Today’s edition of quick hits:
* This strikes me as a potentially big deal: “In internal communication filed as part of discovery for a California case over the citizenship census question, Trump administration officials suggested the possibility of ‘renewed debate’ over protections that keep census answers confidential and sharing them with law enforcement and national security agencies.”
* California: “Twin storms are headed for rural Northern California this week, bringing conditions that could both help and hinder efforts to put out the Camp Fire, the deadliest blaze in the state’s history, officials said Monday.”
* It looks like this fight is now over: “The White House reversed course on Monday in its bid to boot CNN reporter Jim Acosta from the West Wing, and instead issued new guidelines aimed at maintaining control of press conference questions.”
* The latest developments in Alabama have been quite dramatic: “Matt Hart is out at the Alabama attorney general’s office. It’s hard to believe. Hard, in some ways, to believe it took this long. Because Alabama’s most celebrated corruption fighter reached critical mass. Of powerful people who wanted him gone.”
* Scott Lloyd: “The head of the Trump administration’s Office of Refugee Resettlement, which was criticized for its role overseeing shelters for unaccompanied immigrant minors, is leaving his post.”
* Seems reasonable: “The FBI now classifies the far-right Proud Boys as an ‘extremist group with ties to white nationalism,’ according to a document produced by Washington state law enforcement. The FBI’s 2018 designation of the self-confessed ‘western chauvinist group’ as extremist has not been previously made public.” * The White House communications team: “White House press secretary Sarah Sanders is getting a new principal deputy, Hogan Gidley, a White House official said.” (I’m not sure this is good news.) * Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer (R) is calling for “the resignation of a county commissioner who commented on being part of ‘the master race.’ The remarks were made at a Tuesday board meeting by Leavenworth County Commissioner Louis Klemp while responding to a Triveece Penelton, a black city planner, who was discussing a proposed development plan.” 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
