Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Six weeks later: “A transmission line failure Thursday left thousands in Puerto Rico without power, just after areas had finally seen a restoration of electricity following Puerto Rico’s blackout after Hurricane Maria.”
* Trump-Russia: “After a business meeting before the Miss Universe Pageant in 2013, a Russian participant offered to ‘send five women’ to Donald Trump’s hotel room in Moscow, his longtime bodyguard told Congress this week, according to three sources who were present for the interview.”
* The panel voted along party lines: “The House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday approved the Republican tax plan after making key changes such as raising repatriation tax rates on corporate cash held abroad, restoring the adoption child credit and changing the bill’s treatment of ‘pass-through’ businesses.”
* In related news: “Senate Republicans are forging their own path on the effort to overhaul the U.S. tax code, offering a plan Thursday that would delay President Trump’s top business priority and blow up House Republicans’ carefully crafted compromise on property tax deductions.”
* This sounds like an interesting hearing: “After months of questioning President Donald Trump’s temperament and fitness for office, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., announced Wednesday that he would convene a hearing to examine the president’s authority to use nuclear weapons.” * The number of broken ribs has gone up: “Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Wednesday he had sustained six broken ribs and a build-up of fluids between his chest and lungs as a result of an altercation with a neighbor last Friday, revealing additional maladies about the previously reported incident.” * On a related note, the senator’s alleged attacker, Rene Boucher, was in court today. He pleaded not guilty. 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
