Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Afghanistan: “One American service member was killed and another wounded in eastern Afghanistan on Monday in what officials described as an apparent insider attack. The attack is the second episode in less than two months in which an American service member was killed by an Afghan security member.”
* Another misguided step backwards: “The Trump administration is cutting funding to the United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees, raising fears that programs already straining to help some 5.4 million people will collapse.”
* A picture is starting to come into focus: “In the estimation of American officials, Oleg V. Deripaska, a Russian oligarch with close ties to the Kremlin, has faced credible accusations of extortion, bribery and even murder. They also thought he might make a good source.”
* Bruce Ohr: “A senior Justice Department lawyer says a former British spy told him at a breakfast meeting two years ago that Russian intelligence believed it had Donald Trump ‘over a barrel,’ according to multiple people familiar with the encounter.”
* What, he is too busy? “As President Trump hardened his stance on trade with Canada, one of the nation’s closest allies, the White House said Friday that Mr. Trump would not be traveling to Asia for a round of economic and security meetings with allies this fall.”
* State-based net neutrality matters: “California lawmakers rallied enough votes Friday to pass the nation’s toughest net neutrality law to prevent Internet providers from favoring certain websites, setting up a fight with federal regulators who voted last year to erase such rules.”
* A good move from the tech giant: “Microsoft announced a new policy Thursday that it hopes will shrink that gap, pledging it will ink contracts only with service providers who give their employees 12 weeks of paid family leave.” * West Virginia: “[I]t was no surprise that President Donald Trump picked the state to announce his plan rolling back Obama-era pollution controls on coal-fired power plants. Trump left one thing out of his remarks, though: northern West Virginia coal country will be ground zero for increased deaths and illnesses from the rollback on regulation of harmful emission from the nation’s coal power plants.” * He just can’t seem to help himself: “President Donald Trump told an audience during an event in North Carolina on Friday that his golf course in Charlotte sat alongside the ‘largest man-made lake in the world by far.’ The president is referring to Lake Norman, which is, in fact — get ready for a shocker — not the world’s largest man-made lake. President Trump … has lied.” 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
