Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Strike #21: “The U.S. military on Saturday killed another three people accused by the Trump administration of smuggling drugs by sea, according to the U.S. Southern Command, bringing the known death toll from the campaign to at least 83 since early September.”
* The case against Comey is clearly not going well: “A remarkable ruling in James Comey’s case shows yet another way that the prosecution against the former FBI director could unravel — separate from the pending questions of whether Lindsey Halligan was lawfully appointed and whether the case she brought is unconstitutionally vindictive.”
* The case against Cook isn’t on solid ground, either: “Lawyers for Lisa Cook, the Federal Reserve governor whom President Trump has sought to fire, on Monday rebutted allegations of mortgage fraud and said that a housing official who had levied them had coordinated with the White House to smear the president’s enemies.”
* Welcome news at airports: “With the record-breaking federal shutdown over, the Transportation Department said Sunday it is ending a mandate that had led to the cancellation of thousands of flights across the nation.”
* Trump’s EPA: “The Trump administration proposed on Monday to significantly limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to limit pollution in wetlands, rivers and other bodies of water across the country. The proposed rule could strip federal protections from millions of acres of wetlands and streams, potentially threatening sources of clean drinking water for millions of Americans.”
* The country does not, and will not, benefit from this trend: “The number of international college students enrolling in their American schools for the first time decreased by 17 percent this fall, according to data published on Monday.” * A lawsuit I’ll be watching: “Preservationists concerned by President Donald Trump’s public musings this week about painting a 137-year-old building next to the White House completely white sued him Friday to halt the work, arguing that he could not unilaterally alter ‘one of the most architecturally significant and historic structures in the Nation’s Capital.’” * Filling in some of the gaps from August: “Former Federal Reserve board member Adriana Kugler stepped down from the central bank in August amid scrutiny of her financial holdings, which appeared to violate the central bank’s ethics rules, according to a newly-released document detailing her trading activity.” See you tomorrow.
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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