Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Major developments in the prosecutorial world: “The top federal prosecutor in New York and two senior federal prosecutors in Washington have resigned after refusing to follow a Justice Department order to drop the corruption charges against New York City mayor Eric Adams, multiple officials said Thursday.”
* In related news: “The White House terminated multiple U.S. attorneys on Wednesday evening amid a period of upheaval at the Justice Department initiated by President Donald Trump, who was himself a criminal defendant in two separate federal cases until they were dropped after his election in November.”
* Reciprocal tariffs: “President Donald Trump signed a memorandum Thursday calling for ‘fair and reciprocal’ trade tariffs on all major U.S. trading partners, including longtime allies.”
* A case worth watching: “Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro sued the Trump administration on Thursday over its broad freeze of federal funding, saying in a lawsuit that the effort has ‘jeopardized at least $5.5 billion that has been committed to Pennsylvania’ in federally appropriated money.”
* At USAID: “When Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last month that lifesaving humanitarian work would be exempt from a freeze on foreign aid, global health workers breathed a collective sigh of relief. But a new directive has put such exemptions on hold.”
* Rewriting recent history by “disappearing” evidence: “Attorneys for a group of news organizations, including NPR, said in a legal filing on Tuesday that evidence used at the sentencing of a rioter charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol had ‘disappeared’ from an online government platform.”
* It’s tough to blame higher ed for being confused: “Around the country, dozens of universities and colleges have begun to scrub websites and change programming in response to President Trump’s widening crusade against diversity and inclusion. But much remains unclear about the legality and reach of President Trump’s new orders.” * Seems clear enough: “Asked later Wednesday in Brussels how he would classify Trump’s comments, [Canadian Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau reiterated his past statement that there’s ‘not a snowball’s chance in hell’ that Canada will ever be the 51st state.” * A new day for drilling: “President Trump has nominated Kathleen Sgamma, a professional advocate for the oil and gas industry, to run the Bureau of Land Management, an agency within the Interior Department that oversees grazing, logging, drilling and wildlife conservation on 245 million acres of public land.” 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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