Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Expect a ruling in this case by June 2020: “The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear President Donald Trump’s appeal of lower court orders, now on hold, that require his banks and accountants to turn over financial records to the House and local prosecutors in New York.”
* We haven’t yet seen the details: “The United States and China have reached an agreement on phase one of the trade deal, Chinese officials said Friday. President Donald Trump confirmed the news in a tweet shortly afterward.”
* The day after in the UK: “British Prime Minister Boris Johnson went to Buckingham Palace to meet Queen Elizabeth II so she could formally invite him to form a new government Friday following his Conservative Party’s resounding election victory.”
* The Justice Department “has released several internal legal opinions that could help bolster President Trump’s claim of executive privilege in barring Congress from interviewing witnesses and collecting documents from the executive branch.”
* The off-again, on-again Taliban talks are off-again, at least for now: “The U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan said Thursday he was outraged by a Taliban attack near Bagram Airfield this week, and ‘we’re taking a brief pause,’ apparently in reference to peace talks that had recently resumed with the militant group.”
* A closely-watched emoluments case: “A federal appeals court in Virginia heard arguments Thursday about whether to revive a lawsuit accusing President Trump of violating the Constitution by profiting from his hotel near the White House, in a spirited session that indicated sharp divisions among the judges over the legal consequences of the president’s conduct.”
* Another case to watch: “A federal judge slammed the Trump administration Friday for its handling of a showdown with Congress over records relating to the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The dispute led to Attorney General Bill Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross being held in contempt of Congress in July. The House Oversight Committee filed suit last month to try to force the administration to turn over the subpoenaed records.” * Addressing a problem that doesn’t exist: “Although the courts have so far blocked President Trump’s attempts to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients, his administration announced on Thursday that it would allow a 10th state, South Carolina, to condition Medicaid eligibility for many poor adults on proving that they work or engage in other activities, like volunteering.” * This wasn’t the outcome Trump wanted: “The Senate voted unanimously on Thursday to recognize the Armenian genocide as a matter of American foreign policy, a move that was made over the objections of the Trump administration and that underscored lawmakers’ bipartisan rage at Turkey.” Enjoy the weekend.
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
