Today’s edition of quick hits:
* It’s a crazy day, but this paragraph is extremely important: “Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s former fixer, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to campaign finance and other charges. He made the extraordinary admission that he paid a pornographic actress ‘at the direction of the candidate,’ referring to Mr. Trump, to secure her silence about an affair she said she had with Mr. Trump.”
* Cyber-security: “Microsoft said Tuesday that it executed a court order to shut down six websites created by a group tied to Russian intelligence that sought to spoof conservative U.S. institutions, the U.S. Senate and Microsoft itself.”
* North Carolina: “Protesters toppled the Silent Sam Confederate statue on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill on Monday night. The monument was ripped down after 9:15 p.m. Earlier in the evening, protesters covered the statue with tall, gray banners, erecting ‘an alternative monument’ that said, in part, ‘For a world without white supremacy.’”
* Net neutrality: “A group of 22 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia late Monday asked a U.S. appeals court to reinstate the Obama administration’s 2015 landmark net neutrality rules and reject the Trump administration’s efforts to preempt states from imposing their own rules guaranteeing an open internet.”
* I don’t imagine this comes up in most countries: “In a nod to the sad reality that shootings at the nation’s schools are far too prevalent, the United States government will award a $1.8 million grant to create a program to teach high school students proper bleeding-control techniques.” * This strikes me as a good idea: “The Senate Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner, has filed an amendment to the defense appropriations bill to prohibit President Trump from revoking security clearances, days after the White House revoked former CIA Director John Brennan’s clearance.” 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
