Today’s edition of quick hits:
* And so it begins: “Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and the nation’s senators were sworn in Thursday afternoon for the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.”
* Not exactly the Ukrainian investigation Trump was hoping for: “Ukrainian authorities said Thursday they had opened a criminal investigation into whether former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was under surveillance by associates of Rudy Giuliani while in Kyiv last spring.”
* Trump sure does seem to have a problem with Puerto Rico: “The Trump administration imposed severe restrictions on Wednesday on billions of dollars in emergency relief to Puerto Rico, including blocking spending on the island’s electrical grid and suspending its $15-an-hour minimum wage for federally funded relief work.”
* A 5-4 ruling in the state of Washington: “The Washington State Supreme Court has invalidated key portions of a rule imposed by the administration of Gov. Jay Inslee capping greenhouse-gas emissions by fuel distributors, natural-gas companies and other industries.”
* A story worth watching: “The FBI, in a change of policy, is committing to inform state officials if local election systems have been breached, federal officials told The Associated Press.”
* Virginia: “Fearing a repeat of the deadly march by white nationalists in Charlottesville in 2017, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Wednesday declared a state of emergency and temporarily banned people from carrying guns and other weapons on the grounds of the state Capitol, where thousands of gun rights activists are expected to rally next week against stricter gun control laws.”
* Republicans haven’t given up on their anti-LGBTQ agenda, Part I: “Seven Republican lawmakers in Florida filed anti-LGBTQ bills late Monday, just hours before the deadline to file new bills for the coming legislative session.” * Republicans haven’t given up on their anti-LGBTQ agenda, Part II: “Tennessee lawmakers passed a controversial measure this week that protects religious adoption agencies if they choose to discriminate against same-sex couples.” * The final vote was 89 to 10: “Congress on Thursday gave final approval to President Trump’s revised North American Free Trade Agreement, handing the president his second trade victory of the week as the Senate prepared to try him for high crimes and misdemeanors.” 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
