5 stories from the Trump administration that aren’t about that memo

In a week of news cycles consumed by President Donald Trump’s State of the Union and a nothing-burger intelligence memo, a lot of actual news flew under the radar — including a high-profile resignation, multiple potential corruption scandals and a sanctioned Russian spy entering the U.S. to meet with Trump intelligence officials.   Here’s what you might have missed. CDC director resigns after buying shares in a tobacco company. One of the top government officials in charge of trying to prevent people from smoking cigarettes resigned after it was reported that she purchased shares in a tobacco company after taking office. Politico reported that Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald purchased shares in a tobacco company just one month into her tenure as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director. The CDC oversees major federal anti-smoking initiatives. Ben Carson mixes family with official duties. The esteemed neurosurgeon now in charge of the Department of Housing and Urban Development has raised several red flags within the agency by including his family in official HUD business, according to a report in the Washington Post. Carson reportedly allowed his son, Ben Carson Jr., to help set up a “listening tour” in Baltimore during summer 2017. According to the Post, officials were worried that the younger Carson and his wife were inviting a number of local residents with whom they possibly had business dealings. Labor Department kills analysis of proposal allowing managers to skim tips. The Department of Labor has reportedly scrapped an internal analysis showing that its new proposal for tipped workers could result in managers pocketing billions of dollars in tipped wages intended for workers. The new proposal would allow businesses to pool tips to distribute among tipped and non-tipped employees — including management. Sanctioned Russian spy chief enters U.S. and meets with intelligence officials. In a surprisingly underreported story, the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service reportedly entered the United States and met with U.S. intelligence officials, including CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats. Sergey Naryshkin, the head of the Russian spy agency, was sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2014 in response to Russia’s interference in Crimea. Under those sanctions, Naryshkin is not allowed to do business with any U.S. person or company. A visit like the one Naryshkin is reported to have made would typically be prohibited under those sanctions unless special dispensations were made. Trump administration will not allow any new Syrians to apply for protected status in U.S. The Associated Press reported that the Trump administration will allow the nearly 7,000 Syrians currently living in the U.S. with temporary protected status to remain, but will not allow any new Syrians fleeing violence in their home country to apply for the program. Read more here.