The Patriot Post® · Wednesday: Below the Fold

Cross-Examination

• Biden docs: Watchdog files ethics complaint: Protect the Public’s Trust, a government watchdog organization, sent a letter to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics on Tuesday calling for an investigation into the growing Joe Biden classified document scandal. The primary issue highlighted by the letter was concern over whether Biden has been misusing taxpayer-funded White House lawyers for his own personal gain. It notes that White House Special Counsel to the President Richard Sauber has been involved in the classified document scandal, as he was sent to Biden’s Delaware home to secure the documents in question. Protect the Public’s Trust also raises conflict of interest and transparency concerns over Sauber’s involvement. Is Sauber acting on Biden’s behalf as the nation’s highest public official, or is he working on his behalf as a private citizen? According to Sauber, he was simply brought in to “facilitate” the transfer of “top secret” documents discovered by Biden’s personal attorneys at his Delaware home since he has a security clearance and they do not.

• NYC mayor visits border, fails to call out Biden: New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been raising complaints over the number of illegal aliens that have been flowing into his self-appointed “sanctuary city.” Adams repeatedly laments that the Big Apple has “no more room” for an “unfair” influx of illegals, while at the same time stating that the city will uphold its “sanctuary” commitment because “that is our obligation and that is what’s morally right.” Ostensibly seeking a solution to this growing illegal immigration problem, Adams traveled to Texas to see the southern border for himself. Standing in El Paso, Texas — which Joe Biden himself visited a week earlier — Adams called the situation a “national crisis.” However, rather than placing the blame for this crisis at the feet of Biden over his de facto open-border policies, Adams called for a more coordinated effort from FEMA to deal “with migrants and asylum seekers in our country.” He also called for creation of a “national czar” to oversee this effort. Paging Kamala Harris. How about telling Biden to do his job and enforce U.S. border and immigration laws that are already on the books? In one sense, Adams was calling on the U.S. government to do something, but he was still unwilling to demand what needs to be done — close the border to any and all illegal crossings.

• DOJ defends mask mandate on planes: The Biden administration presented arguments before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday to maintain a federal air travel masking mandate that was struck down by a federal judge in Florida last spring. The Justice Department’s argument is that Congress has granted the CDC the authority to protect public health, and therefore it has the power to authorize the masking mandate. Complicating the DOJ’s argument is the fact that last summer Joe Biden declared the pandemic over, and in doing so he even noted that “no one’s wearing a mask.” Fighting against the air travel mask mandate is the Health Freedom Defense Fund (HDFD), whose founder and president, Leslie Manookian, contends that “the Biden administration is trying to paper over an illegal, sweeping mandate on Americans that is full of massive legal and scientific holes.” HDFD argues that there is no federal statute granting the CDC this kind of authority and that the mandate violates existing law and “suffers from an inconsistent application of sound science.” The travel industry also supports ending Biden’s travel masking mandate. The authority to make laws lies with Congress, not unelected bureaucrats within the executive branch.

Headlines

• DOJ declined to monitor Biden attorneys’ search for classified docs at president’s home (Daily Wire)

• A bunch of high-end prostitutes are in Davos, Switzerland, at the same time all the world leaders are gathering for the WEF meeting (Not the Bee)

• John Kerry praises “select group of people” for “saving the planet” but says they need “money, money, money” (Daily Wire)

• EU to counter U.S. with own green deal (Reuters)

• DC Council overrides mayor’s veto of criminal code changes (NBC Washington)

• Illinois governor blasts sheriffs for refusing to enforce new gun control law (National Review)

• Ex-GOP candidate arrested in shootings at lawmakers’ homes (AP)

• Feds decline to seek death penalty against El Paso Walmart shooter (Daily Wire)

• Team Biden joins school library wars, launching federal investigation (Daily Signal)

• A second Colorado library is closed due to meth contamination (NPR)

• Man ordered to remove “Jesus Saves” shirt at Mall of America; security says it was “offending people” (OutKick)

• LAPD blasted for removing “Thin Blue Line” flag from police station (Daily Wire)

• Flyers’ Ivan Provorov labeled “homophobic” as he faces backlash for boycotting team’s “Pride Night” festivities (Fox News)

• Meta’s Oversight Board calls for more “inclusive” rules on adult nudity (Engadget)

• Former Congressman Adam Kinzinger sells signed copies of Jan 6th report for $100 (PM)

• CNN is closing its iconic CNN center in Atlanta (PJ Media)

• Humor: Citing racist history, Harvard bans using the word “Harvard” (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.