged with racketeering in the Georgia 2020 election investigation, jail records show. ... The judge set his bond at $100,000.”
* The latest from Russia: “Two U.S. officials told NBC News that intelligence gathered so far points to sabotage as the cause of the plane crash that reportedly killed Yevgeny Prigozhin and others near Moscow yesterday. One of the officials said a leading theory is that the aircraft was downed by an explosive on board, but they do not have enough information to say that with certainty.”
* Noted without comment: “Russian President Vladimir Putin said the official investigation into the crash that is believed to have killed Prigozhin will take time. After expressing his ‘sincere condolences to the families of all the victims’ during a meeting broadcast on Russian television, Putin said that the head of the investigative committee had reported to him this morning.”
* Mass shooting in southern California: “A gunman who opened fire at a beloved California bar popular with bikers, leaving three people dead, is a former law enforcement officer who targeted his wife, authorities said Thursday.”
* As arms sales go, this one is relatively modest, though that won’t make Beijing any less upset: “The Biden administration has approved a $500 million arms sale to Taiwan as it ramps up military assistance to the island despite fervent objections from China.”
* The arrest of Harrison William Prescott Floyd III, who is also among the 19 indicted by Fani Willis: “A Trump supporter indicted last week in Fulton County, Ga., for allegedly harassing an election worker was charged earlier this year with attacking an FBI agent working on the Justice Department’s parallel investigation of efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.”
* All is not well in Florida: “The Florida State Board of Education voted Wednesday to approve new rules at state colleges for transgender employees and students that are intended to comply with a law, passed in May, restricting access to bathrooms. Colleges will be forced to fire employees who twice use a bathroom other than the one assigned to their sex at birth, despite being asked to leave. And bathroom restrictions also now apply to student housing operated by the colleges.”
* The White House has reason to be pleased: “Lucrative new tax breaks and other incentives for advanced manufacturing that President Biden signed into law appear to be reshaping direct foreign investment in the American economy, according to a White House analysis, with a much greater share of spending on new and expanded businesses shifting toward the factory sector.”
* A reminder that Fox News isn’t the only outlet being sued by Smartmatic: “A Delaware judge on Wednesday rejected Newsmax’s attempt to throw out part of a defamation case brought by the election technology company Smartmatic against the right-wing network.”
See you tomorrow.