Cross-Examination

• Trump is clearly worried about DeSantis: A Trump-supporting super PAC has filed a complaint against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis alleging that he is in violation of campaign finance laws by running a shadow campaign for the 2024 presidential race. The complaint accuses DeSantis of “leveraging his elected office and breaching his associated duties in a coordinated effort to develop his national profile, enrich himself and his political allies, and influence the national electorate.” It further asserts that DeSantis is “already a de facto candidate for President of the United States.” The timing of this complaint is telling, as it comes on the heels of Donald Trump recently upping his verbal attacks against DeSantis. Ironically, Trump himself was accused of the very same offense prior to the official launching of his 2024 campaign. It’s political gamesmanship and a lame effort to damage a potential political rival. Effectively, what it does do is demonstrate the increasing level of concern Trump has for his most likely top challenger for the Republican nomination.

• Dems’ SVB hypocrisy: Several leading politicians, including Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer, are among the many primarily Democrats who were lobbied by and received funding from the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank. While they may not be directly at fault for SVB’s collapse, Biden’s decision to bail out the bank deserves greater scrutiny. However, one of the more egregious examples of politicians acting to insulate themselves comes courtesy of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who lobbied for the bank bailout and praised Biden for acting “swiftly and decisively to protect the American economy and strengthen public confidence in our banking system.” Newsom conveniently left out any mention of his personal ties to SVB and that three of his wineries are SVB clients. It’s this kind of cronyism that gives free-market capitalism a bad name.

• Adversaries team up for “military exercises”: Russia, China, and Iran have teamed up to conduct military drills in the Gulf of Oman. According to China’s Defense Ministry, “[The] Security Bond-2023 … exercise will help deepen practical cooperation between the participating countries’ navies … and inject positive energy into regional peace and stability.” This represents the third time since 2019 that these three nations have engaged in coordinated military drills. So, what are they preparing for? Whatever it is, it certainly doesn’t bring “positive energy” to U.S. national security interests.

• Erasing women at an all-women’s college: Hillary Clinton’s alma mater Wellesley College in Massachusetts, one of seven historic women’s colleges dubbed the Seven Sisters, has effectively voted to make it the “Six Sisters.” On Tuesday, students at Wellesley voted to allowed “transgender” males to be admitted to the school. While the student referendum is nonbinding, it appears that it’s only a matter of time before the school adopts it as policy. Indeed, the school has already effectively paved the way for this introduction of men into the college after it redefined its gender policy back in 2015 to deem as “female” anyone who has consistently identified as such. Next thing you know, a woman will celebrate women’s history by kneeling before a man in a dress. Oh, wait — that’s not satire.

• James O'Keefe is back: After a rather sudden and ugly split from Project Veritas, the undercover journalism company he founded, James O'Keefe promised that it would not be the end of his journalistic endeavors. And true to form, O'Keefe on Wednesday tweeted a video announcing his newly created endeavor. Under the moniker “O'Keefe Media Group,” the post states: “We are here to empower citizens through journalism. Subscribe & join us today!” According to the new website, the O'Keefe Media Group is fundraising to build a similar but bigger operation to that of Project Veritas. There are few other specifics, but O'Keefe seems far from done with plying his unique and effective style of guerrilla journalism.

Headlines

• Pentagon video shows Russian jet dump fuel on U.S. drone (USA Today)

• Took him long enough: Border Patrol chief expresses support for agents falsely accused of whipping Haitian immigrants (Washington Examiner)

• Costs of student loan forgiveness to taxpayers nearly double initial estimate (GOBankingRates)

• Inflation fell to 4.6% in February in producer price index (Washington Examiner)

• Senate advances vote to repeal Bush-era war authorizations that led to Gulf War, invasion of Iraq (Washington Times)

• San Francisco NAACP slams $5 million per person reparation plan (Washington Examiner)

• Supposed equal pay advocate Joe Biden paid women less than men for 35 years (Townhall)

• Cori Bush faces second campaign finance complaint over paying husband for security (Washington Examiner)

• DOJ charges Chinese businessman Guo Wengui, associate of Steve Bannon, in $1 billion fraud (CNBC)

• New York legislature rejects governor’s budget as being not expensive enough (Hot Air)

• There’s a growing “trad-wife” trend that’s making feminists furious (RedState)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.