By
Today's edition of quick hits:
* I honestly expected this months ago: "President-elect Joe Biden on Friday said he would deploy the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Guard to help set up vaccine clinics across the U.S as part of an ambitious plan to get shots to millions of Americans."
* The attack on the Capitol could've been even worse, Part I: "A court filing in the case of one of the accused Capitol rioters says 'strong evidence' suggests that their intent was to capture and assassinate members of Congress."
* The attack on the Capitol could've been even worse, Part II: "The violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 came perilously close to Vice President Pence, who was not evacuated from the Senate chamber for about 14 minutes after the Capitol Police reported an initial attempted breach of the complex — enough time for the marauders to rush inside the building and approach his location, according to law enforcement officials and video footage from that day."
* Hmm: "New York prosecutors conducted an hours-long interview Thursday with Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, asking a range of questions about Trump's business dealings, according to three people familiar with the meeting."
* On a related note: "Manhattan prosecutors have subpoenaed records relating to President Trump’s sprawling Seven Springs estate north of New York City, according to people familiar with the matter, expanding the known scope of the only publicly disclosed criminal investigation into the president and his business."
* Seems like a good choice: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced Friday that she has tasked retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honore with leading a review of the U.S. Capitol's security in the wake of the deadly Jan. 6 attack."
* Remember this one? "The top federal prosecutor in Harrisburg, Pa., announced Friday that his office has closed an investigation into nine discarded ballots found in the northeastern part of the state that President Trump had touted to support his unfounded claims of election rigging, saying in a statement that the probe had found 'insufficient evidence to prove criminal intent on the part of the person who discarded the ballots.'"
* An executive-branch mess: "As the federal government girds against threatened riots in Washington this weekend and possible violence at the inauguration and state capitals across the country, it's dealing with an unprecedented gap at the top: All of the nation's top Cabinet departments overseeing the nation's security are run by acting officials who have been in the job just weeks -- or even hours."
* Another bank: "The Florida-based Professional Bank is cutting ties with Donald Trump and his Trump Organization, Mother Jones has learned. The move comes after other financial institutions announced in recent days that they would no longer do business with the embattled president."
* I meant to mention this yesterday: "After a scathing new report from the Justice Department's watchdog blamed top department officials for being the 'driving force' behind the Trump administration's 2018 migrant family separation policy, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein issued a statement of regret Thursday while former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker and current DOJ official Gene Hamilton blamed the president for the policy."
* A question I hadn't thought to ask: "There's no clear answer to whether Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. or a Democrat would preside over a second impeachment trial for President Donald Trump, which could determine how the nation perceives the fairness of the proceedings."
* Kevin Drum's a great guy, and I'll look forward to see what he does with his next venture.
Have a safe weekend.