Above the Fold

DEEP STATE: FBI reportedly handed over classified information to spy Christopher Steele (The Federalist)

“ARBITRARY AND CAPRICIOUS”? Federal court strikes down Trump administration’s commonsense Medicaid work requirements (NBC News)

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Government & Politics

“WE CONSIDER THE MATTER CLOSED”: Former FBI official and political hack Andrew McCabe won’t face charges (NPR)

HUSH MONEY: New details emerge in Rep. Ilhan Omar’s marriage scandal (The Daily Wire)

DEMS’ CREEPY PORN LAWYER AND PRESIDENTIAL PROSPECT GUILTY: Disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti found guilty in Nike extortion trial (CNBC)

SNUBBING BLOOMBERG, THE $400 MILLION AD SPENDER: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio endorses Bernie Sanders for president (AP)

SPEAKING OF SANDERS: Socialist proposes $4.35 trillion tax increase on “wealth” (CNSNews.com)

TIP OF THE ICEBERG: Joe and Hunter Biden’s China connections under even closer scrutiny (Hot Air)

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Coronavirus

AND 1,700 DEATHS: China cases pass 70,000 as WHO mission gets underway (Deutsche Welle)

“THIS IS UNPRECEDENTED”: Xi Jinping shifts blame as Beijing boasts of coronavirus crackdown (Washington Examiner)

DOMESTIC THREAT: Top health official warns of “global pandemic” as 40 Americans test positive on cruise ship (Washington Examiner)

(See Mark Alexander’s analysis, “COVID-19 Perspective and Preparedness.”)

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Other Notables

GOOD NEWS: Virginia lawmakers reject “assault weapon” ban (AP)

INADEQUATE RESOURCES & LEGAL ROADBLOCKS: Feds released 375,000 illegal immigrants who entered with family members in FY2019 (Washington Examiner)

TONE DEAF: Justin Trudeau faces backlash after shaking hands with and bowing to Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, whose country downed plane with 57 Canadians aboard (The Daily Wire)

WHAT COULD POSSIBLE GO WRONG? Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg requests government rules on “what discourse should be allowed” (Washington Examiner)

THE SAGA CONTINUES: Kate Steinle’s killer found incompetent to stand trial on gun charges (Hot Air)

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Closing Arguments

POLICY: Why we should celebrate Washington’s birthday, not Presidents’ Day (The Heritage Foundation)

POLICY: Pakistan will threaten any Afghan peace deal (Washington Examiner)

HUMOR: Struggling Biden campaign now offering one month of free AOL for rally attendance (The Babylon Bee)

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

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