Today’s edition of quick hits:
* An important part of the impeachment probe: “Democratic and Republican lawmakers from three House committees questioned former U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker on Thursday in a closed-door deposition as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.”
* The ongoing trade war: “American lovers of Scotch whisky, French wine and Italian cheese might have to dig deeper into their pockets after the Trump administration slapped tariffs on $7.5 billion of European consumer products.”
* Keep an eye on Perry: “Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who has met on at least three occasions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on Wednesday pledged to work with lawmakers looking into a whistleblower’s allegations about President Donald Trump’s communications with Zelensky.”
* Brexit: “European policymakers said Thursday that a new Brexit proposal from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was unworkable, heightening the prospects of a chaotic British departure from the European Union within weeks.”
* Following up on a story we kicked around this morning: “An Internal Revenue Service official has filed a whistleblower complaint reporting that he was told at least one Treasury Department political appointee attempted to improperly interfere with the annual audit of the president or vice president’s tax returns, according to multiple people familiar with the document.”
* Trump’s Scottish enterprise: “The Trump Organization’s plans for a major expansion of its flagship Scottish resort by building swaths of housing and luxury villas have been thwarted, further jeopardizing efforts by the US president’s company to stem multi-million-pound losses at its most prestigious overseas property.” * The latest departure: “James F. McDonnell, a presidential appointee who over the last two years downsized the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to prevent terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction, has agreed to resign.” * I guess I shouldn’t be surprised Trump would go after a teenaged climate activist twice, but I’m a little surprised: “President Trump retweeted a post that mocked teen climate activist Greta Thunberg’s emotional plea to world leaders at the United Nations summit late last month and called her an ‘actress.’” 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." Recommended
