WHAT'S BREWING
TRUMP'S ADMINISTRATION GOES AFTER DISABILITY BENEFITS A recent Trump administration proposal could affect thousands of people, but has received little attention since it was first floated in November. Under the proposed change, the government would look more closely at whether certain disability insurance recipients still qualify as “disabled” after they’ve already been awarded those benefits. [HuffPost]
RED SOX UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR ALLEGED CHEATING The Boston Red Sox are reportedly under investigation for cheating during the team’s 2018 World Series championship season. The Athletic website, citing multiple unnamed sources, detailed the team's system of using video to pick up and decode an opposing catcher’s signs to the pitcher, then pass along the communications to Red Sox batters and runners. [HuffPost]
REP. DUNCAN HUNTER RESIGNS AFTER GUILTY PLEA Duncan Hunter has submitted his resignation, about a month after pleading guilty to federal charges. The Californian Republican and his wife, Margaret Hunter, were indicted for misappropriating $250,000 in campaign donations for personal use, including luxurious family vacations, private school tuition, and airfare for pet rabbits. He also used campaign donations to fund his extramarital affairs. [HuffPost]
MCCONNELL UNITES GOP ON IMPEACHMENT TRIAL RULES Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Senate Republicans are prepared to craft rules governing a potential impeachment trial of Trump with npo Democratic support. “We have the votes,” McConnell said, making clear at least 51 Republicans agree on moving forward with the trial. [HuffPost]
JUSTICE DEPT: EX-TRUMP AIDE FLYNN DESERVES PRISON Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn deserves up to six months behind bars, the Justice Department said, reversing its earlier position that he was entitled to avoid prison time because of his extensive cooperation with prosecutors. [AP]
WOMAN ACCUSED OF CONSPIRING WITH QANON FOLLOWERS TO KIDNAP SON According to a heavily redacted arrest affidavit that police filed in October in Parker, Colorado, a caseworker alerted authorities after Cynthia Abcug’s daughter told her “there were lots of weapons” in their home and that a man who identified himself as a sniper had begun sleeping on their couch. Cynthia Abcug was arrested in northwestern Montana late last month. [HuffPost] | 