Today’s edition of quick hits:
* A new deadline: “A judge gave President Donald Trump’s administration six months to identify migrant children who were separated from their families for reunification, a process the White House previously stated would take up to two years.”
* A story we’ve been following: “Maria Butina, the Russian operative who used her NRA activism to illegally infiltrate conservative political circles, was sentenced to 18 months in prison by a federal judge Friday.”
* A crazy story: “Federal prosecutors charged a state judge and a former court officer in Massachusetts with obstruction of justice on Thursday for allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant escape from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer at a courthouse last year.”
* Referring to North Korean weapons, Trump, relying on his idiosyncratic grammar, said this morning, “There’s been no tests. There’s been no nothing.” I wish that were true. It’s not.
* An important story out of Kansas about reproductive rights: “Kansas’ highest court ruled for the first time Friday that the state constitution protects abortion rights and blocked a first-in-the-nation ban on a common second trimester method for ending pregnancies.”
* EPA: “After pressure from the Defense Department, the Environmental Protection Agency significantly weakened a proposed standard for cleaning up groundwater pollution caused by toxic chemicals that contaminate drinking water consumed by millions of Americans and that have been commonly used at military bases.”
* A scary story out of northern California: “An Army veteran with a history of post-traumatic stress disorder was on his way to a Bible class when he told investigators he intentionally drove into a group of men, women and children, injuring eight people, police said.” * I guess this is a Fox News segment the president will not be promoting on Twitter: “Judge Andrew Napolitano, a senior judicial analyst for Fox News, wrote an editorial arguing that President Trump has indeed obstructed justice.” * He just can’t help himself: “President Donald Trump again railed against late Republican Sen. John McCain on Thursday, calling the Vietnam veteran’s vote against a skinny repeal of Obamacare ‘disgraceful.’” 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
