Today’s edition of quick hits:
* White House: President Biden is hosting German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House on Thursday afternoon with a wide-ranging agenda that will mark the president’s latest attempt to rekindle warmer relationships with European allies.”
* The latest from Haiti: “The head of palace security for President Jovenel Moïse, who was assassinated last week at his home, was taken into police custody on Thursday, deepening investigators’ focus into the possibility that Haitian insiders had eased the killers’ path.”
* Guilty: “A jury on Thursday found the gunman who killed five people at a Maryland newspaper criminally responsible, rejecting defense attorneys’ mental illness arguments. The jury of eight men and four women found that Jarrod Ramos could understand the criminality of his actions and conform his conduct to the requirements of law when he attacked the Capital Gazette newsroom in 2018.”
* Immigration: “Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday reversed an order from Trump’s Attorney General Jeff Sessions that barred immigration judges from closing cases and removing them from their docket if they deem them low-priority.”
* In related news: “The United States is running more than 30,000 radio ads a month in Central America to deter migration amid a renewed focus on the region and the root causes pushing people to journey north, a State Department spokesperson told CNN.”
* Jan. 6 fallout: “An Idaho man who was seen dangling from the Senate gallery and sitting in the chair earlier occupied by Vice President Mike Pence pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges stemming from the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.”
* The latest on Weisselberg: “Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg has resigned from a trust set up to control all of the company’s assets — seemingly giving up his place at the top of the company’s formal hierarchy — according to government filings obtained by The Washington Post.” * Climate crisis: “Segments of the Amazon rainforest now emit more carbon dioxide than they can absorb because of human-caused disturbances, according to a study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.” * Oh my: “A Napa doctor was arrested Wednesday on fraud-related charges after she allegedly sold fake COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination cards to patients, the Department of Justice announced. Juli A. Mazi, a licensed homeopathic doctor, allegedly sold homeoprophylaxis immunization pellets that she said contained COVID-19.” 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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