Above the Fold

COLT REORIENTS: According to the Associated Press: “Gun-maker Colt is suspending its production of rifles for the civilian market including the popular AR-15, the company said Thursday in a shift it attributed to changes in consumer demand and a market already saturated with similar weapons. … ‘The fact of the matter is that over the last few years, the market for modern sporting rifles has experienced significant excess manufacturing capacity,’ Colt’s chief executive officer, Dennis Veilleux, said in a written statement. ‘Given this level of manufacturing capacity, we believe there is adequate supply for modern sporting rifles for the foreseeable future.’ Veilleux said the company … remains committed to the Second Amendment.” There’s also the possibility that Colt is taking a more cautious legal approach in light of current and future court rulings rendering pharmaceuticals partially liable for opioid deaths.

WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINT: “A whistleblower complaint about President Trump made by an intelligence official centers on Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter, which has set off a struggle between Congress and the executive branch,” The Washington Post reveals. “The complaint involved communications with a foreign leader and a ‘promise’ that Trump made, which was so alarming that a U.S. intelligence official who had worked at the White House went to the inspector general of the intelligence community, two former U.S. officials said.” This certainly doesn’t look good for Trump. But it also doesn’t quite rise to the level of unscrupulousness that Barack Obama showed in 2012 when he explained to then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, “This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.” Nor is it remotely tantamount to Hillary Clinton’s Fusion GPS scheme.

Government & Politics

TRUMP TAX-RETURN VICTORY: According to CNBC, “A federal judge has sided with the Trump campaign’s request to halt a California law that’s aimed at forcing the president to release his tax returns. … The ruling marks a major victory for Trump, who is fighting multiple Democratic-led efforts to force him to reveal the returns. California is expected to appeal.” Meanwhile, NBC News adds that “Trump filed a lawsuit Thursday against Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, who subpoenaed Trump’s accounting firm for eight years of Trump’s personal and corporate tax returns earlier this month.”

FAKE HATE GROUPS TARGETED: “House Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee said on Thursday that over 60 alleged hate groups, mostly socially conservative organizations, anti-immigration entities, and religious groups should be stripped of their tax-exempt status,” according to the Washington Examiner, which further notes, “The groups were designated as ‘hate groups’ by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a group that itself is controversial and whose founder was fired this year for misconduct.” The SPLC is the biggest hate group of all, and yet Democrats are relying on it to destroy conservative institutions.

PELOSI’S DRUG PLAN: “Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday unveiled her long-awaited plan to lower prescription drug prices, one of the top priorities for Democrats this year. The plan would allow the secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate the price of up to 250 drugs per year, and the lower prices would apply to people both with private insurance and those on Medicare. The plan is far-reaching and significantly left of center, which would likely make it very difficult to get passed through the Republican-controlled Senate, and there are still some concerns from progressives in the House that the plan does not go far enough.” (The Hill)

FACEBOOK’S AMBIGUOUS CONFAB: “President Trump and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg held a meeting at the White House to discuss internet regulation. ‘Mark is in Washington, D.C., meeting with policymakers to hear their concerns and talk about future internet regulation. He also had a good, constructive meeting with President Trump at the White House today,’ Facebook said in a statement Thursday. Zuckerberg and Sen. Josh Hawley also met Thursday to talk about tech regulation. Hawley said the Facebook head refused his demands to sell Instagram and WhatsApp as well as to submit to independent audits on censorship.” (Washington Examiner)

WARREN’S HYPOCRISY: “Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren hired a Planned Parenthood lobbyist to a key role in her presidential campaign Tuesday, just one day after Warren announced a plan that would ‘end lobbying as we know it,’” The Daily Caller reports. If not for double standards, Democrats wouldn’t have any.

Other Notables

CLIMATE-CULT PROPAGANDA: Students plan to skip school Friday to fight climate “emergency” (USA Today)

VILLAGE ACADEMIC CURRICULUM: Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson says the New York Times’s ‘1619 Project’ will be taught in all city high schools (National Review)

NRA-ILA’S NEW CHIEF: National Rifle Association names Jason Ouimet to head NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA)

Closing Arguments

POLICY: How Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” program could ruin the smugglers’ trade (The Federalist)

POLICY: Will the antitrust investigation into Google benefit consumers? (American Action Forum)

HUMOR: Justin Trudeau responds to blackface criticism with new “Triggered?” campaign slogan (The Onion)

For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit In Our Sights.

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