Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Afghanistan: “The Taliban infiltrated an Afghan intelligence base on Monday, killing dozens who worked for the agency in what officials said was one of the deadliest attacks against the intelligence service in the 17-year war with the Taliban.”
* The unscheduled trip lasted, by some accounts, about two minutes: “President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence visited the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington on Monday, laying a wreath in King’s honor.”
* Trump’s North Korea policy needs work: “With a second U.S.-North Korea nuclear summit looming in February, researchers have discovered a secret ballistic missile base in North Korea — one of as many as 20 undisclosed missile sites in the country, according to the researchers’ new report.”
* Look for more on this on tonight’s show: “When the Trump administration announced last month that it was lifting sanctions against a trio of companies controlled by an influential Russian oligarch, it cast the move as tough on Russia and on the oligarch, arguing that he had to make painful concessions to get the sanctions lifted. But a binding confidential document signed by both sides suggests that the agreement the administration negotiated with the companies controlled by the oligarch, Oleg V. Deripaska, may have been less punitive than advertised.”
* I wonder how the FBI will respond: “Sen. Jeff Merkley is requesting that the FBI open a perjury investigation into Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, based on testimony she gave to Congress in December on family separations at the southern border.” * This story has been percolating for a while and it’s worth watching: “The legal reasoning behind the Justice Department’s unusual reversal this week of an opinion that paved the way for online gambling hewed closely to arguments made by lobbyists for casino magnate and top Republican donor Sheldon Adelson.” * Best wishes for a speedy recovery: “Sen. Angus King is undergoing radiation treatments for residual prostate cancer, the Maine independent announced Friday…. ‘What it means for my work in the Senate? Absolutely nothing,’ King said in a statement.” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
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." Recommended
