- Former Congressman Dennis Kucinich believes the intelligence community is behind the leaks that forced Mike Flynn to resign as National Security Advisor. Kucinich said the intelligence community wants to undermine Trump’s desire for a positive relationship with Russia. [Link]
- Sean Spicer says Trump expects Russia to return Crimea to Ukraine. [Link]
- The IRS will accept tax returns without line 61 filled out. Line 61 is the Obamacare individual mandate question that asks filers if they had health insurance in the past year. Allowing Americans to leave the line blank effectively ends the enforcement of the individual mandate. The change comes as a result of an executive order Trump signed last month. [Link]
- Humana is pulling its insurance from the Obamacare marketplace starting January 1, 2018. Humana is one of the five largest health insurers in the US. [Link]
- Six TSA agents along with some airport employees were arrested for smuggling cocaine into the US from Puerto Rico. The operation was going on for 18 years, and they were able to smuggle about $100 million in cocaine during that time. [Link]
- 500 US troops and tanks arrive in Romania to bolster the countries defenses and prove our commitment to the NATO ally. [Link]
- Israel withdrew its Ambassador to Egypt at the end of last year. The move was done quietly and was not reported at that time. Isreal reports the move was made out of safety concerns. [Link]
- The head of a UN watchdog group says Iran is following the nuclear deal. [Link]
- A Russian spy ship was spotted off of the coast of the US. The ship was well into international waters, and the US Navy did not seem very concerned about the ship. [Link]
- Russian planes buzz a US destroyer off the coast of Russia in the Black Sea. US military officials have described the actions as unsafe and unprofessional. [Link]
- Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was murdered in Malaysia. US officials believe that North Korean agents carried out the murder. [Link]
- The US provided over 1,000 tanker sorties in support of Saudi’s air war against Yemen in 2016. This is an increase of 50% over the number of tanker sorties in the previous year. The US has provided over 7,500 midair refuelings to the Saudis since the start of their air war against Yemen. [Link]
