Top of the Fold

• Cuomo off scot-free again: A day after escaping accountability for COVID deaths in nursing homes, disgraced ex-governor of New York Andrew Cuomo will not be facing sexual harassment charges following Albany County prosecutors’ decision to drop the case. District Attorney P. David Soares, a Democrat, explained, “After review of all the available evidence we have concluded that we cannot meet our burden at trial.” Allegations of inappropriate forcible touching were raised against Cuomo in 2020 by his former assistant, Brittany Commisso, one of several woman who have raised similar claims.

• Trump nixes J6 speech: Donald Trump has decided to forgo his plan to hold a press conference from Mar-a-Lago on the one-year anniversary of the Capitol riot. Trump pointed to “the total bias and dishonesty of the January 6th Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans, and the Fake News Media” for his decision. He added, “Instead [I] will discuss many of those important topics at my rally on Saturday, January 15th, in Arizona — It will be a big crowd!” This is a smart move by Trump to refrain from providing any more fuel for the Democrats’ J6 “democracy threatened” charade.

• Biden hiding open-border numbers? For the first time in over 10 years, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has failed to release its yearend report, breaking from what has been standard practice since 2011. The report includes the total number of border apprehensions and deportations. So much for transparency. “It’s absolutely shocking that the release of the ICE report hasn’t happened,” contended former ICE Chief of Staff Jon Feere. “I assumed, at worst, they’d put it out on New Year’s Eve when nobody is paying attention, but even that didn’t happen.” Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) observed: “During record-breaking levels of illegal immigration, DHS and ICE have taken steps to dismantle interior enforcement operations that keep our communities safe from criminal aliens. I’ve been calling for transparency into these radical policy changes for months. If ICE is intentionally hiding their annual report from the public, then it’s safe to assume it doesn’t show any improvement; it shows failure.”

• Blame Youngkin for I-95 mess? Following a snowstorm-caused Interstate 95 shutdown in Virginia that stranded a plethora of motorists for over 24 hours in freezing temperatures, some media figures were quick to shovel blame onto Republican Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin … who doesn’t take office until January 15. Leftist Eric Boehlert, formerly of Media Matters, groused, “The Youngkin era begins in VA.” Anti-Trumper Jonah Goldberg blasted, “If I was Glenn Youngkin I’d be flooding the zone to get this I-95 crap fixed. DC suburbs are vengeful about this kind of thing.” He later conceded his error, saying he “thought [Youngkin] was sworn in already.” Meanwhile, outgoing Democrat Governor Ralph Northam blamed his slow response on (no joke) the January 6 riot, claiming it hampered his ability to rapidly deploy the VA National Guard. Hmph.

MORE FROM YOUR PATRIOT POST TEAM

• Nate Jackson: The Folly of School Closures — Around the nation, kids are being sent back home for virtual “learning.”

• Douglas Andrews: Dems Hell-Bent on Distracting You From Biden — They want you to believe that nothing is more important than the unarmed non-insurrection of January 6.

• Emmy Griffin: Senator Cruz Details Grounds for Biden Impeachment — If the GOP takes back Congress in 2022, this is a serious, and warranted, possibility.

• Michael Swartz: Weaponizing Government for Climate Change — Joe Biden has spent his first year in office using every federal agency for this agenda.

• Jack DeVine: Democracy Under Attack? — It can’t be stolen in an afternoon by an angry mob; we lose it by letting it slip through our fingers, piece by piece.

• Douglas Andrews: Burying Biden’s Big Lie About Vaccination — He’s told a lot of them, but this particularly nasty one about a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” has now been thoroughly debunked.

• Thomas Gallatin: COVID Creates Office-Space Conundrum — Has the coronavirus pandemic permanently changed America’s commuter business model?

• Roger Helle: None Dare Call It Treason — Wherever there was money to be made, Hunter Biden was there making sure the Biden family was well taken care of.

• In Brief: NYC Crushes MLK’s Dream — When it comes to COVID testing and treatment, white people need not apply.

Government & Politics

• Georgia opens investigation into possible illegal ballot harvesting in 2020 election; secretary of state says subpoenas could be forthcoming (Just the News)

• Joe Manchin signals he won’t support filibuster reform for Democrat election takeover bills (Daily Wire)

• 25 House Democrats won’t seek reelection in 2022 (Washington Examiner)

• Adding insult to injury: Leaked Biden plan would house violent men in women’s prison cells (The Federalist)

Health

• It’s official: More Americans dead from COVID under Biden than Trump (Free Beacon)

• Guess what? It’s the flu! COVID variant with 46 mutations detected in France (Fox News)

• French President Emmanuel Macron declares his strategy is to “piss off” the unvaccinated (The Guardian)

Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!

“Social Justice”

• George Floyd’s four-year-old niece shot while sleeping in Houston home (New York Post)

• What could possibly go wrong? Manhattan DA to stop seeking prison sentences in slew of criminal cases (New York Post)

Odds & Ends

• “The first line of defense is yourself”: Record number of blacks buy firearms, boost overall gun sales during COVID pandemic (Washington Times)

• Facebook reinstates conservative children’s book publisher’s account after “error” raising Cain (National Review)

• GM loses spot as No. 1 U.S. automaker for first time since 1931 (National Review)

• China’s nuclear arsenal is more than it appears (National Interest)

Closing Arguments

• Policy: Why fiscal conservatives should care about abortion (National Review)

• Humor: FBI to host first annual January 6 reunion (Babylon Bee)

For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit Headline Report.

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