Trump Calls and Endorses Moore, Corrine Brown Sentenced to Prison, Grassley Thinks Americans Blow Their Paychecks on Booze: P.M. Links

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    KEVIN DIETSCH/UPI/Newscom

    We're back to now debating whether President Donald Trump legally obstructed justice when he tried to convince others to end the investigation into Mike Flynn and ultimately fired FBI Director James Comey. All of this is because of Trump's Twitter feed.

  • Trump has called Roy Moore in Alabama to offer his endorsement in the Senate race (and he tweeted support as well).
  • Trump also this afternoon announced a reduction in the size of federally protected lands in Utah.
  • Former Democratic Florida Rep. Corrine Brown has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for a corruption scam involving a fake charity.
  • Last year the FBI issued more than 4,000 requests to have the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives go out and take the guns from people who had failed federal criminal background checks and were not legally permitted to own them.
  • The Supreme Court declined to get involved in a Texas court case that seeks to determine whether their federal requirement for states to recognize same-sex marriages extends to treating them equally when it comes to government employee benefits. Texas's top court has determined that the Obergefell ruling didn't officially settle the matter. For some reason, some people seem to think this is the win for those opposed to same-sex recognition. But the actual ruling bounces the Texas case back down to a lower court to determine whether Obergefell applies, and the judges did not nudge them in either direction. This is far from over and ultimately could end up back before the Supreme Court at a later date.
  • Here's how Rep. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) argues for the repeal of the estate tax: "I think not having the estate tax recognizes the people that are investing, as opposed to those that are just spending every darn penny they have, whether it's on booze or women or movies." Insert the Ralph Wiggum "I'm helping!" meme here.

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