Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Seems reasonable: “House Democrats are demanding answers from former Trump aide Hope Hicks after newly unsealed documents showed ‘apparent inconsistencies’ with her congressional testimony about hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign.”
* Iran: “Two British-operated oil tankers were seized and being guided toward Iran in the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces, the British foreign minister confirmed Friday.”
* Here’s hoping Trump doesn’t fire them: “The nation’s top spy has created a new job to coordinate the U.S. response to election security threats. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats announced Friday he has established the position of intelligence community election threats executive — and appointed a career official, Shelby Pierson, to serve in this new role.”
* Another discouraging choice: “President Trump said Thursday that he would name Eugene Scalia as his next secretary of labor, tapping the longtime labor lawyer and son of the former Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia for a position with vast responsibility over the American work force.”
* A Bush-appointed judge: “A federal judge on Friday upheld the Trump administration’s expansion of health insurance plans that don’t meet ObamaCare’s coverage requirements. “
* His hatred for Amazon is a little weird: “President Trump said on Thursday that he was looking ‘very seriously’ at intervening in the hard-fought commercial battle for a $10 billion Pentagon cloud computing contract for which Amazon, a company he has frequently attacked, is seen as the leading contender.”
* A good piece explaining Puerto Rico’s political crisis.
* Priorities: “Sitting amid several plastic fast-food cups, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the so-called Save Chick-fil-A bill into law on Thursday.” * I had no idea safe-deposit boxes are so unregulated: “There are an estimated 25 million safe deposit boxes in America, and they operate in a legal gray zone within the highly regulated banking industry. There are no federal laws governing the boxes; no rules require banks to compensate customers if their property is stolen or destroyed.” * A New York news outlet tried to get Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to explain why he delayed the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund bill. It didn’t go especially well. 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
