Cross-Examination

• Biden WH was involved in the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago raid: America First Legal, a government watchdog group, recently obtained documents from the National Archives and Records Administration via a Freedom of Information Act request revealing that the Biden administration lied about not having any involvement in last year’s FBI raid on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Immediately following the unprecedented raid on a former president’s home, White House officials claimed to have had no knowledge of or involvement in the raid; in fact, they claimed to have been “stunned” by it. Well, it appears they were anything but “stunned,” since, according to these documents, the FBI was sicced on Trump by the White House through the legally dubious use of a “special access request.” As Reed Rubinstein, director of oversight and investigations for America First Legal, contends, “The evidence suggests that the ostensibly nonpartisan National Archives and Records Administration misled Congress about the Biden White House’s responsibility for the FBI's raid of former President Trump’s home.”

• Back to Biden’s corruption… Joe Biden has repeatedly claimed that he never had any involvement in his son Hunter’s business dealings, yet the more records come to light, the more Biden’s claim is exposed as a lie. Fox News recently obtained records which show that associates of Hunter’s now-defunct investment firm Rosemont Seneca Advisors met with then-Vice President Biden more than 80 times. This includes Joan Mayer, then vice president of Rosemont Seneca, who met with VP Biden at least 17 times. The long list of Hunter’s business associates who met with Joe while he was VP further exposes the scope of the Bidens’ influence-peddling scheme.

• Government threatens profits: According to a recently released study from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the government poses a greater threat to corporate profits than it did a decade ago. A review of publicly traded companies found that concerns over the threat of government action via new regulations and increased taxation have grown as a risk assessment by 27% since 2011. Indeed, over that same period of time, risk assessments regarding nongovernmental threats to corporate profits — things such as lawsuits or rising business costs — have effectively remained flat. So what accounts for this growing concern over the threat of negative government impact? The simple answer is: Democrats. With Washington increasingly being controlled by Democrats, who have increasingly embraced socialist ethics and a vengeful approach to businesses, corporations are right to be concerned.

• Home runs caused by global warming: Researchers at Dartmouth College have some good news for Major League Baseball’s sluggers — and bad news for pitchers. According to a study published in Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, if global warming continues at the current rate, it will boost the total number of home runs hit by 10% by 2100. The researchers claim that more than “500 home runs since 2010 are attributable to historical warming.” That’s because warmer air is less dense air, allowing a baseball to travel with fewer molecules slowing it down and therefore equating to more long balls hit. There may be nothing global warming can’t do, but at least fans can look forward to even more exciting home runs in America’s Pastime well into the future.

• KY governor ordered to pay $270K for COVID church lockdowns: Democrat Governor Andrew Beshear has been ordered by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to pay the legal fees of three individuals who were targeted by the Kentucky governor’s unconstitutional ban on in-person church attendance during early 2020. The Sixth Circuit had previously ruled back in May 2020 that Beshear’s ban violated the individuals’ constitutional rights. On Monday, the Sixth Circuit upheld a lower court’s ruling that Beshear was responsible for paying the legal fees of the plaintiffs, which he had challenged. Of course, it won’t be Beshear personally who’s on the hook for these fees, but Bluegrass State taxpayers, which is why Theodore Roberts, one of the plaintiffs, insightfully observed: “I know a lot of people who are outraged that the TAXPAYER is on the hook for ANDY’S constitutional violation. I share this outrage, but this outrage must be aimed at Beshear. If the people of Kentucky want to quit being taxed to pay for these court judgments, Kentucky MUST elect a governor who will actually follow the constitution.”

• NPR doesn’t like being called “state-affiliated”: Twitter recently affixed a new tag to National Public Radio’s official Twitter account, which had the Leftmedia outlet crying foul. The tag in question labeled NPR as “state-affiliated media” due to the fact that it receives U.S. government funding. NPR took umbrage with the tag, arguing the label implied that the nonprofit media outfit was not independent and was simply a propaganda mouthpiece for the government. If the shoe fits… Twitter responded to NPR’s objection by changing the tag to the more specific designation of “Government Funded Media.” Given NPR’s obvious and longtime leftist bias, we’d argue that an even more accurate tag would be “Democrat Propaganda Media.”

Update: NPR has quit Twitter, at least for now.

Headlines

• Biden unveils strictest-ever emissions standards in bid to remake auto industry (National Review)

• Only 20% of Americans “very likely” to buy electric for their next car even as some states want 100% adoption (Daily Wire)

• White House admits “we don’t know” if more Pentagon leaks are on the way (Fox News)

• Biden admin relents, begins handing over mishandled classified docs to Congress (Washington Times)

• IRS pledges more audits of wealthy, better customer service (AP)

• Senator Tim Scott takes the first step toward a 2024 presidential run (Washington Examiner)

• Chicago to host 2024 Democratic National Convention (National Review)

• Walmart just announced it will close half of its Chicago stores because it loses “tens of millions” every year (Not the Bee)

• ChatGPT falsely accuses Jonathan Turley of sexual harassment, concocts fake WaPo story to support allegation (Fox News)

• Governor Bill Lee calls for “order of protection law” to keep guns away from dangerous individuals (The Tennessean)

• DOJ recommends no jail time for trans vandal of Catholic church (Fox News)

• There were 32,000 fewer legal abortions in the U.S. in the six months after the Dobbs decision, new analysis suggests (CNN)

• Blue states stockpile abortion pills amid competing legal rulings on FDA approval (National Review)

• Inflation rises just 0.1% in March and 5% from a year ago as Fed rate hikes take hold (CNBC)

• Not satire: Truck carrying toxic soil from East Palestine train derailment overturns, pollutes new area (Not the Bee)

• Biden administration proposes water cuts to avert Colorado River crisis (AP)

• Sales of Bud Light plummet after Dylan Mulvaney fiasco (Daily Wire)

• Policy: A blueprint for prosecutors and police to reduce homicides in America (Manhattan Institute)

• Humor: Pentagon secures against future intelligence leaks by installing Ring doorbell (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.