Cross-Examination

• Total cost of Trump’s legal debts: New York has not been kind to Donald Trump over the last few months, at least when it comes to the judicial system. The former president and current Republican primary frontrunner has had three civil lawsuits go against him, and with each loss, the penalty meted out against him has increased exponentially. Two losses in defamation suits brought by writer E. Jean Carroll have tallied nearly $90 million in damages Trump has been ordered to pay, and with Friday’s ruling against him in a civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia Jones, an astounding $355 million was added to the total. Thus far, Trump is on the hook for a whopping $542 million in legal judgments. New York claims this is not politically motivated. And pigs can fly.

• DOJ shows selective outrage on false statements: It’s nice to see Joe Biden’s Department of “Justice” finally taking an interest in prosecuting folks who lie to the FBI. On Thursday, FOB (Friend of Biden) Special Counsel David Weiss announced the indictment of Alexander Smirnov, 43, a longtime confidential human source, for making false statements. The charging documents say Smirnov allegedly provided “false derogatory information” about Joe Biden and his pure-as-the-driven-snow son, Hunter, “in 2020, after [the Big Guy] became a presidential candidate.” So this guy not only lied to the FBI, but he also tried to interfere with a presidential election. Heavens. As ABC News gleefully reports, “Smirnov is the same person that Republicans have called ‘a highly credible FBI source’ and have used to claim Joe Biden is corrupt, according to multiple senior congressional sources.” Again, it’s nice to see Rule of Law being enforced in this matter, but where were these folks when the likes of Stefan Halper, Rodney Joffe, and Christopher Steele were spinning lies about Donald Trump’s low-level foreign policy advisers, his supposed ties to nefarious Russian banks, and his “golden showers” with Russian hookers? Move along; nothing to see there. But don’t dare utter a false statement about the Biden Crime Family. How will Smirnov’s indictment affect House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer’s ongoing impeachment inquiry into the Influence-Peddler-in-Chief? It won’t, according to Comer. Indeed, when it comes to corruption, there’s still plenty of there there.

• Secret Service now pulls “tripping duty” for Biden: Herr Doktor Jill Biden, Ed.D., must’ve given them a stern talking to. How else to explain the new protocol we’re seeing on airport tarmacs everywhere? Not only has our decrepit commander-in-chief been relegated to the short stairs on Air Force One, but he’s also got himself a burly looking Secret Service “catcher” standing there at the bottom of the stairs — you know, just in case. Alas, even the friendlies at The New York Times have the long knives out for Scranton Joe, now that he’s damaged goods. “Even the way Mr. Biden walks to the presidential aircraft is subject to careful management,” reports the Times in a piece titled “Inside Biden’s Protective White House.” The Times adds: “The president started taking a short flight of stairs directly into the belly of Air Force One, rather than a tall stairway wheeled up to a higher point on the plane, after he tripped and fell over a sandbag during a commencement ceremony this past summer. Now, there is a Secret Service agent positioned at the bottom of the stairs when he disembarks.” Never fear, though. According to The Los Angeles Times, “Biden’s age is his superpower.”

• DHS doesn’t bother tracking migrants: Joe Biden’s recently impeached Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas admitted that upwards of 85% of migrants who are caught illegally entering the country are subsequently released into the U.S. interior. They supposedly are to await a court date regarding a judgment on the legitimacy of their asylum request. But where do they go after being released? Well, the Biden administration doesn’t know, even though the majority are given free flights and bus tickets. Recently unearthed emails between DHS officials and a Washington Post reporter expose the fact that the Biden administration has no migrant tracking system. In an email dated September 2022, the reporter asked, “Are more people deciding to settle in DC/New York or, more recently, Chicago as a result of the program where they might have previously been inclined to remain in Texas or Arizona?” The DHS official responded, “Off the record, that’s hard for us to say because they’re getting on those buses after they’re already out of our custody.” In other words, the Biden administration is engaged in the de facto legalization of illegals. Indeed, ICE is planning to mass-release thousands more, effectively saying, “Adios!”

• Intersectionality fight: Apparently, according to the Left’s woke worldview, the only religious objections allowed against the promulgation of the cult of the Rainbow is anything but Christianity. A case in point comes from the St. Louis Park school district in Minnesota, where students from Muslim families have been given the freedom to opt out of LGBTQ-affirming curriculum. After Muslim Somali families objected to the pro-LGBTQ curriculum and initiated a petition and lawsuit against it, the school district acquiesced and exempted Muslim students. The opposition to indoctrinating students in the cult of the Rainbow in public school came as a surprise to one LGBTQ school board member, who lamented the Muslims’ lack of woke “solidarity.” “I respect your religious beliefs, and also, as a queer person in a marginalized community, I would hope and expect solidarity,” stated Sarah Davis. “Muslim communities have been historically marginalized, and so have queer communities.” Well, as one Muslim parent observed, “We believe that we have a sacred obligation to teach the principles of our faith to our children without being undermined by the schools.” True, and that was what most of the people in this country used to not only believe in but take for granted as a fundamental right as American citizens.

• Biden admin wants to spread HIV? Joe Biden’s Justice Department has joined the ACLU in a lawsuit against the state of Tennessee over its law that makes it a crime for an individual who knows he is HIV-positive to engage in sex with another person without first disclosing his condition. Citing the Americans With Disabilities Act, the DOJ and ACLU are effectively fighting for the right of people to knowingly spread HIV to unwitting partners. The rationale, according to the DOJ, is that the Tennessee law “discriminates” against people with HIV. The hypocrisy on this is amazing given the fact that the Biden administration sought to mandate the novel COVID vaccine by asserting that anyone who refused the jab was effectively guilty of killing grandma by knowingly spreading the virus. But when it comes to a law that criminalizes knowingly engaging in sexual activity that could spread a deadly disease without alerting others to the danger, it’s seen as “discrimination.” Talk about misplaced priorities.

• Good news: Prayer app sees huge spike after Super Bowl ad: “I know this might seem out of the blue,” begins Mark Wahlberg, “but I’ve got Jesus here and we were wondering if you might want to pray with us.” So begins a TV ad for the Hallow app, which featured Wahlberg and Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in the TV series “The Chosen.” The commercial ends with Wahlberg and Roumie encouraging viewers to join Hallow in prayer this Lenten season. Hallow aired its first-ever commercial during Super Bowl LVIII a week ago. That was an expensive ad buy, as you can imagine — $7 million or so for a 30-second spot. Apparently, it was money well spent, though, because right after the airing of the ad, Hallow saw the biggest spike in downloads in its history, according to CEO Alex Jones (no, not that one). “It was the most downloads in a single minute we’d ever seen,” Jones told the Catholic News Agency. “We’re already ranking ahead of Netflix on the App Store charts and Lent hasn’t even started yet. Glory to God.”

• Leftist media “watchdogs” are killing military recruitment: Readers of these pages know well the unreadiness of our nation’s military, which is due in large part to the unwillingness of America’s young people to serve in Joe Biden’s woke military. This recruiting shortfall is a matter of national security, and Indiana Congressman Jim Banks has isolated one of its causes: leftist media monitors, which downgrade conservative news sites and thereby suppress recruiting advertisements intended for young, conservative Americans. He’s sent a letter to the CEOs of the nation’s leading ad agencies in response. “NewsGuard, as we already know, is a left-wing think tank,” said Banks, a Navy reservist who chairs the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Military Personnel, “and we know that they censor conservative outlets.” Don’t get us started on NewsGuard, whose agenda-driven ratings do damage to our humble publication as well. Banks continued, “This is the 50th anniversary of an all-volunteer force in our military, and it’s the worst recruitment year on record.” Banks is right to be alarmed, adding that the Pentagon missed its recruiting goals by 41,000 recruits in 2023 alone. That means we’re a couple of divisions short, folks.

Headlines

• Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s widow claims he was killed by nerve agent Novichok (New York Post)

• Truckers vow to cut off deliveries to NYC in protest of Trump’s $355 million civil fraud ruling (National Review)

• Biden thinks no one made mistakes in disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal (Washington Free Beacon) | Al Qaeda rapidly growing in Afghanistan after disastrous Biden withdrawal (Daily Wire)

• Joe Manchin ruling out run for White House in 2024 (Roll Call)

• House lawmakers unveil $66 billion foreign aid, border supplemental (Roll Call)

• Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, meant to counter China, prompted explosion in Chinese battery imports (Washington Free Beacon)

• Biden admin backing away from aggressive push for electric vehicles as consumer demand remains low (Daily Wire)

• Glenn Beck sounds alarm on new censorship effort targeting “new climate denial” (Daily Wire)

• Slave descendants want $74,000,000,000 from Saint Louis University (College Fix)

• Moscow warns it will fire nuclear missiles on London, Washington, Berlin, and Kyiv if Russia is forced to give up territory (Daily Mail)

• Israel issues ultimatum to Hamas: Release hostages, or suffer the consequences (RedState)

• Humor: Kamala Harris moves to second place in “Worst Diversity Hire of All Time” (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.