Cross-Examination

• Dem mayor joins migrant busing effort: El Paso, Texas, Democrat Mayor Oscar Leeser has taken a page out of the playbook of Republican Governors Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis in response to Joe Biden’s border crisis. With more than 2,000 illegal aliens a day crossing the border into El Paso, overrunning the city’s shelters and overwhelming its resources, Leeser has begun busing migrants out of town to “sanctuary” cities. On Saturday, El Paso sent five busloads of illegal aliens to the Democrat-run cities of Chicago, Denver, and New York. Leeser justified the decision by contending, “The city of El Paso only has so many resources and we have come to … a breaking point right now.” How much more pressure will it take from Democrats for Biden to finally listen and shut down the border?

• Hunter sues Rudy: Facing a felony gun charge, Hunter Biden has decided that the best defense is to go on offense. To that end, he has raised several lawsuits against those who exposed his problematic and criminal behavior. Hunter’s latest target is Donald Trump’s former lawyer and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. On Tuesday, Hunter filed a lawsuit against Giuliani, alleging that he was “primarily responsible” for the “total annihilation” of Hunter’s privacy rights. It further claims that Giuliani and fellow defendant Robert Costello “have dedicated an extraordinary amount of time and energy toward looking for, hacking into, tampering with, manipulating, copying, disseminating, and generally obsessing over data that they were given that was taken or stolen from Plaintiff’s devices or storage platforms, including what Defendants claim to have obtained from Plaintiff’s alleged ‘laptop’ computer.” Well, if the FBI and Justice Department would have done their jobs rather than play politics to avoid promoting any negative stories against Joe Biden, then it would not have taken Giuliani and others to expose Hunter’s criminal behavior.

• Impeachment witnesses: As House Republicans move forward on their impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, the Oversight Committee led by James Comer (KY) announced the names of its first three witnesses, who are due to give testimony beginning on Thursday morning. Those witnesses are Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant; Eileen O'Connor, the former assistant attorney general in the DOJ’s Tax Division; and George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley. The focus of the testimony will be on Biden’s connections with his son Hunter’s foreign business dealings. Comer defended the impeachment inquiry by saying: “Based on the evidence, Congress has a duty to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden’s corruption. Americans demand and deserve answers, transparency, and accountability for this abuse of public office.”

• Oakland strike: With crime becoming such a problem in Democrat-run states and cities, due almost entirely to soft-on-crime policies, businesses have increasingly been taking matters into their own hands. Many business have simply exited cities such as Chicago and San Francisco. But in the city of Oakland, upwards of 200 businessowners have decided to go on strike — to close down for a day. The idea is that it will send the message that unless the crime problem is addressed, these businesses may soon close for good. The question is, will city leaders listen, or will they continue to blame the law-abiding for the lawlessness they are suffering?

• Portland outrage: Speaking of rising crime, Portland, Oregon, has been a prime example of what happens to a city when its leaders adopt soft-on-crime policies, as the Rose City has progressively descended into a state of growing lawlessness over the last couple of years. Aiding in this descent was former city commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who recently received $680,000 from the city in a lawsuit settlement after she claimed she was a victim of racial discrimination. Hardesty alleged that a Portland Police Bureau (PPB) leaked false information regarding her having been involved in a hit-and-run accident in the spring of 2021. Back in 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd protests and riots, Hardesty led rallies against the police and falsely accused the PPB of being “saboteurs” for intentionally starting fires and infiltrating crowds of protesters. She later apologized for the false claims, but she lost a reelection bid. Hardesty sought $5 million in her suit. The settlement included an apology from Democrat Mayor Ted Wheeler. When narrative matters more than facts, the truth gets lost and everyone will end up suffering for it.

Headlines

• As government shutdown looms just days away, no agreement is in sight (Washington Post)

• Biden spent billions to cut China out of green energy supply chain. Now his admin says that can’t happen. (Free Beacon)

• Ford suddenly pauses massive EV battery project that Republicans are probing over CCP ties (Fox Business)

• Bill would impose $1,000 fee on EVs to replace gas tax for Highway Trust Fund (Washington Examiner)

• Sean Hannity to moderate debate between Governors Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis (Fox News)

• Newsom signs trio of bills on LGBTQ youth after “controversial” veto (The Hill)

• “Unprecedented”: California health workers face fine or imprisonment for going maskless (Free Beacon)

• Mayo Clinic site now lists hydroxychloroquine as treatment for certain COVID cases (Not the Bee)

• JPMorgan admits pressuring Intuit into cutting off gun companies (Daily Signal)

• Good news: Desire for large families hits 50-year high in America (Washington Examiner)

• Policy: How the Biden administration is using the “climate crisis” to make housing even more expensive (Free Beacon)

• Satire: Biden condemns Menendez for taking bribes in gold rather than fungible assets laundered by 20 different shell companies (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.