Today’s edition of quick hits:
* This is an outcome that will reverberate: “A federal judge on Tuesday approved the blockbuster merger between AT&T and Time Warner, rebuffing the government’s effort to block the $85.4 billion deal, in a decision that is expected to unleash a wave of takeovers in corporate America.”
* Today’s mass shooting: “A man who police say shot an officer before barricading himself in a Florida apartment killed the four children he had been holding hostage before killing himself, police said Monday.”
* This took a little too long: “Peter Navarro, President Donald Trump’s trade adviser, apologized Tuesday for saying ‘there’s a special place in hell’ for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after Trudeau criticized the new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada.”
* I wonder what the House will do: “In a major rebuke to President Donald Trump, the Senate has adopted a measure that would block the administration’s deal with Chinese telecom giant ZTE, pitting the president against Congress on what many senators say is an issue of national security.”
* This is a case worth watching: “A federal judge on Monday sharply criticized the Justice Department’s argument that President Trump’s financial interest in his company’s hotel in downtown Washington is constitutional, a fresh sign that the judge may soon rule against the president in a historic case that could head to the Supreme Court.”
* Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) yesterday called “fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (SC) ‘a danger to the country’ for relaying to the media that he had drafted documents to propose an Authorized Use of Military Force (AUMF) if President Donald Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un didn’t go well.” * Speaking of Kentucky’s junior senator: “New court documents in Kentucky shed more light on details from the yard dispute that landed Sen. Rand Paul in the hospital with six broken ribs, among other thoracic complications, and could land his neighbor in prison. Rene Boucher, 60, didn’t like where his neighbor of 17 years, Paul, was putting his yard debris.” * That seems like a lot: “Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the president’s daughter and son-in-law, brought in at least $82 million in outside income while serving as senior White House advisers during 2017, according to financial disclosure forms released Monday.” 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
