Cross-Examination

• Oil drilling lease reinstated: By signing the Inflation Reduction Act, Joe Biden reinstated Lease Sale 257, a massive 80.8 million-acre offshore area in the Gulf of Mexico that is the largest oil and gas lease in U.S. history. The lease had been derailed following a court order after lawsuits were raised by ecofascist groups claiming that evaluation of the climate impact wasn’t properly analyzed. The Biden administration conveniently chose not to fight back, but the lease will now be allowed to go forward. “The legislation is clear and mandatory,” observed National Ocean Industries Association President Erik Milito. “Congress has acted, the lease must be issued and the lawsuit must be dismissed.” Meanwhile, the reason behind Senator Joe Manchin’s about-face on the Inflation Reduction Act boondoggle appears to be an agreement that Democrats would agree to his demand for legislation reforming the permitting process for leasing federal lands. Ecofascist groups have time and time again successfully delayed and prevented fossil fuel companies from extracting on federal lands by abusing the National Environmental Policy Act. The question, however, is whether Manchin has any leverage anymore.

• Judge orders partial release of Trump raid affidavit: Judge Bruce Reinhart on Thursday ordered a partial release of the Justice Department’s affidavit behind the FBI’s unprecedented raid on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. In his ruling, Reinhart stated, “I find that on the present record the Government has not met its burden of showing that the entire affidavit should remain sealed.” He then ordered, “The Government shall file under seal its proposed redactions along with a legal memorandum setting forth the justification for the proposed redactions” by next week. Just what potential crime is the DOJ investigating Trump for? That will likely go unanswered even after the partial affidavit is released. This is due to the DOJ claiming that its investigation is still “open” and “in its early stages” and therefore most of the pertinent sensitive information will be redacted. Meanwhile, media outlets are arguing for full disclosure of the affidavit, contending that “the public interest could not be greater,” as raiding the home of a former president represents “one of the most significant events in the nation’s history.” The documents the FBI allegedly seized included several top secret, secret, and confidential documents. Trump claims that as president he had the authority to declassify documents and had given a “standing order” to do so. A statement from his team says the “documents removed from the Oval Office and taken to the residence were deemed to be declassified the moment he removed them.”

• Twenty people to be charged with voter fraud in Florida: Highlighting his commitment to upholding election integrity, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Thursday that the state is charging 20 individuals, most of whom were in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties, with voter fraud. “These folks voted illegally. … They are disqualified from voting because they have been convicted of either murder or sexual assault,” DeSantis explained. “That is against the law and now they’re gonna pay the price for it.” Voter fraud is classified as a third-degree felony in Florida and holds a penalty of up to five years in prison. Earlier this year, DeSantis signed legislation that created an election fraud investigation unit, elevated ballot harvesting to a felony-level crime, and raised fines to $50,000 against political groups found guilty of violating election laws. Election integrity matters, and it’s good to see that DeSantis is taking it seriously.

• On this date last year — Biden’s surrender and retreat from Afghanistan: We are reposting, in chronological order, analysis of events a year ago related to the most disgraceful military exfil in American history — Biden’s deadly surrender and retreat from Afghanistan. This day last year, Mark Alexander covered “Comments on Biden’s Afghan Retreat Failure.” Get this straight: It wasn’t the plan, it was the man. And on August 20, Mark Alexander covered “Biden’s Afghan Cluster: Implications for NATO.” There is no “American might” under Biden.

Headlines

• Brian Stelter out at CNN after network cancels his show (Daily Wire)

• Biden heads back to Delaware beach house, where he’s building $500K taxpayer-funded security fence (Fox News)

• Texas troops lock private fence stopping illegals from entering U.S.; Biden’s feds open it (Daily Wire)

• Rainbow-colored fentanyl pills pouring over southern border hit American cities (Daily Wire)

• No one left behind? 800 Americans evacuated from Afghanistan since Taliban takeover (Politico)

• Judge blocks DeSantis’s “Stop WOKE Act,” says Florida feels like a “First Amendment upside down” (The Hill)

• “No regard for American families”: Consumer group issues alert over BlackRock’s woke crusade (Fox Business) | BlackRock faces scrutiny from 19 state AGs over ESG investments (NY Post)

• Red states giving the boot to woke firms seeking government business (Washington Times)

• Oregon governor race moves to “toss-up,” pointing to possible historic GOP win (Daily Wire)

• “Transgender” student Grant Sikes rejected from every University of Alabama sorority (NY Post)

• Salman Rushdie attacker indicted by grand jury (Washington Examiner)

• Ukraine warns Russia may cut Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant from power grid (Fox News)

• Policy: What to do about the IRS (Washington Times)

• Satire: Hillary Clinton spotted desperately trying to refill Lake Mead before more bodies surface (Babylon Bee)

• Humor: Overweight man reassures doctor that his 8.5% weight inflation is no longer a problem as his weight inflation this month is 0 (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.