Today’s edition of quick hits.

* The latest in a series of deadly boat strikes: “The U.S. military said it attacked a boat suspected of being used to smuggle drugs in the Caribbean Sea on Sunday, killing four people, as the Trump administration continues its yearlong campaign against alleged traffickers in Latin America.”

* The ongoing campaign against the free press: “The White House blocked Politico from accessing Air Force One on Monday, leaving the news outlet unable to fulfill its pool responsibilities as President Donald Trump travels to Nebraska, a Politico spokesperson confirmed to MS NOW.”

* This is a story worth watching: “The United States rushed over the weekend to withdraw all 12 B-1 Air Force bombers from an air base in southern England after commanders received new threats about an Iran-backed plot against the installation, two U.S. officials said on Sunday. The withdrawal was highly unusual: Such moves are rarely made so quickly from an allied air base in a peacetime country thousands of miles from a combat zone.”

* A lawsuit that’s likely to prove consequential: “The Democratic National Committee filed a lawsuit on Thursday in Federal District Court in Washington, accusing the Defense Department of trying to disenfranchise overseas voters by altering a form used to register to vote and request mail ballots.”

* Given the circumstances, it’s tough to know in situations like these whether the scrutiny has merit or whether a hyperpoliticized Department of Justice is targeting a White House critic: “Sen. Ruben Gallego’s leadership PAC has been subpoenaed as part of a federal investigation into the Arizona Democrat’s use of campaign cash to fund a luxurious lifestyle, according to a copy of the subpoena obtained by Politico.”

* It’s hard not to wonder whether David Rivera will be the latest to get a presidential pardon: “A former Florida congressman and political mentor to Secretary of State Marco Rubio was sentenced to a decade in federal prison Friday for his role in a secret $50 million campaign to lobby officials in Washington on behalf of the Venezuelan government.”

* Hastert died of natural causes at his home: “Dennis Hastert, the nation’s longest-serving Republican House speaker, who helped turn much of President George W. Bush’s agenda into law before his own political legacy was forever fouled by allegations that he molested high school athletes when he was a wrestling coach, died over the weekend, a coroner said Monday. He was 84.”

See you tomorrow.

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