FBI watch: It’s Hunter’s Laptop 2.0
After an FBI briefing, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer reported the bureau’s still probing allegations of a $5 million bribery scheme involving President Biden when he was veep. Yet, notes The Wall Street Journal’s William McGurn, Comer’s “been painted as a partisan rube chasing conspiracies. Nobody seems to care that a sitting vice president was accused by a trusted FBI source of taking a bribe.” Instead, “there is a campaign to discredit the charges.” CNN notes that the allegation had its “origins in a tranche of documents that Rudy Giuliani provided” to Justice in 2020, much as some tried to discredit The Post’s 2020 100% true exposé of “incriminating emails” from Hunter Biden’s laptop — by attacking Giuliani.
From the right: America’s Civics Disaster
“Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona tried to blame” the recent disastrous National Assessment of Educational Progress civics results on “censorship,” scoffs Paul du Quenoy at City Journal. But “the plain fact is that classes in history and civics are disappearing. Only seven states require civics instruction” — and course content “is often lackluster.” No wonder, when only 53% of social studies teachers in 2019 “believed it essential” to understand “federalism, separation of powers, and checks and balances.” Worse, change efforts “provoke fierce opposition.” Like when “673 faculty members” at UNC signed an open letter protesting” a “one-semester civics requirement” from the state Legislature. Hmm: “An academic establishment given to illiberal ideologies” sees “robust public knowledge of U.S. history and civics as a threat.”
Eye on ’24: Pence’s Bizarre Dilemma
With 12 years in the House, “four as governor of Indiana, and four as vice president,” asks the Washington Examiner’s Byron York, “has there ever been a more qualified candidate for president than Mike Pence?” Yet he’s “in a nearly impossible situation,” stuck “both running on and running away from his record in the years 2017 to 2021.” Like the rest of the pack, he fears “offending voters” who support Donald Trump, so winds up “touting his accomplishments as vice president without ever naming the president.” He did right on Jan. 6, 2020, “saving the nation from what could have been a constitutional crisis.” But Trump’s trashed him for it ever since; he “faces regular attacks from the president he served who just happens to be the leading candidate in the race.”
Border beat: Impeach Mayorkas, Already
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has “flouted” immigration rules, such as by abusing his parole power, so “the House should impeach him,” argues Jason Richwine at National Review. Republicans may hesitate as they “merely dispute Mayorkas’s interpretation of the law,” and the courts can “sort it out.” But “legislatures should not be so passive. The Founders envisioned that all three branches would jealously guard their prerogatives.” Yes, “past administrations have also abused parole,” yet “failure to object now will effectively ratify the power transfer.” Even if the Senate acquits, a trial “would force a detailed discussion” of Team Biden’s border failures and rewriting of laws. And impeaching Mayorkas instead of President Biden will avoid charges that the move’s partisan and “sharpen the focus on the legal issues.”
Culture critic: Heed Gender Reality
“As Democratic politicians continue their unwise embrace of all things transgender, Republican presidential candidates should take a different approach,” thunders Tom Joyce at the Washington Examiner. GOP presidential candidates should take the opportunity during Pride Month to “commit to recognizing two genders if elected president and eliminating instances of the federal government pretending otherwise.” Without a legal basis, “President Joe Biden’s administration [and] the federal government [are] embracing the fringe progressive view of gender.” The next Republican president should issue an executive order directing all federal agencies to recognize only two genders because “a president should embrace reality, not woke pandering.”
Compiled by The Post Editorial Board