Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The Mueller report is nearly 400 pages and some of it is on the way: “Special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his investigation into Russian election interference will be released publicly, with some redactions by mid-April and possibly sooner, Attorney General William Barr said in a letter Friday.”
* It’s kind of amazing it took so long for him to clarify this point: “In the letter on Friday, Barr wrote that his earlier note was not a ‘summary’ and that it wouldn’t have been appropriate for him to summarize Mueller’s findings.”
* Congressional staffers today said the attorney general “acknowledged making a mistake by speaking extensively with the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Lindsey Graham, a Republican of South Carolina, over dinner before he had spoken with Nadler.”
* No good will come of this: “President Donald Trump warned Friday that he would shut down the southern border next week ‘if Mexico doesn’t immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States.’ ‘We’ll keep it closed for a long time. I’m not playing games,’ Trump told reporters.”
* The latest departure: “Small Business Administration chief Linda McMahon is expected to announce as early as Friday that she’s stepping down, an administration official tells NBC News. McMahon, a former World Wrestling Entertainment executive, had been in the position since February 2017.”
* Brexit: “With Britain in political crisis and a new deadline to leave the European Union two weeks away, Parliament on Friday rejected, by a vote of 334 to 286, Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan for a third time.”
* An ugly moment: “President Donald Trump made fun of asylum seekers and the lawyers who advise them at his rally in Michigan Thursday night, calling the process a ‘big fat con job.’”
* I sometimes wonder if he believes his own rhetoric: “President Donald Trump on Thursday proclaimed that no other ‘living human being’ has cared for Puerto Rico better than he has.” * Maryland is “the sixth state to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. On Thursday, lawmakers managed to override Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a minimum wage bill. Maryland’s current minimum wage is $10.10, and the new policy will gradually raise the wage floor to $15 by 2025.” * I hope you saw Rachel’s coverage of this last night: “President Donald Trump’s pick to fill the Justice Department’s No. 3 post, Jessie Liu, abruptly withdrew her name from consideration Thursday after Republican senators raised concerns about liberal positions taken by the women’s legal group she helped lead more than a decade ago.” * This will no doubt be controversial, but I’m comfortable with the change: “Brace yourselves. The AP Stylebook says the percentage sign is now acceptable when paired with a numeral in most cases.” 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
