Greg Gianforte, Brent Corrigan, Sam Smith, Chris Christie, Ed Sheeran, Vaquita, Sia: HOT LINKS

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Greg Gianforte, Brent Corrigan, Sam Smith, Chris Christie, Ed Sheeran, Vaquita, Sia: HOT LINKS

CHRIS CHRISTIE. On Trump’s attempts to push Comey away from Flynn investigation: “What you’re seeing is a president who is now very publicly learning about the way people react to what he considers to be normal New York City conversation.”

CANCELED. Pence cancels PBS interview abruptly after Comey statement.

RACHEL MADDOW. Ratings dominatrix: “Maddow’s sky-high ratings continue her nightly show’s spot as the highest-rated cable news program on television. That distinction was long held by former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, who was ousted from the network in April. Maddow’s impressive ratings on Tuesday also appeared to have a ripple effect for MSNBC, putting the network’s Lawrence O’Donnell, whose show follows Maddow’s, in second place in the 25-54 demographic with 621,000 viewers.”

GREG GIANFORTE. Montana Republican body-slammer settles case with reporter: “Greg Gianforte, the Montana Republican who assaulted a Guardian journalist on the eve of his election to the US House of Representatives, has issued a full and unequivocal apology to the reporter and agreed to donate $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The congressman-elect apologized to the reporter, Ben Jacobs, in a letter received late on Wednesday as part of an agreement that settles any potential civil claims.”

RYAN LOCHTE. He’s now responsible for another human being.

MALAYSIA. Government removes category on “preventing homosexuality” from youth video contest: “[Activists] had said it could increase hatred and violence against LGBT people. The health ministry has replaced the “gender identity disorder” category with one on gender and sexuality. The contest for 13- to 24-year-olds is offering prizes of up to $1,000 (£780) for the best videos. The other categories are sexual health and sex and the internet.”