Today’s edition of quick hits.
* For now, Vance remains on the bench: “[White House press secretary Karoline] Leavitt told reporters outside the White House this afternoon that Vice President JD Vance ‘is on standby’ and could be dispatched to Pakistan this weekend ‘if we feel it’s a necessary use of his time.’ Earlier today, Leavitt said on Fox News that [Steve] Witkoff and [Jared] Kushner will go to Pakistan tomorrow ‘to engage in talks, direct talks, intermediated by the Pakistanis.’”
* Ongoing crisis conditions in Lebanon: “Two people were killed by an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanon town of Touline today, Lebanese state media reported — adding to the high death toll in the country even as the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was extended by three weeks.”
* The right call: “A federal appeals court ruled Friday that President Donald Trump does not have the authority to suspend asylum access for migrants, a crucial piece of the president’s immigration enforcement agenda. A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found that the presidency does not afford Trump the power to circumvent the federal immigration laws that allow for migrants to apply for asylum at the border.”
* Finally: “The European Union on Thursday approved a 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) loan package to help Ukraine meet its economic and military needs for two years after oil began flowing through a key pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia, ending months of political deadlock.”
* The suspect allegedly made more than $400,000: “A U.S. Army special forces soldier who helped capture Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela has been charged with using classified information to bet on the mission on Polymarket, a prediction marketplace, federal authorities said on Thursday.”
* On a related note: “GOP Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., and Jimmy Patronis, R-Fla., are calling on Trump to pardon the special forces soldier who authorities say made more than $400,000 in Polymarket winnings after allegedly betting that Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro would be removed from office.”
* Accountability for corrupt former presidents is apparently still a possibility in some democracies: “South Korean prosecutors Friday requested a 30-year prison term for ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol over allegations that he deliberately tried to escalate tensions with North Korea in 2024 by ordering drone flights over Pyongyang as he sought to create justifiable conditions for martial law at home.”
Recommended
* It’s reassuring to see at least some bipartisanship on this one: “Republicans and Democrats in Congress condemned a plan President Trump is weighing to send Afghans who aided the American military campaign against the Taliban to the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
* A case worth watching: “Two government watchdogs sued President Trump and the White House on Friday over internal guidance that instructed that some text messages exchanged between officials could be deleted, despite a law generally mandating the preservation of presidential records.”
* Another case worth watching: “Billionaire crypto mogul Justin Sun, who has invested tens of millions of dollars in President Donald Trump’s family’s various crypto ventures, has sued World Liberty Financial, one of the Trump family crypto firms.”
* I’m genuinely curious whether Paul Weiss, if he had it to do over again, would strike that deal with the White House: “Two partners are leaving Paul Weiss, the latest blow to the prominent New York law firm that reached a widely criticized deal with President Trump last year, according to two people familiar with the matter.”
Have a safe weekend.
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."
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