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Friday's Mini-Report, 3.12.21

Today's edition of quick hits.

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Today's edition of quick hits:

* George Floyd story: "The city of Minneapolis has reached a $27 million settlement with George Floyd's family just weeks before the trial is scheduled to begin for the former officer charged with murder in his death."

* On a related note: "Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill has reinstated a third-degree murder charge against the former Minneapolis police officer accused of killing George Floyd. Cahill granted the request from prosecutors to reinstate the charge after the former officer, Derek Chauvin, failed to get the state Supreme Court to block it."

* New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) today "rejected the calls for him to step down, telling reporters at a quickly convened news conference that he would not resign or bow to 'cancel culture.' He also denied ever abusing and harassing anyone."

* Speaking of New York: "Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, announced on Friday he would not run for re-election, setting off a wide-open race to lead one of the most important crime-fighting offices in the country and making it highly likely that any potential case against President Donald J. Trump will be left in a newcomer's hands."

* Jan. 6 fallout continues: "The Justice Department and FBI are gathering evidence to try to build a large conspiracy indictment against members of the Oath Keepers for their roles in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to people familiar with the matter, but the group's sometimes fractious and fantasy-laden internal workings may complicate efforts to bring such a case."

* Interesting: "States with Democratic governors had the highest incidence and death rates from Covid-19 in the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, but states with Republican governors surpassed those rates as the crisis dragged on, a study released Tuesday found."

* Will we ever get the full story on the scope of Zinke's alleged corruption? "The Interior Department's management of former Secretary Ryan Zinke's phones is 'deeply troubling,' a federal judge ruled yesterday in a sharply worded criticism of the agency."

* Speaking of controversial former cabinet secretaries: "State Department officials requested the unmasking of the identities of American citizens or permanent residents or companies in intelligence reports on at least 285 occasions during the Trump administration, with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo making at least 33 such requests, records obtained by POLITICO show."

* Department of Education: "From almost the day he was tapped to head the Office of Federal Student Aid under the Trump administration, Mark A. Brown was a target of consumer and labor groups aligned with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. This week, they cheered his resignation."

* At the Southern border: "The Biden administration hopes to relieve the strain of thousands of unaccompanied children coming to the southern border by ending a Trump-era order that discouraged potential family sponsors from coming forward to care for them."

Have a safe weekend.