Maddow Blog | Tuesday’s Mini-Report, 4.16.24

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* There will be 18 jurors in Donald Trump’s criminal case — 12 jurors and 6 alternates — and they’re apparently one-third of the way there: “Judge Merchan swore in six jurors, asking them if they would decide the case against Trump to the best of their ability and follow the evidence. The jurors were asked to come back on Monday at 9:30 a.m. They were instructed not to talk to others about the case.”

* A potential disaster in the making: “Supreme Court justices on Tuesday raised concerns about the Justice Department’s use of an obstruction statute to charge those involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The case that could have bearing on the election interference prosecution of former President Donald Trump.”

* I guess we can forget about a rate cut: “Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the U.S. economy, while otherwise strong, has not seen inflation come back to the central bank’s goal, pointing to the further unlikelihood that interest rate cuts are in the offing anytime soon.”

* In the Middle East: “Israel’s response to Iran’s weekend retaliatory attack may be ‘’imminent,’’ a source told NBC News. The response is expected to be limited in scope and most likely involve strikes against Iranian military forces and Tehran-backed proxies outside Iran, according to four U.S. officials.”

* A long-simmering controversy out of Arkansas: “Legislative auditors in Arkansas found that the purchase last year of a $19,000 lectern by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s office potentially violated state laws, according to a report released on Monday. But the findings may be moot after the state attorney general, Tim Griffin, said last week that state purchasing laws do not apply to the governor or other executive branch officials.”

* Isn’t it nice to have a president who releases his tax returns and makes them subject to public scrutiny? “President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden paid $146,629 in federal income taxes in 2023 after reporting income of $619,976, according to their joint tax return released Monday to mark the federal tax-filing deadline. The first couple paid an effective federal tax rate of 23.7%. It marks the 26th year that Biden has released federal tax returns during his public life.”

* Watching James Comer is a bit like watching a team go entire season without a win: “The White House on Monday rejected a long-shot effort from House Republicans to get President Joe Biden to testify before lawmakers in the GOP’s stalled impeachment inquiry.”

See you tomorrow.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com