Some news briefs

1.  President Trump may have made the biggest news blunder of the year when he answered a reporter's question on Air Force One yesterday.   He was asked "Did you know about the payment to Stormy Daniels?"    He said, "No, I didn't know anything about it"    According some some legal experts on MSNBC, by saying this Trump was nullifying the so-called non-disclosure agreement with Daniels;  i.e. if he didn't know about it then there was no contract.    Her lawyer declared himself "ecstatic," because in his view this releases her from any constraint or penalty in the NDA.   It also opens the question:   If Trump knew nothing about it, it means he didn't pay the $130,000 himself.   If someone else paid it, then it becomes an illegal campaign contribution and violates FEC rules.   They'll be arguing about this one for months to come.

2.  Rachel Maddow just got better ratings than Sean Hannity as a cable news host for last month.   He has had a solid lock on ratings for cable news host;  but good ole Rachel bested him this month.

3.  Scott Pruitt, whom Trump was about use as his replacement for Jeff Sessions as Attorney General is in a heap of trouble over excessive expenses, conflicts of interest, ethical issues, abuse of power, retaliation against whistle blowers, and taking a sweetheart housing arrangement from a lobbyist who had business with his department.    Trump loves Pruitt, because he is dismantling all the policies of the EPA.   But he may have to go -- many people are already demanding it -- for petty graft and corruption, and multiple types of abuse of power.   Besides that, he seems paranoid -- he demands a 30 person, round-the-clock security detail, where most cabinet secretaries have four or five.    He had a sound-proof phone booth installed in his own office (for $43,000), and has all kinds of special locks installed, plus a bullet-proof desk.

4.  The number of women running for seats in the U. S. House of Representatives has hit a record already at 309, with deadlines for qualifying still weeks away in half of the states.   In addition, there are 40 women running for governors in their states.

5.  Despite all the efforts of Trump and Republicans to kill Obamacare, more people than were expected signed up for health care policies in the open enrollment period this year.   It was down a bit from last year, but not nearly as much as anticipated.

Ralph