Cross-Examination

• U.S agrees to $6 billion prisoner swap extortion: In a deal to free five Americans imprisoned in Iran on bogus charges, Joe Biden has agreed to a deal to release $6 billion of frozen Iranian assets and several Iranians serving prison sentences in the U.S. The imprisoned Iranians were sentenced for violating sanctions against Iran. According to the National Security Council, the five Americans have been moved out of prison and are being held under house arrest in Tehran awaiting the finalizing of the agreement, which isn’t the first pallet load of cash we’ve sent to the mullahs. The deal has not yet been completed, leaving open the possibility of Iran acting to seek even more concessions from Biden.

• Still peddling the Michael Brown lie: Demonstrating that for the radical left, narrative matters more than the truth, on Wednesday, which was the nine-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s death after he attacked Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, Democrat Representative Cori Bush said: “He would be alive today if the institutions of racism and white supremacy were eradicated. He should be alive today. We will never forget. We will continue to fight for justice and accountability.” Nope. Even Barack Obama’s Justice Department determined that Brown was at fault. But for the race-hustling Cori Bush, pushing the lie helps further the false narrative of systemic racism. It’s all about political power, not truth.

• Guns for Hunter: A federal law that bans the possession of a firearm for anyone who is a “user of or addicted to any controlled substance” has been voided by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on the grounds that it violated the Second Amendment. The case in question, U.S. v. Daniels, involved the arrest and conviction of Patrick Daniels last year after his vehicle was searched by law enforcement officers, who found marijuana and two loaded guns. This ruling has significant implications for Hunter Biden and his charge for illegal gun possession. As in Daniels, under the now-voided law, due to his drug addiction issues Hunter was not allowed to posses a firearm. The question is, will the court’s decision get Hunter off the hook on the charge?

• Lost IRS data: A report released last week from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found that the IRS has not been “adequately” protecting taxpayers’ information. The report focused on the IRS’s shipping process, wherein taxpayer data when being transferred between facilities has been lost. “Our review identified that the IRS is not adhering to its own internal guidelines when sending large volumes of sensitive taxpayer information to and from its Tax Processing Centers,” the report states. “As a result, the IRS is unable to identify, notify, and/or offer protection to taxpayers when sensitive tax information is lost in the mail and at risk for potential identity theft.” Making matters worse, because the IRS has lost this tax information, the agency says it doesn’t even know the identities of the taxpayers whose information has been compromised and so it cannot notify them. And this is the agency Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act has just given $80 billion in new taxpayer funding.

• Squeezing China: Upwards of 70% of more than 400 import items that China depends on, from luxury goods to raw materials for its industries, come from the U.S. and our allies. These essential goods represent a value of some $47 billion annually. For example, China imports nearly all the silver powder it uses in building solar panels. Furthermore, 86% of the nickel used for its battery manufacturing industry is imported from Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The U.S. provides almost two-thirds of the sorghum grain China uses to make its traditional “baijiu” alcohol. The point is, with Beijing increasingly engaging in a global economic pressure game to get more nations to bend to its agenda, the U.S. and our allies are in a prime position to offer correcting measures and squeeze back. The challenge is convincing all America’s allies to work together as one to counter China.

• San Fran’s 💩 tour: For fans of the dystopian genre, a chance to get a real-life tour has recently presented itself. Dubbed the “Downtown Doom Loop Walking Tour,” some creative entrepreneur is advertising a guided tour of the worst of San Francisco. “You’ve read the headlines, you’ve seen the Tweets, now get close and personal to the Doom and Squalor of downtown San Francisco,” reads the ad. At $30 a pop, a tour is scheduled for Saturday, August 26, during which tourists will trek over a mile and a half route through Mid-Market, the Tenderloin District, and Union Square. “Sneakers advised,” the ad reads, although we’re wondering if knee-high rubber boots would be a better choice. There is debate as to whether this tour is real or just a joke. Either way, locals aren’t too happy about it, with one community leader grousing that it’s “not really productive” and is “harmful to walk around showing all the bad without any proposed solution.”

Headlines

• J6 Committee failed to preserve records, has no data on Capitol Hill security failures, GOP charges (Fox News)

• Portland jury finds Antifa militants not liable in Andy Ngo attack, defense attorney declares “I am Antifa” (PM)

• Biden admits Inflation Reduction Act had “less to do with reducing inflation” than he originally said (Fox News)

• Manchin “seriously” considering becoming independent, says Washington Democrat brand “so bad” (Fox News)

• U.S. suicides hit an all-time high last year (AP)

• Maui fire death toll “very likely” will “significantly exceed” 60+ people, 1,700+ buildings destroyed, governor says (Daily Wire)

• “Trust the science”: Study retractions up 13,650% in 22 years (National Pulse)

• Satire: Democrats say it’ll take a lot more than eyewitness testimony, bank records, audio, video, complete confessions for them to believe Biden did anything wrong (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.