Today’s edition of quick hits.<\/b>
\nToday\u2019s edition of quick hits:
* Afghanistan: \u201cThree U. S. service members were killed and three were wounded in Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device detonated Tuesday, NATO officials said. An American contractor was also wounded when the device detonated near Ghazni city, the NATO-led Resolute Support mission said in a statement.\u201d
* An important scoop: \u201cTwo months before WikiLeaks released emails stolen from the Clinton campaign, right-wing conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi sent an email to former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone anticipating the document dump, according to draft court papers obtained by NBC News.\u201d
* Seems fair: \u201cFormer FBI director James B. Comey apparently isn\u2019t too impressed with the mental prowess of President Trump\u2019s acting attorney general. Matthew G. Whitaker \u2018may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer,\u2019 Comey said during a radio interview on Monday night in which he sized up the man Trump installed this month to replace ousted attorney general Jeff Sessions.\u201d
* A new tax package for the lame-duck session? \u201cHouse Republicans on Monday evening unexpectedly released a 297-page tax bill they hope to move during the lame-duck session of Congress. The legislation would revive a number of expired tax provisions known as \u2018extenders,\u2019 address glitches in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and make a range of changes to savings- and retirement-related tax provisions.\u201d
* Hmm: \u201cThe head of Russia\u2019s GRU military intelligence agency, General Igor Korobov, has died at aged 62, Russia\u2019s defense ministry says. Gen Korobov, who took up the post in 2016, is said to have died after \u2018a serious and long illness\u2019 on Wednesday.\u201d
* Noted without comment: In interviews with \u201cFox & Friends,\u201d former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt\u2019s team \u201cchose the topics for interviews, and knew the questions in advance. In one instance, according to emails revealed in a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by the Sierra Club and reviewed by The Daily Beast, Pruitt\u2019s team even approved part of the show\u2019s script.\u201d
* Incidentally, Fox News says the issue \u201cis being addressed internally,\u201d a phrase that \u201cmakes periodic appearances in Fox News crisis archives.\u201d
* An interesting study: \u201cPolitical analysts tend to use the term \u2018aisle-crossing\u2019 in symbolic terms, a metaphor for lawmakers\u2019 willingness to cooperate with the opposing party to get things done. But a new working paper by Bryce J. Dietrich of the University of Iowa finds that in strictly literal terms, members of Congress today are much less likely to physically cross the aisle of the chamber to fraternize with members of the opposing party than they were even 10 or 15 years ago.\u201d
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.<\/p>\n