Above the Fold

SCHIFF’S COLLUSION: According to The New York Times, “The Democratic head of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, learned about the outlines of a C.I.A. officer’s concerns that President Trump had abused his power days before the officer filed a whistle-blower complaint.” The Times reluctantly adds, “The whistle-blower’s decision to offer what amounted to an early warning to the intelligence committee’s Democrats is … sure to thrust Mr. Schiff even more forcefully into the center of the controversy as a target of Mr. Trump’s.”

Schiff spokesman Patrick Boland countered, “At no point did the committee review or receive the complaint in advance.” The whistleblower’s attorney, Mark Zaid, echoed Boland, declaring, “I can unequivocally state that neither any member of the legal team nor the whistleblower has ever met or spoken with Congressman Schiff about this matter.” As we explain here, of course they didn’t meet directly with Schiff or his committee. They used “cutouts” (as they are known in the intelligence community) to convey information between the whistleblower and Schiff in order to provide him “plausible deniability.” But as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy reminds us, “Every time [Democrats] have attempted a coup, there’s been one common denominator: the lies and deceit of Adam Schiff.”

PROSECUTOR CORROBORATES ACCUSATION: “Former Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin — who was fired after then-Vice President Joe Biden pressured the president of Ukraine to fire him as he investigated a company, Burisma, that employed Biden’s son, Hunter — says that he was told to back off the investigation into the company before he was fired.” (The Daily Caller)

Government & National Security

BORDER DNA TESTING: “The Trump administration is moving forward with its plan to dramatically expand DNA testing of illegal migrants at the southern border, a move intended to help control the immigration crisis. Border Patrol agents will soon have the ability to collect DNA samples of migrants apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announcement Wednesday. DHS had already implemented a pilot program that tested family relations; however, the new, broad program will be able to identify migrants.” (The Daily Caller)

DEMS TARGET NRA’S TAX STATUS: “Top Senate Democrats on Wednesday called on the IRS to determine whether the National Rifle Association should be stripped of its tax-exempt status. An investigation by Senate Finance Committee Democrats found that the NRA had violated its non-profit status by using the organization’s money to develop relationships during the 2016 election with two Russian nationals, the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Russia, Aleksander Torshin, and unregistered foreign agent Maria Butina.” (National Review)

Culture & Heartland

NARRATIVE BUSTER: “America saw a significant decrease in the number of homicides involving rifles, a report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation released on Monday shows. All methods of murder dropped by 7 percent in 2018, and gun murders fell by 6.7 percent, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report. But murders committed specifically with rifles fell by an even greater 23.8 percent.” (The Washington Free Beacon)

GROTESQUE GRANDSTANDING: “A charity event in honor of a police officer killed while responding to a mass shooting in Thousand Oaks, California last year has been canceled after the local police chief and a Democratic politician objected to the participation of prominent Republicans.” (National Review)

BIGGER WORRIES THAN “BLACKFACE”: “A new political action committee launched by liberal billionaire George Soros has given $350,000 to Planned Parenthood Virginia, its largest outside contribution ever, ahead of the state’s November elections, records show.” (The Washington Free Beacon)

SANITY PREVAILS: “Stung by a public outcry, Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. announced Wednesday that he had canceled the suspension and restored to duty an officer who had turned an illegal immigrant over to ICE.” (The Washington Times)

Closing Arguments

POLICY: Three things to know about Paul Ray, Trump’s pick for top deregulator (The Daily Signal)

POLICY: How rent control threatens the American Dream (Foundation for Economic Education)

HUMOR: Russia to launch investigation to determine if any Democrats have ties to the U.S. (Genesius Times)

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

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