Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Support for Ukraine: “All 27 European Union foreign ministers descended on Kyiv on Monday in a historic show of support following the passage of the U.S. funding bill that contained no new aid for Ukraine and left future support for the war with Russia in the balance. The E.U.’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, sought to emphasize the importance of the first meeting of foreign ministers held outside the bloc.”
* I wonder if the ethics controversies surrounding Justice Clarence Thomas had anything to do with this recusal: “Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas for the first time recused himself from a case involving the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by then-President Donald Trump’s supporters as the Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal brought by former Trump legal adviser John Eastman.”
* Jan. 6 case: “A Jan. 6 defendant caught on camera using a bullhorn to urge fellow pro-Trump rioters to steal law enforcement officers’ guns took a secret plea deal and was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison earlier this year, the Justice Department and his legal team acknowledged for the first time in a filing unsealed on Monday. Samuel Lazar, a pro-Trump rioter, also shot at a line of officers with pepper spray on Jan. 6, the government said.”
* Good choice: “A Hungarian American and an American won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine on Monday for discoveries that enabled the development of the mRNA vaccines for Covid, saving millions of lives during the pandemic.”
* The obvious and correct answer: “Attorney General Merrick Garland said in an interview that aired Sunday that he would resign if asked by President Joe Biden to take action against Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. But he doesn’t think he’ll be put in that position.” * News from late last week: “An IRS consultant was charged Friday in connection with wrongfully disclosing tax return information, documents that were, according to a source familiar with the matter, the leaked tax returns of former President Donald Trump.” * Paxton’s post-impeachment-trial work: “Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Yelp are suing each other over language included on the pages of crisis pregnancy centers — which aim to dissuade people from having abortions — that accurately noted they may not have licensed medical professionals on staff.” See you tomorrow.
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."
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