Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Today’s school shooting: “A 12-year-old girl was taken into custody after two students were shot inside a classroom at a Los Angeles middle school on Thursday, authorities said. The gunfire wounded a 15-year-old boy, who was shot in the head and is in serious condition, and a 15-year-old girl, who was struck in the wrist and is in fair condition, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.”
* Tomorrow: “President Donald Trump is expected to tell the House Intelligence Committee that he does not object to the release of a classified memo about the Russia investigation, a senior White House official said Thursday.”
* The Arizona House of Representatives voted today “to expel Rep. Don Shooter from office over complaints that he sexually harassed women. The vote comes after an investigation into sexual-harassment allegations against Shooter found ‘credible evidence’ that he behaved inappropriately toward multiple women.”
* Korea: “At roughly the same time President Donald Trump was laying out his administration’s North Korea policy in Tuesday’s State of the Union address, South Korean and U.S. officials in Seoul were waking up to the news that the administration’s long-awaited choice for ambassador, Victor Cha, had withdrawn himself from consideration.”
* Speaking of diplomacy: “The Trump administration is losing its top career diplomat in a heavy blow to the State Department amid numerous international crises. The retirement of the department’s third-ranking official, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Shannon, was announced on Thursday at a time when the administration’s foreign policy and its treatment of veteran diplomats has come under heavy criticism.” * I’ll have more on the CFPB tomorrow: “A federal appeals court has upheld the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s structure, a decision that preserves the agency’s independence in the face of challenges from business interests and conservatives.” * Quite a story: “The Baltimore Police Department is currently in court over one of the biggest scandals in the history of American law enforcement. The corruption case is replete with intrigue as police reveal secrets that sound like something out of an urban-fiction novel or a lost season of The Wire.” 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
