Top of the Fold

• DHS records 220,000 “gotaways” since October: The Department of Homeland Security Wednesday noted that at least 220,000 illegal aliens have evaded U.S. Border Patrol since last October. Dubbed “gotaways,” the DHS calculates this number from border surveillance systems that spotted individuals illegally crossing but whom Border Patrol was unable to apprehend due to lack of manpower. The number of spotted gotaways is likely only a fraction of the actual number of illegals crossing into the U.S. Meanwhile, the number of illegal aliens apprehend by Border Control continues to grow — last month’s total of 153,941 is nearly double that of January 2021.

• Clarifying the stats — gun deaths overtake car deaths: A recently published study from researchers at the Westchester Medical Center found that firearms-related deaths overtook car-related deaths over the period of 2009 to 2018. Gun-related deaths rose yearly by an average of 0.72%, whereas car-related deaths decreased by an average of 0.07% annually. In 2017, firearms-related deaths overtook traffic-related fatalities and the trend continued through 2018. More numbers: 85.4% of the almost 40,000 firearms-related deaths in 2018 were males, half of which were due to suicide. Firearms deaths due to homicide were highest among black males. While many Democrat lawmakers and the mainstream media disingenuously tie the rise in gun deaths to the availability of firearms, the real problem has much more to do with increasing rates of criminal behavior and mental illness, not the tool used. Comparing accidental deaths via cars with purposefully inflicted deaths by guns is disingenuous.

• Trudeau cries “uncle”: Nine days after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took the unprecedented step of invoking the nation’s Emergencies Act in order to crack down on the peaceful Freedom Convoy protest, he announced he was lifting it. “Today, after careful consideration, we’re ready to confirm that the situation is no longer an emergency. Therefore, the federal government will be ending the use of the Emergencies Act,” Trudeau declared yesterday. This about-face comes on the heels Canada’s House of Commons voting to approve a 30-day extension to Trudeau’s authoritarian power grab. The likely reason Trudeau had a sudden change of heart was due to the growing backlash he was receiving from other Western governments decrying his authoritarian crackdown on peaceful protesters — especially in light of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Furthermore, an increasing number of European nations are and have been dropping their COVID-related mandates, which was the impetuous for the Freedom Convoy’s protest.

• Leading Manhattan prosecutors resign from Trump Organization probe: Two Manhattan prosecutors who were leading the district attorney’s office’s investigation into the Trump Organization resigned on Wednesday. The resignations of Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne raise questions as to whether the investigation into Donald Trump’s organization that was launched in 2018 by previous District Attorney Cyrus Vance will continue. Last summer, Vance charged the Trump Organization with tax fraud. Dunne, who had worked with Vance for decades and served as his general counsel, likely elected to quit because of frustration over Manhattan’s new DA Alvin Bragg reportedly having cast doubts about moving forward on the case. The attorney representing Trump and his company, Ron Fischetti, responded that he was “happy,” concluding there is “no investigation” without Dunne and Pomerantz. A separate investigation into the Trump Organization by New York Attorney General Letitia James is still ongoing, with a Manhattan judge last week ordering Trump and two of his children, Ivanka and Donald Jr., to testify.

Headlines

• Democrats seize on GOP Senator Rick Scott’s plan to tax more Americans (CBS News)

• Just how fractured are the Dems? Rashida Tlaib to deliver far-left response to Biden’s State of the Union (Washington Times)

• Q4 GDP revised up to 7% (CNBC) | However, Dow closes at lowest level of ‘22, and S&P 500 drops further into correction territory (CNBC)

• COVID vaccine protection was much weaker against Omicron (Washington Post)

• “He’ll be getting a letter, too”: Kyle Rittenhouse announces plan to sue LeBron James (Daily Caller)

• Democrats tune out national news during Biden era (Axios)

• Policy: Putin’s moves threaten America — not just Ukraine (New York Post)

• Satire: Biden playing Risk nonstop in Oval Office to prepare for Ukraine conflict (Genesius Times)