Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Mariia Butina’s case: “The Russian woman arrested this week on charges of being a foreign agent had ties to Russian intelligence operatives and was in contact with them while in the United States, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.”
* In case you missed this yesterday: “A federal judge has rejected former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s bid to have his looming trial on tax and bank-fraud charges moved from Alexandria, Virginia, to Roanoke, about 200 miles outside the Beltway.”
* The OSU controversy: “Five former Ohio State University wrestlers have filed two separate class-action lawsuits in federal court, alleging the university knew about sexual abuse by physician Richard Strauss decades ago but failed to stop his misconduct.”
* In related news: “Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio met with investigators on Monday as part of Ohio State University’s ongoing investigation into accusations that a wrestling team doctor sexually abused athletes more than 20 years ago.”
* More tariffs on the way? “The Commerce Department is opening an investigation into whether imports of uranium — the chemical element that fuels nuclear power — pose a risk to national security.”
* Even by 2018 standards, this was foolish: “Members of the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday pushed executives from Google, Facebook and Twitter about purported political biases on their platforms — and used conspiracy theories from far-right websites to do so.” * Apparently, Trump really wanted the color change: “Boeing Co has received a $3.9 billion contract to build two 747-8 aircraft for use as Air Force One by the U.S. president, due to be delivered by December 2024 and painted red, white and blue, officials said on Tuesday.” * This was unwise: “Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a podcast interview released on Wednesday that the social network does not remove posts that deny the existence of the Holocaust because the company wants to allow its users to make unintentional mistakes.” 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
