Maddow Blog | Thursday’s Mini-Report, 5.16.24

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* We’ll have plenty on this on the show tonight: “Michael Cohen returned to the witness stand today for more cross-examination from former President Donald Trump’s lawyers in the hush money trial.”

* On a related note, I seem to recall a whole lot of Republicans saying the judge in this case wasn’t going to let Trump go to this: “There will be no trial tomorrow so that the former president can attend his son Barron Trump’s high school graduation.”

* The latest from Slovakia: “Slovakia’s populist prime minister was in ‘very serious’ condition, officials said Thursday, after being shot multiple times in an attempted assassination that sent shock waves across the small central European country and the broader continent. A suspect described as a ‘lone wolf’ who had taken part in anti-government protests was charged with attempted murder as leaders urged calm.”

* This really should’ve been a 9-0 ruling: “The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a business-backed challenge that could have scuttled the federal agency set up to protect consumers from shady financial services practices. The court in a 7-2 vote ruled that the funding structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which allows the agency to be funded directly by the Federal Reserve, is constitutionally sound.”

* In Gaza: “While battles raged in the north, Israel’s defense minister said that more troops would join the country’s ground operation in Rafah, where an intensifying assault has sent hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing the southern Gaza city where they had sought refuge.”

* In Beijing: “When China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, hosts President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia this week, the two leaders are expected to present a united front. But they have different agendas. Mr. Putin is trying to escalate his war in Ukraine before Ukrainian forces can receive a replenishment of arms from the United States, and probably wants to know he can rely on China. Mr. Xi will seek to bolster his strategic partner and ‘old friend,’ but he is also under pressure to avoid further alienating the West over his support for Russia.”

* It’s amazing how frequently it’s helpful to have a constitutional law professor in Congress: “Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland delivered an impromptu history lesson on the House floor Wednesday, correcting Rep. Dan Bishop for mistakenly saying that Thomas Jefferson signed the Constitution. Bishop, R-N.C., made the error as he tried to counter Raskin’s argument during a House floor debate about a bill introduced by Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., that would change criminal sentencing codes in Washington, D.C.”

See you tomorrow.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com