Cross-Examination

• Biden to visit Maui today: Joe Biden and the first lady will travel to Maui, Hawaii, today to view the aftermath of the nation’s deadliest fire in over a century that left at least 114 people dead with over 1,000 still unaccounted for in the coastal town of Lahaina. He is expected to announce the appointment of FEMA Administrator Bob Fenton as the Chief Federal Response Coordinator to oversee the recovery effort. Biden will arrive under a cloud of bipartisan criticism over his infamous “no comment” response when initially questioned immediately following news of the tragedy. It’s important to note that, while presidential visits at natural disaster sites have become an expected part of the job, such visits can hamper relief efforts to accommodate security for what amounts to a photo op.

• $700 to Maui households: A popular talking point has emerged against Joe Biden after his insensitive “no comment” remark regarding the Maui wildfire: He cares more about Ukrainians than he does Americans. Adding fuel to this charge is Biden’s announcement that the federal government will be granting Maui victims a “one-time $700 payment per household offering relief during an unimaginably difficult time.” Meanwhile, as the talking point goes, Biden has given some $113 billion in aid to Ukraine. While it is indeed a harsh contrast, it’s assumption of a one-to-one binary comparison is disingenuous. Congress has the power of the purse and allocates where money goes, and the Department of Defense has a budget that is separate from FEMA. Neither is $700 likely to be the end of the aid given Hawaiians.

• Tropical Storm Hilary: After being downgraded to a tropical storm, Hilary made landfall Sunday evening, hitting Mexico’s Baja California. As the storm moved up the coast into Southern California, the area was hit by a 5.1 magnitude earthquake. The regionally rare storm has brought coastal storm surge as well as heavy rains and flash flooding. Hilary is the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, with officials evacuating several coastal islands and the state activating some 7,500 emergency personnel. Several professional sports teams in the region canceled their games. Los Angeles rushed to get homeless into shelters, and all beaches in San Diego and Orange Counties were closed. One of the biggest concerns is over the likelihood of mudslides.

• The kids are not alright: Emergency rooms across the country are becoming overwhelmed with a surging number of children suffering from mental health episodes. The emergencies are mostly associated with anxiety, depression, or suicidal thoughts or actions. According to Dr. Mohsen Saidinejad, director of pediatric emergency medicine at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, “The ER has become a de facto referral center for all of these problems, and there’s too many of them for the emergency department to manage.” The trouble is, as Saidinejad points out: “We are ER physicians. We are not mental health professionals. We cannot provide definitive care.” A recent study found that roughly half a million children come to the ER each year suffering from a mental problem, and that number has been increasing significantly since the pandemic. Furthermore, a mental health emergency is more taxing on an ER, as a mental health-related patient’s stay is an average of 17 hours compared to five hours for all other health-related emergencies.

• Is Fidelity blocking donations to conservative causes? A recent complaint has been raised against Fidelity Charitable (FC) alleging that the donor-advised fund has been blocking account holders from sending donations to conservative nonprofits. According to Jeremy Tedesco, senior vice president of corporate engagement for the Alliance Defending Freedom, the problem is widespread, as 15 different donors in 13 states have reported similar experiences. FC apparently uses the leftist Southern Poverty Law Center’s dubious “hate groups” designation for justifying restricting the donation of funds to conservative groups. Of course, the SPLC’s track record on assigning its “hate group” designation has been repeatedly exposed for being based upon a hard-leftist political bias rather than on genuine objective standards. It would appear that FC is using the SPLC as a shield for its effort to prevent donations from being directed to such groups as the ADF, Family Research Council, and Center for Security Policy.

Headlines

• Hunter Biden’s lawyers threatened to call Joe Biden to the stand to testify against his own DOJ (Townhall)

• Trump announces he will not participate in the Republican primary debates (Daily Wire)

• Federal judges rule against provisions of GOP-backed voting laws in Georgia and Texas (AP)

• Biden quietly sells off border wall parts to thwart GOP push to use them (NY Post)

• Chicago Democrat asks gang members to refrain from shootouts between 9 AM and 9 PM (Townhall)

• DC continues experiencing soaring crime rates despite council chairman saying “there is no crime crisis” (Fox News)

• Authorities see nearly 800% surge in Chinese migrants crossing southern border illegally (Daily Caller)

• Court slaps down FDA again for illegally dropping abortion pill rules (Daily Signal)

• Texas to disassociate with American Library Association over Marxism, gender ideology (National Review)

• Humor: Hilary makes landfall, destroying over 30,000 emails (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.