'Where's Durham?': Investigation of Russia-collusion probe's origin quietly hits second anniversary . . . Former President Donald Trump gushed “I am so proud” when then-Attorney General William Barr tapped John Durham to look for widespread wrongdoing by FBI officials in the early stages of its Russia-collusion probe. That was in May 2019. Two years later the investigation has practically disappeared without an utterance from Mr. Durham or any sign that he has uncovered anything. Washington Times

What now for anti-Trump Republicans? . . . Republicans opposed to former President Trump are not going to win the war for the soul of the party anytime soon — if ever. Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-Wyo.) ouster from House leadership, via an overwhelming voice vote Wednesday, makes that clear. Cheney and others of her ilk are not giving up. The question is what kind of impact they can have in their rhetorical guerrilla war against the former president and the GOP leaders whom they brand as his enablers. For now, many are dispirited by Cheney’s fall and what it says about the party writ large. “The outlook is grim,” said Olivia Troye, who broke with Trumpism after having served as a staffer to then-Vice President Mike Pence. The Hill

Marjorie Taylor Greene vs. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Shouting, taunting, threat to call cops . . . Ms. Greene confronted Ms. Ocasio-Cortez as she exited the House chamber Wednesday afternoon. Ms. Greene shouted that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, a leader of the far-left group of young Congress members known as “The Squad,” was failing to defend her “radical socialist” beliefs by declining to publicly debate her, according to the report.

“You don’t care about the American people,” Ms. Greene reportedly shouted. “Why do you support terrorists and Antifa?” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez in a statement to the newspaper, said, “we hope leadership and the Sergeant at Arms will take real steps to make Congress a safe, civil place for all Members and staff — especially as many offices are discussing reopening.” Washington Times

Colonial Pipeline likely got hacked because of these two avoidable reasons . . . The enormous ransomware attack on the oil pipeline operated by Colonial Pipeline that reportedly transports as much as 45% of the fuel consumed on the east coast like occurred because weak security. Ransomware attacks on businesses happen because of people. Either a) an employee clicks on a malicious link contained in an email or fake website (this is known as “phishing”) or b) a device on a network was compromised because it was running an out-of-date operating system. This is what investigators will likely find. It’s very possible that an intrusion happened on an employee’s personal device. Why? According to the FBI, ransomware attacks have increased an astonishing 69 percent in 2020 compared to 2019 and have costed businesses more than $4 billion mainly because of so many people were working from home using less secure, out-of-date devices running older operating systems to get access to their companies’ networks. The whole situation could have been avoided if the people in charge of the technology at Colonial Pipeline had done these three things. Washington Times

Arizona AG calls for Kamala Harris ouster as 'border czar' . . . Vice President Harris must be removed from her role in dealing with the border surge, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in a letter this week to President Biden, saying his running mate has blown her chance to fix things. Mr. Brnovich said it’s insulting to watch Ms. Harris make trips to other states for “less-pressing matters” while neither she nor Mr. Biden has visited Arizona or other border states to get an up-close look at the migrants surging across the boundary line from Mexico. The Republican attorney general said it was “shameful” that Border Patrol agents aren’t getting more support from the Biden team, which has displayed inaction in the face of its duty to uphold federal immigration laws and ensuring public safety. Washington Times

 

Biden Gives Americans An Ultimatum On Vaccines . . . President Joe Biden issued an ultimatum to Americans Thursday after the CDC eased restrictions for vaccinated Americans.

“The rule is now simple,” the president tweeted. “Get vaccinated or wear a mask until you do.” “The choice is yours.” The CDC updated its guidance Thursday, allowing vaccinated Americans to forgo masks both outdoors and in most indoor situations. The guidance still encourages Americans to wear a mask in crowded areas but otherwise says it is safe for vaccinated people to go mask-less in crowds outdoors. Daily Caller

 

Gov. Ron DeSantis Vows to Pardon Those Charged With Disobeying COVID Orders . . . Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday evening that he will be pardoning Floridians charged with violating COVID-19 mask or social distancing restrictions.
The Florida Republican broke the news on “The Ingraham Angle” to Mike and Jillian Carnevale, gym owners who face jail time for allowing their members to workout maskless. Daily Signal

 

Pentagon: 120 US military personnel moved from Israel 'out of an abundance of caution' . . . The Pentagon on Thursday confirmed reports that it pulled 120 U.S. military personnel from Israel. Defense Department press secretary John Kirby said the U.S. Central Command and U.S. European Command staffers flew aboard a C-17 military aircraft and arrived in Ramstein Air Base in Germany earlier on Thursday. The Hill

Muslim Brotherhood Praises Dems for Abandoning Israel in Time of War . . .  The Muslim Brotherhood's official online mouthpiece offered praise this week to Democratic members of Congress who are publicly criticizing Israel as it defends itself against an onslaught of terrorist rockets. "Democratic representatives demand the protection of Palestinians from Zionist attacks," reads a headline in Ikhwan Online, the Brotherhood's official propaganda site. The jihadist extremist group, which is designated as a terror outfit in multiple countries, highlighted critical remarks about Israel's defensive operations made by outspoken opponents of the Jewish state—Reps. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), Andre Carson (D., Ind.), Debbie Dingell (D., Mich.), Mark Pocan (D., Wis.), and Cori Bush (D., Mo.), as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.). Washington Free Beacon

 

 

UK Navy To Deploy Largest Fleet In Decades To South China Sea . . . The United Kingdom will soon deploy the largest fleet it has assembled in decades to the eastern Pacific in a major show of military support for the U.S. amid growing tensions with China. The naval deployment is the largest fleet the U.K. has assembled since the Falklands War in the early 1980s. The deployment is the first stage of a larger overhaul of the U.K.’s military now that the nation is freshly divorced from the European Union. Much like the U.S., the U.K. is working to remake its military for conflicts against first-world powers after decades of tailoring its military toward fighting insurgents in the Middle East. Wall Street Journal

 

Wall Street panicking that Biden’s tax hikes will be retroactive . . . The White House won’t rule out a retroactive implementation of its sweeping new tax plan — and tax haters across Wall Street are in a panic. The Biden administration has previously said levying taxes retroactively — which could stick taxpayers with jacked-up rates on transactions dating back to Jan. 1 instead of imposing them beginning next year — isn’t its “first choice” as it pushes a bold series of hikes on companies and the rich.

Nevertheless, it has refused to rule out the rare but not unprecedented move. In January, Mark Mazur, Treasury Department deputy assistant secretary for tax policy, said retroactive taxes could make sense if they were introduced early enough in the year. New York Post

 

Amazon, McDonald’s, Others Woo Scarce Hourly Workers With Higher Pay . . . The fight is on for lower-wage workers. Some of the biggest U.S. employers of entry-level workers are adding tens of thousands of new positions as the economy roars back from the coronavirus pandemic. Many are raising wages or adding perks to entice workers from other jobs or off the sidelines of the labor market. Amazon said it would hire 75,000 more workers and offer $1,000 signing bonuses in some locations. McDonald’s said it wants to hire 10,000 employees at company-owned restaurants in the next three months and that it would raise pay at those locations. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., Applebee’s and KFC are among other chains seeking to hire tens of thousands of workers.
Many companies have struggled to find enough available workers, though there are signs that more are entering the labor market to take some of those open positions. Wall Street Journal

 

Africans, Caribbeans Flock to ‘Systemically Racist’ US . . . If AmeriKKKa is so bigoted, why do Africans and Caribbeans leave black-run, predominantly black nations and come to the United States of America, which the Democrat left condemns as Earth’s headwaters of “systemic racism” and white supremacy? According to the most recent Department of Homeland Security data, 548,891 African immigrants became permanent US residents between 2015 and 2019. In 2020, these were the top 10 African sources for such new green card holders —plus each nation’s black population percentage, courtesy of the CIA “World Factbook”: Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Eritrea, Cameroon, Somalia, South Africa, and Sudan. Total: 49,672 permanent residents from 10 nations that are 90.1% black, on average. America’s population is 13.4% black. Daily Signal