Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A very scary hurricane: “Helene is currently a major Category 3 hurricane with wind speeds of 120 mph. It is expected to make landfall on Florida’s Big Bend this evening, bringing the risk of devastating damage. The storm was 170 miles southwest of Tampa as of 2:30 p.m. ET, traveling northeast at 16 mph.”
* The rebukes take an international turn: “A strange moment in American politics paid a visit to the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday, brought there by a top Haitian official. Edgard Leblanc Fils, the president of Haiti’s transitional council, spoke to world leaders about gang violence in his country and bemoaned the large number of citizens fleeing the violence. Then he referenced false claims that Haitians living in Springfield, Ohio, were eating cats and dogs.”
* GDP growth: “The US economy grew at a 3% annualized pace in the second quarter, a faster rate than Wall Street had expected.”
* A frustrating delay: “A sprawling review of the Justice Department’s handling of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot — and the Trump administration’s actions that preceded it — is unlikely to be released until after the next election takes place in November, the agency’s top internal watchdog said Wednesday.”
* A civil case I’ve been following: “Smartmatic on Thursday settled its defamation lawsuit against Newsmax, the right-wing cable news channel that had spread false claims of election fraud, the companies said. The details of the settlement, reached as the jury was being selected before the trial, were not immediately disclosed.”
* UAV was created by former Trump game show contestants: “United Atlantic Ventures LLC, a major shareholder in Trump Media, has sold or otherwise gotten rid of more than 7.5 million shares in the company, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday.”
* Brutal findings in Mississippi: “The city of Lexington, Miss., has fewer than 1,500 residents and only 10 police officers. But it prompted a 47-page report by the U.S. Justice Department’s civil rights division, which found that residents are routinely jailed on illegal “investigative holds” or for unpaid fines, and that they face excessive force, retaliation when they criticize the police, and racial discrimination.” * Hmm: “Independent journalist Ken Klippenstein was suspended Thursday from the social platform X after sharing materials about Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) that were allegedly obtained in an Iranian hack on former President Trump’s campaign. Klippenstein published the 271-page report compiled by the Trump campaign to vet Vance, now the Republican nominee’s running mate, on his Substack.” * Place your free order: “Americans can once again order COVID-19 tests, without being charged, sent straight to their homes. The U.S. government reopened the program on Thursday, allowing any household to order up to four at-home COVID nasal swab kits through the website, covidtests.gov. The tests will begin shipping, via the United States Postal Service, as soon as next week.” 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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