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Today’s edition of quick hits.
* As part of the Supreme Court’s leak investigation, the institution’s marshal conceded this afternoon that while sitting justices spoke to investigators, none of the jurists signed sworn affidavits, even as other employees at the high court did.
* New Jan. 6 charges: “Three active-duty U.S. Marines were arrested and charged this week with breaching the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the latest in a line of current or former members of the military associated with the riot. The enlisted Marines — Cpl. Micah Coomer and Sgts. Joshua Abate and Dodge Dale Hellonen — are each facing four misdemeanor charges, including disorderly conduct in the Capitol building with the intent to impede Congress.”
* A story worth watching: “A Russian spy ship has been patrolling off the coast of Hawaii but so far has remained in international waters, the Pentagon said Thursday.”
* Inflation: “After a period of steep inflation, Americans have seen monthly price growth ease, but when will things get back to normal? The inflation benchmark, measuring price growth over a year, hit a 40-year high in June after months of sustained price increases. Since then, monthly gains have slowed. While December 2022 prices were up 6.5% from a year earlier, a Wall Street Journal analysis of Labor Department data indicates that annual growth has eased to levels that existed before the pandemic.”
* Really? “Senator Joe Manchin said Thursday he didn’t realize the US and the European Union do not have a free trade agreement when he wrote stringent new requirements for the electric vehicle tax credit that the EU says will unfairly disadvantage its members.”
* In Florida: “A federal judge ruled Friday that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis violated the free speech rights of a state attorney in Tampa by suspending the Democrat from office after he indicated he wouldn’t bring abortion-related prosecutions and de-prioritized taking some misdemeanor lawbreakers to court. But it was still a win for the governor. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle said federal law tied his hands in reversing the state-level suspension of Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren, who could not be reached for comment.”
* A secret trip: “CIA Director William J. Burns traveled in secret to Ukraine’s capital at the end of last week to brief President Volodymyr Zelensky on his expectations for what Russia is planning militarily in the coming weeks and months, said a U.S. official and other people familiar with the visit.”
* FAA: “Last week’s massive flight disruption that grounded thousands of planes was caused after ‘contract personnel unintentionally deleted files,’ the Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday.”
* Good move: “Forests that keep hillsides from eroding and clean the air. Wetlands that protect coastal real estate from storm surges. Rivers and deep snows that attract tourists and create jobs in rural areas. All of those are natural assets of perhaps obvious value — but none are accounted for by traditional measurements of economic activity. On Thursday, the Biden administration unveiled an effort to change that by creating a system for assessing the worth of healthy ecosystems to humanity.”
Have a safe weekend.