Today’s edition of quick hits:
* An ill-timed departure: “Joseph Yun, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, is set to step down, the State Department said on Monday, in a move that comes as Kim Jong Un’s regime says it’s willing to hold talks with Washington.”
* West Virginia: “A strike by thousands of public school teachers intensified on Tuesday as thousands again descended on the state Capitol to protest low wages.”
* The Wynn scandal gets even more serious: “A woman told police she had a child with casino mogul Steve Wynn after he raped her, while another reported she was forced to resign from a Las Vegas job after she refused to have sex with him.”
* I hope you caught Rachel’s coverage of this last night: “The first lady, Melania Trump, has parted ways with an adviser after news about the adviser’s firm reaping $26 million in payments to help plan President Trump’s inauguration. Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who has been friends with Mrs. Trump for years, had been working on a contract basis as an unpaid senior adviser to the office of the first lady.”
* This is an odd one: “A Center for Disease Control and Prevention employee was last seen 11 days ago, when he left work early after complaining that he felt unwell, Atlanta police said Friday. Timothy Cunningham, 35, works as a commander in the U.S. Public Health Service and has responded to the Ebola virus and the Zika virus outbreaks, the CDC said. He holds two degrees from Harvard.” * National Security Action: “A group of mostly young veterans of President Barack Obama’s administration and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign is launching a political strike force aimed at countering Trump and Republicans on national security.” * The company is taking a real risk: “FedEx will not end its partnership with the National Rifle Association, the company said Monday, even as other companies are heeding calls from activists and severing their ties with the organization.” 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
