Today’s edition of quick hits.
* An interesting report on Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ probe: “An Atlanta-area investigation of alleged election interference by former president Donald Trump and his allies has broadened to include activities in Washington, D.C., and several other states, according to two people with knowledge of the probe — a fresh sign that prosecutors may be building a sprawling case under Georgia’s racketeering laws.”
* This is pretty much the opposite of what we were told to expect: “The number of migrants illegally crossing the southwest U.S. border is at its lowest point since the start of the Biden administration, with just over 3,000 migrants stopped by Border Patrol each day. The number has plummeted from more than 10,000 daily just three weeks ago, despite widespread predictions of a surge after the end of the Title 42 Covid ban on May 11.”
* Diplomacy matters: “The United States has reopened its embassy in the Seychelles after a 27-year absence during which China and other U.S. rivals made significant inroads in the Indian Ocean islands. The U.S. State Department announced the move late Thursday, after having unveiled plans to open a diplomatic mission in northern Norway, which will be its only only such facility above the Arctic Circle.”
* Was a recusal really necessary? “A federal judge in Florida overseeing Walt Disney Co.’s lawsuit against GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis recused himself Thursday, saying he has a relative who owns Disney stock and could be affected by the case’s outcome.”
* This is an investigation worth watching: “Federal prosecutors are scrutinizing at least 10 political nonprofit groups — including five recently profiled in The New York Times — seeking to determine if the groups defrauded donors, according to two recent subpoenas.”
* Yesterday’s “Day Without Immigrants” protests: “Across the United States, opponents of a newly signed immigration law in Florida chose June 1 as the day to collectively send a message to the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, and his fellow conservatives: Florida’s economy is doomed without migrants.”
* This was, and is, an avoidable problem: “Starting April 1, states around the country began disenrolling people en masse from Medicaid. This is the result of the end of a temporary, Covid-era rule that required states to keep existing Medicaid beneficiaries on their books; in 2020, exchange for extra Medicaid funding, states had to err on the side of preserving access to health care during a pandemic. The public health emergency is over, though, and states can now revert to whatever renewal or termination policies they had pre-Covid.”
* Why would YouTube make a deliberate decision to weaken its own misinformation policy? “In a reversal of its election integrity policy, YouTube will leave up content that says fraud, errors or glitches occurred in the 2020 presidential election and other U.S. elections, the company confirmed to Axios Friday.”
* In the recent past, drag shows on military bases just weren’t that big a deal. Then Republican politics took an unfortunate turn: “The Defense Department said on Thursday that it would not host drag shows at U.S. military installations after Republican politicians complained about events scheduled on bases to celebrate Pride Month.”
Have a safe weekend.