Top of the Fold

• Durham prosecution of Sussmann begins: Former Hillary Clinton lawyer Michael Sussmann’s trail begins today. Special Counsel John Durham has charged Sussmann with lying to the FBI when, back in September 2016, he told then-FBI general counsel James Baker that he was not representing any client when he offered bogus information alleging a back channel between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia. The case Durham has put together goes well beyond Sussmann, showing that the Clinton campaign concocted a disinformation plot in order to promote a hoax of its own creation — that Trump was conspiring with Russia to win the election. Sussmann’s “tip” to the FBI was an effort to get the agency to open an investigation into the Trump campaign to give the collusion claim an appearance of legitimacy, which the Clinton campaign and the media could then tout as “evidence” against Trump. At least 10 FBI officials will likely take the stand during the trial, as the FBI’s reputation is also at stake. The question is whether this is the last of the Clinton conspirators Durham will go after or just the first. This is especially pertinent given that what Durham has uncovered makes it the biggest political scandal in modern American history.

• Middle schoolers charged with sexual harassment for “misgendering” a classmate: A Title IX sexual harassment claim and subsequent investigation have been raised against three eighth-grade boys in Kiel, Wisconsin. For what “crime”? Well, in the parlance of the woke moralists, they are guilt of “misgendering” for their refusal to adhere to the demand that they use the pronouns “they/them” for a female classmate who claims a “transgender” identity. Never mind that these boys are adhering to scientific reality and the long-established rules of the English language; their failure to embrace the Left’s gender-bending ideology is now grounds for claims of “sexual harassment.” One boy’s mother explained the “shock” of the principal’s warning. “I’m thinking, sexual harassment?” she said. “That’s rape, that’s inappropriate touching, that’s incest. What has my son done?” When she learned that the charge was failing to use a classmate’s “preferred” pronoun, she thought it had to be a joke. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. Compelled speech is not free speech. This is yet another instance of the First Amendment being violated.

• House gets “free” Peloton memberships: The U.S. House is planning to give representatives and their staff “free” Peloton memberships. Of course, that means taxpayers will be footing the bill. It’s somewhat small potatoes, but it’s yet another example demonstrating just how disconnected Washington is from the rest of America. Peloton’s contract with the House consists of an upfront $10,000 payment plus $10 a month per staffer. If 12,000 staffers sign up, that’s $120,000 a month, and all on the taxpayer dime. Meanwhile, for regular Joe American, a Peloton All-Access Membership costs $39 per month. As the nation is in the midst of record-high inflation, a baby formula shortage crisis, and an economy teetering on the brink of recession, those privileged elites in Washington not only see no impact to their paychecks, they get free stuff to boot. Underscoring this reality, recall how former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki last October dismissed the supply chain crisis as “the tragedy of the treadmill that’s delayed.” In Washington, there’s evidently no such concern of delayed treadmills — or Pelotons. And they wonder why so many Americans have such a negative view of Washington.

Headlines

• Biden finally gets his “white supremacist”: Ten killed in shooting in Buffalo that police say was racially motivated (National Review)

• “When President Biden took office … there was no vaccine available”: White House tells blatant lie about vaccines (Free Beacon)

• Clarence Thomas compares Supreme Court abortion leak to infidelity (Washington Examiner)

• FDA has reportedly not proven any babies died from baby formula (Daily Caller)

• Major baby formula producer predicts shortage will last through 2022 (National Review)

• Crocodile tears: Five hundred richest people have collectively lost $1 trillion this year (Insider)

• Child sex abuse center hires professor who faced backlash over pedophile comments (NY Post)

• The “experts” at PolitiFact are here to explain why talking to kids about sex isn’t really grooming (Not the Bee)

• CNN accidentally sends welcome packages to laid-off employees (Daily Caller)

• Previously neutral Finland announces it wants to join NATO (Fox News)

• Policy: Operation Climate-Change Choke Point (AIER)

• Humor: White House press corps beginning to suspect Psaki isn’t ever going to circle back to their questions (Babylon Bee)

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