Today’s edition of quick hits:
* This is bound to be interesting: “Former FBI agent Peter Strzok filed suit against the Justice Department on Tuesday, arguing he was wrongly fired for sending private text messages that ripped Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.”
* So will this: “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has ordered a state criminal probe into the actions of the Palm Beach sheriff and the former Palm Beach state attorney for their handling of the Jeffrey Epstein underage sex trafficking case.”
* I could’ve sworn Trump recently bragged about the absence of North Korean missile launches: “North Korea fired the missiles into the sea off its east coast for the fourth time in less than two weeks, South Korea said on Tuesday.”
* The other recent mass shooting: “Federal authorities announced Tuesday that they have launched a domestic terrorism investigation into the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting in Northern California, which left three people, including two children, dead.”
* Venezuela: “President Trump signed an executive order on Monday imposing new economic sanctions on the government of Venezuela, escalating his campaign to remove President Nicolás Maduro from office.”
* When Trump goes to El Paso, he should bring a check: “According to Laura Cruz-Acosta, communications manager for the El Paso city manager’s office, the president has an outstanding bill of $569,204.63 for police and public safety services associated with a February campaign rally.” * A story we’ve been following: “A federal watchdog challenged the Trump administration’s authority to move two USDA science agencies out of Washington, in a report issued a few days after Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, praised the move for encouraging federal scientists to quit their jobs.” * I tend not to take note of every dumb comment from random state legislators, but some are more notable than others: “After mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that together killed at least 30 people over the weekend, a lawmaker in Ohio blamed the massacres on ‘homosexual marriage,’ ‘drag queen advocates’ and ‘snowflakes, who can’t accept a duly-elected President,’ among other things.” 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
