Today’s edition of quick hits.
Today’s edition of quick hits:
* If you fell for the nonsense about the significance of “ unmasking, ” I have bad news for you: “Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) on Friday accused his counterpart in the House, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) , of creating a false narrative about Obama administration national security adviser Susan Rice.”
* Spicer’s successor: “Sarah Huckabee Sanders will replace Sean Spicer as White House press secretary. Anthony Scaramucci, the new White House communications director, announced Sanders’ promotion during Friday’s press briefing – the first on-camera briefing in weeks.”
* The latest on Manafort: “Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating possible money laundering by Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, as part of his criminal investigation into what U. S. intelligence agencies say was a Kremlin-backed campaign to meddle in the 2016 presidential election, according to a person familiar with the matter.”
* The obvious thing to do: “The Trump administration has brought a Qaeda suspect to the United States to face trial in federal court, backing off its hard-line position that terrorism suspects should be sent to the naval prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, rather than to civilian courtrooms.”
* If our goal is to improve relations with an ally, this is probably unwise: “President Trump has offered the post of United States ambassador to Germany to Richard Grenell, a former diplomatic aide to President George W. Bush and a Republican strategist who once worked for Senator John McCain, two people briefed on the conversation said on Thursday.”
* Interesting statistic: when the Affordable Care Act was written, Democrats helped approve 188 Republican amendments to the legislation. This year, Republicans have approved zero Democratic amendments.
* Stepping back, the fact that we’ re even having a conversation about whether or not a president can pardon himself, is a striking development for a term that’s only existed for six months.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
