June 11, 2026

Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump said on Thursday that he would nominate Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, to be the next director of national intelligence, after the president faced a revolt from lawmakers over his choice for an interim director without any relevant experience for the job.... The appointment of [Bill] Pulte [-- a housing official --] derailed the congressional reauthorization of one of the government’s most powerful surveillance authorities. But the announcement of Mr. Clayton, who is also a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to be nominated for Senate confirmation seemed unlikely to immediately solve Mr. Trump’s problems with Congress. The House on Thursday rejected a three-week extension of the law, which will expire at midnight on Friday. With Congress now out of town, it would be difficult to schedule another vote before the deadline.... Mr. Clayton was recommended for the post by John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, according to a person familiar with the conversation.” The AP's report is here.

Victoria Craw & Siham Shamalakh of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump said U.S. forces will hit Iran 'VERY HARD TONIGHT' after Iran launched waves of attacks against U.S. bases across the Middle East early Thursday, raising fears that the escalating exchange will bring renewed combat to the region.... Trump threatened another round of retaliatory strikes in the coming hours and said the U.S. would seek to control the country’s oil and gas facilities, without offering specifics of how that might be carried out. 'At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela,' Trump wrote on Truth Social.” MB: So I guess this isn't one of those top-secret missions like escorting oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. ~~~

     ~~~ ⭐Never Mind. New Lede: “... Donald Trump said that he had 'cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran' after progress on a potential peace deal, reversing his plan to attack the country on Thursday night. The president said that discussions and final points with Iran had been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved,' he wrote on his Truth Social platform. 'The Naval Blockade will remain in full force and effect until this Transaction is finalized, Trump added....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Jake Tapper of CNN reported that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which seems to be running Iran's government, says Iranian officials haven't approved anything. Tapper noted that we have been here before many times, and in every case where Trump & Iranian officials disagreed about the status of negotiations, Iran was right and there was no deal in the offing. 

~~~ Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: “In the U.S. military, commanders do not typically speak publicly about future operations to avoid tipping off an adversary or jeopardizing the mission’s success and, possibly, American lives. But that has not dissuaded America’s commander in chief from proclaiming when and how the United States will next attack Iran. For the second day in a row..., [Donald] Trump on Thursday threatened in a social media post that the United States would hit Iran 'VERY HARD TONIGHT.'... Mr. Trump said the same thing on Wednesday, and hours later American warplanes and Tomahawk missiles struck dozens of Iranian radars, air defenses and other military targets in the Strait of Hormuz and elsewhere around the country. On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has criticized reporters for asking about future operations, suddenly decided it was OK to forecast U.S. bombing raids. 'So those strikes that will happen tonight will be strong. They will be clear,' Mr. Hegseth told reporters traveling with him to the headquarters of U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla.... Mr. Trump and Mr. Hegseth said they were telegraphing the American strikes ... to pressure the government in Tehran to reach a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blocked for months.” Update: the link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link.

Phillips O'Brien: "The USA seems to have deliberately and with foresight, committed a war crime as an act of policy. If this is right, and all evidence seems to say it is, committing acts of terror is now an acceptable method of war in the judgement of the US government and, by extension, the American people....  On the evening of June 9, the USA, with what seems to be intent, attacked two reservoirs and a water treatment facility in southern Iran. Almost immediately afterwards, water was cut off to about 20,000 Iranian civilians who live around the southern Iranian town of Sirik. Why was this most likely a deliberate attack? Well, there seems to have been nothing nearby of military value and the destruction was precise.... [Destroying] a reservoir serving a civilian community is unarguably a crime.... And note, this is one of the hottest and driest places on the globe.... A human being cannot live long in such a climate without water—so either the locals will die of dehydration or, more likely, some will drink contaminated water and die from that." Related New York Times story linked earlier today.

⭐It's Alive! Sarah Fitzpatrick of the Atlantic: “When Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appeared before Congress last Tuesday, senior administration officials hoped that his testimony would be enough to quell the uproar over a $1.776 billion payout scheme for Trump loyalists, including January 6 rioters. 'We’re not moving forward with the fund,' he told a House appropriations subcommittee. But Blanche, who was not under oath, refused requests from a representative to put that in writing. He asked instead for Congress to take him at his word that ... [Donald] Trump’s politically inconvenient project for rewarding those who were allegedly victimized by the Biden-era Justice Department had truly been abandoned. It turns out that it’s not that simple. Behind the scenes, Justice Department and other Trump-administration officials have quietly assured allies that plans for some form of payout remain on track.... A White House official told me ... that Trump remains committed to addressing Biden-era weaponization.... Crucially, the administration is also trying to avoid a fight over the payout plan ... while the Senate considers Blanche’s nomination for attorney general.” Thanks to akaWendy for this gift link. Worth reading the whole report. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: And that last bit is exactly what I figured. The administration is indeed "playing possum" as Judge Richard Leon put it (story linked earlier Thursday) till Blanche's confirmation.

Sam Fortier, et al., of NOTUS: "... Donald Trump’s big birthday bash for America is hitting more speedbumps, as at least six states plan to sit out the Great American State Fair. Days after an exodus of musical acts, officials from Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Oregon told NOTUS they won’t officially send a delegation to the 16-day fair.... At least two other states — Pennsylvania and Washington — remain uncommitted just two weeks before the fair is scheduled to open June 25 on the National Mall.... Participants involved in the 250th celebrations are stuck in a confusing battle between two organizations over the funding and ideology for the nation’s birthday party. America 250, the bipartisan commission created by Congress a decade ago, has a decentralized mandate focused on educational and volunteer programming. Freedom 250, which the Trump administration created late last year, is planning massive entertainment spectacles.... The Trump administration is withholding tens of millions of dollars from America 250, which says it now faces a $100 million shortfall, and has simultaneously funneled at least $68 million to Freedom 250." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IOW, Trump has corrupted what should have been a national celebration. Not surprising, of course, but disgusting. ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Scherer of the Atlantic reports on how planners had originally envisioned a “Festival of Festivals ... with four to six weeks of performances, workshops, and displays.... But last summer, with little fanfare..., [Donald] Trump took control of the event and renamed it.... [People involved in the planning] described frayed trust and growing conflict that has become so acrimonious that the Department of the Interior is refusing to honor a December agreement with America250, a bipartisan group authorized by Congress in 2016 to plan the nation’s festivities.... Some supporters of America250, which is backed by a bipartisan caucus of 421 federal lawmakers, view this event as further proof that Trump always planned to remake the national celebration in his image.... The nastiest fights have arisen over money.” Thank you to akaWendy for this gift link.

Tierney Sneed, et al., of CNN: “State election officials could soon face a stark choice: Hand over voter lists to the Trump administration or risk losing Postal Service delivery for mail-in ballots. That dilemma stems from newly proposed USPS rules that seek to comply with an executive order ... Donald Trump signed this spring to crack down on mail-in voting. If courts let the order stand, it would give the federal government an unprecedented role in elections — and could put even more voter data in the hands of Trump officials searching for supposed election fraud.... So far, 23 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia are suing, as are Democratic Party leaders and non-partisan voter advocacy groups, setting up a potentially active summer of high-stakes judicial rulings. The Trump administration cleared an initial legal hurdle last month, when a federal judge in Washington, DC, who is overseeing one set of the cases, declined to block Trump’s executive order, allowing the Postal Service to begin implementing it.” Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump of course is not merely strong-arming states; he's threatening voters with (1) plans to rifle through their personal information to use it for his own purposes and (2) depriving voters of their right to vote in their preferred and/or accustomed manner. ~~~

     ~~~ Adam Sella & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: “Democrats and voting-rights groups say the proposed rule is clear evidence that the Trump administration is trying to unconstitutionally intrude on state-run elections. Withholding some mail services in states where voters rely heavily on mail balloting could affect millions of Americans. And most of those affected would likely be Democrats, who disproportionately vote by mail because more Republicans have been convinced by Mr. Trump’s unfounded claims that mail balloting is not reliable and invites fraud. Screening mail ballots for voter eligibility, meanwhile, would amount to an unprecedented, and potentially unconstitutional, involvement of the federal government in the administration of elections. The proposed rule is vague, however, so it is unclear how the screening would work....

“'It’s just difficult to overstate the disruption that this will cause to election administration,' said Michael Cohen, the deputy attorney general in California, who was speaking on behalf of a broad coalition of states in federal court last week.... Postal experts said the order also threatens the service’s independence. Anton Hajjar, a former member of the Postal Service Board of Governors, said his main concern is that Mr. Trump’s order amounts to 'political interference with the U.S.P.S., which by law is supposed to be independent.'”

Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: “Speaking to a conservative radio host on Monday, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles made an unusually pointed prediction that cast doubt on the results of California’s primary races, even as votes were still being counted. 'We will be charging some people,' the prosecutor, Bill Essayli, told the host, Glenn Beck, delivering a promise that would most likely have been considered a violation of Justice Department policy under decades of past practice. 'It will be election fraud charges in the next — I hate to put timelines on things — one or two months I believe. We need some of these results to be certified so we can prove some of the allegations.' The declaration, issued by an outspoken loyalist to ... [Donald] Trump, was a vivid example of the Justice Department’s approach to voting under the Trump administration. The agency is seeking to assert more control over elections and challenge how states conduct them, a shift that could have significant consequences in the midterm elections this year, when control of Congress hangs in the balance. It is part of a broader effort by Mr. Trump to undermine confidence in the elections by repeatedly making baseless claims of voter fraud.”

Minnesota. Sheila Regan & Jeremy Roebuck of the Washington Post: “The man accused of assassinating a former speaker of the Minnesota House and her husband last year in what authorities have described as an act of targeted political violence pleaded guilty Thursday after federal prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty against him. Vance Boelter, 58, of Green Isle, Minnesota, told a federal judge he fatally shot state Rep. Melissa Hortman (D) and her husband, Mark, during an early-morning rampage last June in which he disguised himself as a police officer and sought to target other lawmakers. Boelter also admitted to shooting State Sen. John A. Hoffman (D) and his wife, Yvette, during the attacks. They survived but sustained critical injuries and watched Thursday’s hearing from the courtroom gallery.”

~~~~~~~~~~ 

"I Love the Inflation."

Jeff Cox of CNBC: “Inflation accelerated in May as rising energy costs contributed to pain for consumers, though underlying pressures were less intense. The consumer price index, a broad gauge of goods and services costs across the U.S. economy, rose at a seasonally adjusted 0.5% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 4.2%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. Both numbers were in line with the Dow Jones consensus though the monthly number was 0.1 percentage point below the April reading. Inflation climbed above 4% for the first time in three years, though the increase met expectations amid concerns over how much the surge in energy prices would impact the economy. The level was the highest since April 2023 and above the 3.8% reading from April.” (Also linked yesterday.)~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You might think this would alarm Trumpolini. After all, he won re-election is 2024 largely because of voters' concerns about inflation & the rising cost of living. In fact, Trump continued to blame President Biden for inflation right into 2026. So he's unnerved by May's numbers, amIrite? Nope. ~~~

     ~~~ Dan Mangan of CNBC: “... Donald Trump on Wednesday said, 'I love the inflation' after being asked if he was concerned about new consumer price index data that showed the annual inflation rate at 4.2%, a three-year high. Trump, speaking with reporters in the Oval Office, also predicted that inflation is 'going to come down like a rock' after the United States’ war against Iran is over.... 'No, I love it, the numbers were great,' Trump said.... 'You know what I really love? I love the inflation. You know why?' Trump said. 'Because as soon as this war is over, you know I can say it now ... you know we’ve been taking out millions of barrels of oil.... Nobody knows it. You know who doesn’t know about it? Iran, until right now,' Trump said. 'We took out the other night, 22 ships, late at night, with no lights, because they don’t have any radar, because we blasted the crap out of it,' the president said. 'That’s why oil is at $85 a barrel.... We’ve been taking out millions of barrels of oil, millions of barrels every night,' Trump said.

“It was not immediately clear what Trump meant by 'taking out' oil and ships, and how that related to consumer prices.... Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who was testifying at a congressional hearing on Wednesday, said that he was not aware of the U.S. taking millions of barrels out of Iran....” MB: Then he forced himself to his feet and unsteadily wandered out of the Oval Office singing, “I'm always chasing rainbows....” I give up. (Also linked yesterday.)

Courtenay Brown & Neil Irwin of Axios: "A year's worth of inflation-adjusted wage gains vanished in just four months, leaving workers little better off than when ... [Donald] Trump returned to office.... The reversal shows how the recent energy-driven inflation surge is eating into household purchasing power. Real pay for rank-and-file workers is up just 0.1% since Trump took office in January 2025. Rising real wages helped underpin the White House's case that the economy was improving. That advantage has now largely disappeared."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Inflation? What Inflation? Tyler Monroe of Media Matters: “As of 2 p.m. ET on June 10, Fox News has spent less than 30 seconds discussing rising inflation, with only a brief headline read appearing on America's Newsroom, according to a Media Matters review. Anchor Bill Hemmer during the headline described the highest inflation since April of 2023 as 'not what we want, but it is in line with expectations.' Later, Outnumbered aired live coverage of Trump speaking to press in the Oval Office, but the Fox panel did not offer commentary on the president’s announcement that 'I love the inflation' in response to questions about the report.”

Marie: During that same press availability where Trump declared his love for inflation, he got to talking about Maine's Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner. Trump complained that Platner wasn't a real businessman because his parents had given him seed money for his business (like Trump, whose parents gave him millions & kept bailing him out to the tune of about $400 million). Trump complained about Platner's treatment of women (unlike Trump, Platner is not an adjudicated rapist & felon convicted of 34 sex-related crimes -- dozens of women have accused Trump of sexually attacking them). Trump concluded that Platner was a "thug" -- an accusation he repeated several times -- and was a "pig." a "bad guy"and a "loser" who was "worse than any human being that's ever run for office." The basis for Trump's conclusion was that he believed Platner had done things that Trump himself has done, but worse. Here's part of what Trump said:

     ~~~ Marie: Just to put a ribbon on the irony of Trump's critique of Platner, Trump made these remarks about Platner on the same day that the NYT published a blockbuster story about the administration's all-hands-on-deck conspiracy to cover up Trump's relationship with Epstein & Trump's alleged sexual abuse of a young woman. Meeting in the Situation Room (a secure facility normally reserved for discussions of national security matters), Trump's team -- including JayDee, Susie Wiles, Pam Bondi, Todd Blanche, Kash Patel & Dan Bongino -- discussed emails sent to a journalist by Epstein survivor Sarah Ransome. Ransome “claimed that she knew a girl in Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring named Jen, who said she had sex with Trump. Ransome also claimed that Jen had told her that Trump had a predilection for nipples and that he had aggressively flicked and sucked hers. Ransome wrote that she had seen evidence when she shared a bathroom with Jen. 'They looked incredibly painful as they were red and swollen and I remember wincing when I looked at them,' she wrote.” More on Platner linked below. ~~~

~~~ Marie BTW: Heather Cox Richardson writes, “The write-up of the [NYT] story distances Vice President J.D. Vance from the [Epstein] files, suggesting he was 'panicked' by them and wanted them released. This position, attributed to him by White House officials, is good for him politically....” Richardson doesn't say so, but this distancing isn't an accident, IMO. Instead, it's a window into who leaked elements of the story to Haberman & Swan: that would be JayDee & Co., who are distancing JayDee from Trump's bad behavior, showing that he is already running high-stakes quasi-Cabinet meetings and emphasizing his own MAGA "principles." This Chapter of the book is sort of a 25th Amendment preview.

Sarah Rumpf (rhymes with “Drumpf”) of Mediaite “The Wall Street Journal has responded to ... Donald Trump’s second attempt to sue for defamation over an article about an infamous note in Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday book, filing a scathing motion to dismiss that excoriates the president’s legal team for 'groundless' and dishonest arguments. In 2025, Trump sued the Journal, the Journal’s publishing firm Dow Jones, parent company News Corp, owner Rupert Murdoch, News Corp CEO Robert Thomson, and two Journal reporters, Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo, for defamation. The complaint alleged that a July 17, 2025 Journal article by Safdar and Palazzolo reported that Trump had contributed a letter and a lewd drawing to a birthday album for Epstein.... The 22-page motion to dismiss shredded Trump’s amended complaint because it 'does not remedy any of the defects identified' in the court’s order dismissing the original complaint. 'In fact, it compounds them,' the motion declared, arguing that this warrants its dismissal with prejudice and an award of attorneys’ fees under Florida’s anti-SLAPP law.”

Dustin Volz & Robert Jimison of the New York Times: “Hopes were fading on Wednesday for a breakthrough in Congress to salvage a warrantless surveillance law before its expiration this weekend, after ... [Donald] Trump dug in on naming a close ally [-- Bill Pulte --] who has alienated members of both parties to a top intelligence post. Unless lawmakers act by midnight on Friday, the law, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, will sunset. It is the legal underpinning for what is widely considered to be the most powerful surveillance tool the federal government has at its disposal, credited with generating intelligence that thwarts terror plots, defangs foreign hackers, curtails drug trafficking and gleans key insights for policymakers about chief rivals like China and Russia.... Congress has already punted on the issue twice this year, and efforts to do so a third time failed in the Senate on Wednesday.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump wants Pulte on the job -- even though he is entire unqualified for a job that by law requires an intelligence or security background -- to rig the midterm elections, and that is more important to him than "thwarting terror plots" or "curtailing drug traffiking," etc. ~~~

     ~~~ "Today Is Your Last Day." Pulte Tried to Muscle Gabbard Out. Marc Caputo of Axios: "Tulsi Gabbard, the outgoing director of national intelligence, got an unexpected call Tuesday from her controversial successor, Bill Pulte: 'Today is your last day,' he said. Gabbard was surprised. She had announced she was leaving at month's end, not Tuesday. 'I need to hear it from the president or the White House,' Gabbard told Pulte.... After the conversation with Pulte, Gabbard got ahold of Trump, who didn't request her immediate resignation. 'What day works best for you?' the president asked, according to one of the sources. Gabbard said June 19, and Trump then posted a statement on his Truth Social account announcing her new exit date.... Gabbard's new departure date was a partial win for Pulte; Gabbard initially planned to resign June 30 as she helps her husband battle cancer.... Pulte was able to persuade Trump to pick him as Gabbard's successor by promising to fire more ODNI staff...."

Mike DeBonis of Politico: “... Donald Trump laid out twin demands for new party-line Republican legislation Wednesday night, directing lawmakers to deliver a massive Pentagon cash infusion and to push through an election overhaul that has stalled for weeks in the Senate. Trump detailed his request for the bill, to be passed under budget reconciliation rules that can avoid a filibuster from Senate Democrats, in a Truth Social post calling on the GOP to act 'IMMEDIATELY.'”

Dan Diamond & Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: Twenty-two “medical specialists assessed [Donald Trump] as part of his latest checkup, according to a medical report recently released by the White House. That figure is nearly double the number of specialists who assessed Trump for his past medical checkups as president.... The figure also represents the most medical specialists to assess a president for a single visit..., , prompting questions from outside physicians who said they were already skeptical of the White House’s disclosures around the nearly 80-year-old Trump’s health.”

Photo posted by UFC CEO Dana White, believed to be a true
depiction of the "Claw" on the White House lawn. You can see
the smaller White House behind the Claw. ~~~

~~~ There's No Such Thing as Free Speech at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Joseph Gedeon of the Guardian: “The only current American men’s UFC champion says he has been barred from Sunday’s fight card on the south lawn of the White House because he dared to criticize Donald Trump, Israel and Jeffrey Epstein. On Tuesday night, middleweight champion Sean Strickland wrote on X that he had been informed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that he had not been cleared to attend the event by the White House.... Strickland was once among Trump’s most vocal supporters in combat sports, but publicly soured on the US president after last year’s US strikes on Iran.... Earlier this week, the UFC chief executive, Dana White, dismissed Strickland’s allegation that he was barred from the event. 'Of course, Sean Strickland isn’t [banned],' White told reporters on Tuesday. 'Sean Strickland is banned from humanity. We don’t want him near any human beings anywhere.'” Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. See also his commentary in yesterday's thread.

Arc de Trump News. Matthew Daly of the AP: “Construction of the 250-foot-high triumphal arch that ... Donald Trump wants built near the Lincoln Memorial could occur 20 hours per day, year-round, as officials push to complete the project within three years, according to a preliminary assessment by the National Park Service.... Work would occur year-round in two 10-hour shifts per day, the Park Service report said. The 24-page assessment by NPS staff was released last week as a part of a fast-tracked historic preservation review that began Friday. The park service oversees the land where the administration wants to build the arch.”

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite explores the mysterious disappearance of CNN's popular fact-checker Daniel Dale, best-known for his rapid-fire on-air debunking of Donald Trump's porkies. “Last year’s merger between Paramount and Skydance [who are in the process of buying Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN] has sparked a series of controversies and criticisms over concerns that new company chief David Ellison, along with his hand-picked CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss, have been overly meddlesome with the journalistic endeavors by the media conglomerate’s reporters. ”

The New York Times liveblog of developments in the Iran War are here. From the pinned item at 5:40 am ET: “The United States and Iran traded a new round of attacks early Thursday, bringing the countries closer to all-out war after ... [Donald] Trump vowed to keep up military pressure on Tehran to make a peace deal. The tit-for-tat strikes this week risked pushing the conflict into a dangerous new phase, with no clear signs of whether the fighting could be contained. Iran’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that the latest round of U.S. strikes on Iran had effectively rendered the cease-fire 'meaningless' and warned of 'highly dangerous consequences,' without giving specifics. The latest American attack began shortly after midnight in Tehran, according to the U.S. military’s Central Command. Explosions were heard in Qeshm near the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the southern cities of Bandar Abbas, Minab and Sirik, Iranian news outlets reported. Just after 4:30 a.m. in Iran, Central Command said that its round of strikes had concluded. Mr. Trump had earlier told Fox News that strikes would resume the following night if Tehran did not capitulate in negotiations to end the war that began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.”

Ben Johansen & Paul McLeary of Politico: “U.S. forces launched a second straight day of airstrikes Wednesday in Iran as ... Donald Trump presses for a settlement to end a war that has simmered for months. U.S. Central Command announced what it called 'self-defense strikes' against multiple targets without providing further details. The action followed attacks on radar and air defense sites a day earlier in response to the downing of an Army Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz.”

Barak Ravid of Axios: "The trigger for ... [Donald] Trump's strikes on Iran was the downing of a U.S. helicopter, but behind the scenes Trump had been growing more and more frustrated over nearly two weeks of waiting for an Iranian response to his latest offer that still has not arrived.... As the Qataris and Iranians met on Wednesday, Trump made new threats.  'We're going to hit them again hard today, in case you miss it, because you don't turn on your television set, and we'll see what happens with the deal.

Trump said Iran had been 'playing us for suckers' and 'tapping us along' in talks. Iran's president countered that Trump's threats showed not strength, but 'desperation.'... Trump's envoys and the regional mediators are still working to patch together a deal, but the president's latest comments may signal his patience has run out." 

U.S. (Allegedly!) Commits New War Crimes. Christoph Koettl & Christiaan Triebert of the New York Times: “Strikes early Wednesday destroyed what appears to be a drinking-water facility on Iran’s southern coast, near the Strait of Hormuz, according to an analysis by The New York Times. Around the time of the strikes, the U.S. Central Command said in a post on X that it had conducted attacks near the strait 'with precision munitions from U.S. Air Force and Navy fighter jets.' Iranian state media reported that the U.S. had hit water storage buildings and a local official said that water was cut off to more than 20,000 people living in a town and villages nearby. Temperatures in the area have reached above 100 degrees Fahrenheit this week.... Deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure could constitute a war crime under international law.” The link appears to be a gift link. ~~~

~~~ Here's Drunk Pete's before-the-fact defense of committing war crimes against civilians: ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Luciano of Mediaite: “Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, [Pete] Hegseth gave a vague outline of the U.S. plan of action, prompting one reporter to ask if the administration was about to engage in a war crime. 'You just mentioned you’re going to plan to hit them and strike them hard tonight,' the reporter said. 'If the response is in hitting bridges, electrical infrastructure, how would that not be a war crime, potentially targeting civilian infrastructure?' An irritated Hegseth responded: 'Well, it’s precisely the kind of disingenuous question that I’m used to from the media, impugning the motives of the folks on our side who are incredibly professional and incredibly effective. We will hit them hard on our terms, on the targets that improve the environment for us to operate in and undermine the capabilities that Iran wants to have.'” ~~~

     ~~~ The venerable CBS News show "60 Minutes" may be near death as we have discussed in recent days, but here's a shorter version that is providing an excellent alternative for busy Americans: ~~~ 

Mark Mazzetti & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: “David J. Rush, the former C.I.A. officer found last month with $40 million in gold bars in his home and now under F.B.I. investigation, had powerful friends in government. It turns out that one of them, Stephen A. Feinberg, the deputy secretary of defense, even contacted the C.I.A. earlier this year asking to work more closely with him. Before the C.I.A. fired Mr. Rush, he and Mr. Feinberg worked together on a highly classified program focused on spying on China, according to the current and former officials. Mr. Feinberg reached out to a senior agency official, pushing for Mr. Rush to play a greater role in the classified program.... Officials close to Mr. Feinberg have downplayed their connection in recent weeks.” 

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: “A federal judge denied a request to temporarily halt the Trump administration’s proposed 'anti-weaponization fund but warned the Justice Department not to misrepresent the status of the $1.8 billion fund, which acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress is not moving forward. 'Don’t play possum with this court,' U.S. District Judge Richard Leon warned a Justice Department attorney in court Wednesday afternoon after he rejected the temporary restraining order request from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, one of several groups seeking to block the fund.”

Annie Correal, et al., of the New York Times: “A meeting scheduled for this week between President Gustavo Petro of Colombia and Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York was called off after U.S. diplomats told Colombia’s government that the move could violate the terms under which Mr. Petro was being permitted to enter the United States, Colombian and American officials said. The U.S. State Department canceled Mr. Petro’s visa last fall, and he only had a limited travel allowance to attend a U.N. Security Council Meeting on Wednesday — any other activities outside that meeting were not allowed, the officials said. Colombian officials said they agreed to cancel the meeting, which was scheduled for Friday, after officials at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia’s capital, contacted Colombia’s foreign ministry. While foreign heads of state typically have visas that let them freely enter the United States, the U.S. State Department canceled Mr. Petro’s visa after he appeared at a pro-Palestinian rally in Manhattan in September and, denouncing U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza, called on U.S. soldiers to disobey presidential orders.”

~~~~~~~~~~ 

Maine Senate Race. This One's for akaWendy. Jacob Gallagher of the New York Times: “When Graham Platner delivered his victory speech on Tuesday night, after winning the Democratic primary in Maine..., he wore a button-up dress shirt, tucked in.... He was back in a hoodie on 'Morning Joe' the next day. Still, it was a departure for the nominee, who from the beginning has presented in a take-me-for-who-I-am wardrobe. Platner, whose campaign has been aided by advisers including Morris Katz (who also worked with Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Senator John Fetterman), was nudged into running in part because of his untamed rhetoric and rough-hewed look. As my colleague Joe Bernstein wrote in January, Platner fit the mold of 'a gruff white guy who looked as if he had just walked off a job site,' one of the things Democratic operatives like Katz have sought out as they attempt to draw working-class voters back to the party.” MB: So Platner owns a dress shirt (and slacks, by the look of the photo accompanying the article), and the unkempt look may be a calculated pose. ~~~

~~~ Lisa Lerer & Bayliss Wagner of the New York Times on the Maine Senate race. After attacking Platner, Trump said of his rival Sen. Susan Collins, “she’s not my best friend at all,” but she is “a sane person.” 

Minnesota Mitch Smith of the New York Times: “Federal prosecutors told a judge on Wednesday that they had reached a plea deal with Vance Boelter, the man accused of assassinating a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband last year in a politically motivated attack. The Justice Department’s letter to the judge described 'a proposed plea agreement' and asked for a hearing in which Mr. Boelter could change his not guilty plea. The letter also said that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty. The public version of the court filing did not specify the terms of the agreement. Mr. Boelter was accused in federal and state court of fatally shooting State Representative Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband, Mark. He was also accused of shooting and wounding State Senator John A. Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette.... Judge John R. Tunheim set the change of plea hearing for Thursday morning.”