Cross-Examination

• Anniversary of Russian invasion of Ukraine: Today marks the one-year anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s escalation of his hostilities with Ukraine, as he launched a massive invasion into the whole of the country. While many assumed the mighty Russian military would quickly overwhelm Ukraine, the last 12 months have told a decidedly different story. A quick look at the numbers thus far demonstrates how this has bogged down into a war of attrition. Russian soldier casualties now number near 200,000 to roughly 100,000 for Ukraine. NATO countries led by the United States have funneled billions of dollars in military aid, and today the Pentagon announced an additional $2 billion aid package on top of the $113 billion appropriated by Congress. With the carnage and bloodshed brought by this war, one can’t help but point to Barack Obama’s failure back in 2014 to hold Putin to account for his actions against Ukraine in annexing Crimea and occupying other eastern regions of the country such as the Donbas. Now, it has become increasingly apparent that NATO is supporting a proxy war against Russia, with no clear end in sight. Meanwhile, China is seeking to play the role of peacemaker in a move aimed at usurping American global leadership. What will the next 12 months of Putin’s war in Ukraine hold?

• MO AG fires Soros prosecutor: On Thursday, Missouri’s Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey fired George Soros-backed St. Louis circuit attorney Kim Gardner after having earlier called for her resignation due to a blatant neglect of duty. The leftist Gardner has accumulated a history of refusing to prosecute criminals of color due to her commitment to a “restorative justice” agenda, which is a critical race theory-based ideology that blames “systemic racism” for a minority’s crime rather than holding the perpetrator to account. The proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back came this past week, after a 16-year-old girl visiting St. Louis for a volleyball tournament was struck and severely injured by a 21-year-old with a long rap sheet who had repeatedly violated his bond conditions yet was allowed to walk free. In calling for Gardner’s resignation, Bailey observed, “Rather than finding justice for victims and protecting victims, the circuit attorney of the city of St. Louis was creating new victims.” Bailey initiated dismissal proceedings against Gardner on grounds of “neglect in office,” noting: “Under the Missouri Constitution and state statute, she has the moral and legal obligation to keep victims of crime the city of St. Louis notified about where their cases are, where they’re going and what the dispositions will be. She’s failed to do that.” There can be no justice if those elected and appointed to uphold the law refuse to do so. Thankfully, Missouri is acting to hold a lawless circuit attorney to account.

• SBF faces the music: A new indictment was filed on Wednesday against Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the collapsed FTX cryptocurrency exchange, alleging that he and his coconspirators made over 300 illegal political donations. The sum of those donations that went almost exclusively to Democrats and Democrat causes numbered in the tens of millions. The money was illegally funneled to Democrats via a “straw donor” that allowed Bankman-Fried to subvert campaign-finance laws designed to limit the amount of money any one individual can give to candidates. During last year’s midterm campaign, Bankman-Fried gave some $40 million to mostly Democrat candidates, $6 million to the Democrats’ House Majority PAC, $1 million to the Democrats’ Senate Majority Pac, and $900,000 to the Democratic National Committee. This latest indictment will be added to the previously filed indictments for charges of fraud, money laundering, and others related to the collapse of FTX. It states that Bankman-Fried “exploiti[ed] the trust that FTX customers placed in him and his exchange, stole FTX customer deposits, and used billions of dollars in stolen funds for a variety of purposes.” Bankman-Fried’s FTX, which he founded in 2019, reached an astounding net value of $26 billion before its sudden collapse last fall.

Headlines

• Buttigieg finally makes it to East Palestine, but it does not go well (RedState) | NTSB: Operators warned of overheated axle moments before wreck (Fox News)

• Six countries join Russia in opposing UN’s resolution for peace in Ukraine (Fox News)

• China releases 12-point peace plan for Russia-Ukraine war (Fox News)

• Biden admin looks to repeal Trump-era religious protection for students (Free Beacon)

• The U.S. economy grew at a slower pace than previously thought in the fourth quarter (Breitbart)

• Tennessee bill to ban sex-change procedures on minors advances to governor's desk (Daily Wire)

• Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 16 more years for sex crimes (Daily Wire)

• Vanity Fair published fashion feature on Sam Brinton, showcased allegedly stolen dress (Daily Wire)

• Former Black Panther Angela Davis shocked to learn she is a descendant of the Mayflower (Fox News)

• Policy: Sweden’s successful social security reforms (National Review)

• Satire: Family that can’t afford groceries comforted by fact we have most diverse administration in history (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.