Today’s edition of quick hits:
* An important story: “The Department of Homeland Security told representatives of electric utilities Monday about a round of efforts by Russian hackers last year to target control systems for electric power plants and grids.”
* Not a great look for the nation’s top law-enforcement official: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions chuckled and repeated ‘Lock her up’ after the familiar Trump campaign rally chant rang out during his speech at a conservative conference for high school students on Tuesday.”
* Shouldn’t this have happened a long time ago? “Ivanka Trump is shuttering her clothing line in order to focus on her role as senior adviser in her father’s White House, the company announced Tuesday.”
* North Korea: “Satellite imagery shows North Korea has begun taking down its main satellite launch facility, an apparent confidence-building measure by Pyongyang amid concerns about the slow pace of progress on dismantling the country’s nuclear weapons programs.”
* Filling Trump’s cabinet: “The Senate on Monday voted 86-9 to confirm former congressional staffer and Pentagon veteran Robert Wilkie to lead the troubled Department of Veterans Affairs.”
* Rep. Bill Shuster’s (R-Pa.) new infrastructure plan probably isn’t going anywhere: “The Republican chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released a draft public works bill on Monday that calls for phasing in a gas tax increase of 15 cents per gallon over three years, along with a raft of other measures.”
* Have you ever received a call from clumsy scammers pretending to be with the IRS? “With stiff sentences for 21 conspirators last week in the United States and a round of indictments in India, the Justice Department says it has broken up what appeared to be the nation’s first large-scale, multinational telephone fraud operation.” * CIA: “The acting watchdog at the CIA, who has been accused of retaliating against whistleblowers, is resigning, the agency confirmed Friday. Christopher Sharpley, whose nomination for the inspector general post had stalled in the Senate, said in a memo to employees at his office that he was stepping down.” * And the Associated Press highlighted a Missouri woman who voted for Trump, but regrets it now that her daughter-in-law has been deported, leaving her grandchild without a mother. “I’ve always been proud to be an American,” she told the AP. “But now I’m ashamed.” 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
