Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Another big defeat for Team Trump: “A federal judge dealt a blow to President Donald Trump on Wednesday, ruling that two banks can hand over his financial documents in response to congressional subpoenas.”
* Some progress on disclosure: “Easing some of the escalating tension between Congress and the White House, the House Intelligence Committee postponed efforts to enforce a subpoena against the Justice Department on Wednesday after officials agreed to hand over a cache of documents related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia report.”
* Pushing boundaries: “For a second consecutive day, U.S. fighter jets intercepted Russian warplanes flying too close to American airspace near Alaska, military officials said Wednesday.”
* Hmm: “The New York state Assembly passed legislation Wednesday to give Congress access to President Donald Trump’s state tax returns. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to sign the bill, which passed the state Senate earlier this month.”
* Climate crisis: “The risk posed by rising seas may be even more dire than we thought.”
* A disappointing announcement: “The redesign of the $20 bill featuring Harriet Tubman will no longer be unveiled in 2020, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday.”
* Virginia: “A months-long investigation into a racist photo on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s 1984 medical school yearbook page ‘could not conclusively determine’ whether he is one of two people in the picture, according to the findings released Wednesday.”
* Brexit: “In a major concession, British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday offered U.K. lawmakers the chance to vote on whether to hold a new referendum on the country’s membership in the European Union — but only if it backs her thrice-rejected Brexit agreement.” * Didn’t he say the exact opposite last month? “President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to take action against Mexico in the near future, claiming the country’s southern neighbor is doing ‘virtually nothing’ to curb illegal migration to the United States.” * Some stunts just seem like inherently flawed ideas: “Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is going to Israel with a large contingent of business leaders — not surprisingly, especially as the GOP woos Jewish voters ahead of the 2020 presidential election. But DeSantis’ plan to hold a meeting with his elected Cabinet while he’s there has raised concerns about whether officials are violating the state’s open-meeting laws.” 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
