FRIENDS LIKE THESE: President Trump on social media attacked Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing him of talking the US “into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and ‘TRUMP,’ will never be able to settle.” 

  The President is echoing Russian talking points on the conflict.

  Trump accused Zelensky of being “A Dictator without Elections.”  He said, “I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died.” 

  “Millions” have not died. Combined estimates of  deaths and injuries on both sides run in the upper hundreds of thousands … bad, but not millions dead.

  It is true that Ukraine has not had elections during the war. The country has been under constitutionally authorized martial law, extended in 90-day increments, since 2022.

BLACK IS WHITE: A federal judge in New York is considering a Justice department motion to dismiss corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.

  Deputy ttorney General Emil Bove told judge Dale Ho in a hearing that prosecuting  Adams would interfere with the mayor’s cooperation in federal efforts to deport illegal immigrants. 

  Asked whether that reasoning could apply to other officials, “Like the police commissioner, for example?”  Bove replied, “Yes, absolutely.” 

  Judge Ho concluded that it was a “very complicated situation, at least from where I sit.”

  Outside court, DOJ Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle made the unusual move of arguing the dismissal on social media. He said the case would be expensive, eat up resources, and that public corruption cases have a spotty record for convictions.

  Mizelle capped his argument saying; “For too long the DOJ has lost its way. Prosecutorial misconduct and political agendas will no longer be tolerated. The case against Mayor Adams was just one in a long history of past DOJ actions that represent grave errors of judgement.”

  Speaking of the DOJ, Trump announced he’s firing all US Attorneys appointed by Joe Biden. Again, from social media; “Over the past four years, the Department of Justice has been politicized like never before. Therefore, I have instructed the termination of ALL remaining ‘Biden Era’ U.S. Attorneys.” 

THE RUSSIA HOUSE:  In an effort to settle the Ukraine war for the sake of business relations, the Russian government’s top investment manager brought a document to Tuesday’s diplomatic talks showing that by shunning Russia over the Ukraine invasion, American companies walked away from piles of profits. “Losses of U.S. companies by industry,” read the document, which the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund showed to a New York Times reporter, totaled $324 billion.

  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday praised the US delegation in Riyadh for not criticizing Russia the way the Biden administration had.  He said that beyond geopolitics, the two countries are now moving toward deeper engagement on space, the economy and “our joint work on global energy markets.”

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered senior military and Defense officials to plan for 8 percent budget cuts over each of the next five years. The NY Times surmises that this may not be an effort to cut the overall defense budget but to shift money to other uses on the Trump agenda.

  Over at the Health Department, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced “sex-based definitions” to give the public and federal agencies precise terms for describing gender including “male,” “female,” “woman” and “man.”

  “This administration is bringing back common sense and restoring biological truth to the federal government,” Kennedy said in a statement. “The prior administration’s policy of trying to engineer gender ideology into every aspect of public life is over.”

  His guidance defines male as “characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing sperm” and female as “characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing eggs (ova).”

  Comedian George Carlin might have asked why “tits” is not on the list.

  Kennedy’s position is in denial of real variations in sexual identity. Even setting aside the reality of transgenderism, some people are born “intersex” with male and female chromosomes.

THE OBIT PAGE: Anne Marie Hochhalter, who was a student eating lunch with friends when she was shot and paralyzed in the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, was found dead Sunday at her home in Westminster, Colorado. She was 43.

  Hochalter went on to live independently and in spoke publicly about the lasting effects of gun violence, which marred her life more than once. Six months after Columbine, Hochalter’s mother, Carla June Hochhalter, walked into a pawnshop, asked to see a gun, loaded it, and shot herself.

  Indications are that Hochalter died of the long term effects of her injuries. 

THE SPIN RACK:. The remains of an Israeli woman and her two young children were among four hostage bodies returned to Israel today by Hamas militants. — Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul saying he plans to end the recently-imposed congestion tolls on vehicles entering lower Manhattan. He cited the cost to working-class motorists and that revenue from the tolls go to mass transit upgrades rather than roads. Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!” Presumably he speaks of himself. — Federal prosecutors charged seven Chilean men in the string of high-profile robberies targeting homes of professional athletes across the country. They are accused of stealing as much as $2 million worth of valuables from notable athletes including Kansas City Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. 

BELOW THE FOLD:  KFC, which started as Kentucky Fried Chicken before deciding to leave “Kentucky, “Fried,” and “Chicken” out of its name, is leaving its headquarters in Kentucky and moving to Texas to be with sister company Pizza Hut, which so far has no plans to change its name to “PH.”

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