No. 22: After waiting in the wings while a crowd of candidates gathered ahead of him, former Vice President Joe Biden has formally declared that he is a candidate for President in 2020.

 In a three-minute video announcement, Biden didn’t lay out his positions or  qualifications. He said it was about the current President, Donald Trump.

 “We are in the battle for the soul of this nation,” Biden said. “I believe history will look back on four years of this president and all he embraces as an aberrant moment in time. But if we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation, who we are, and I cannot stand by and watch that happen.”

  Trump responded with insult on Twitter. “Welcome to the race Sleepy Joe,” he wrote. “I only hope you have the intelligence, long in doubt, to wage a successful primary campaign. It will be nasty – you will be dealing with people who truly have some very sick & demented ideas.” That means Democrats.

  Biden enters what’s known as the money primary with zero in the bank. Facing candidates who’ve raked in cash with micro-donations over the internet, he’s embarking on an old-school campaign to raise big money from major donors.

  He will also have to winnow out a field of 22 candidates, many of whom have no business running, but there are some major contenders; Senators Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and the surprising South Bend Mayor Pete  Buttigieg. Biden is 76 and there’s a huge desire out there for a first woman president. Nevertheless, recent polling says that head-to-head against Donald Trump, Biden would trounce him.

Transparent: Responding to a subpoena by the New York Attorney General, Deutsche Bank has begun turning over documents relating to business with President Trump, several news outlets report 

 Investigators appear to be examining whether Trump committed bank fraud by inflating the value of his assets in order to get loans.

 Trump borrowed at least $300 million from Deutsche Bank at a time when no one else would touch him. The records are related to Trump International Hotel in Washington; the Trump National Doral Miami; the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago; and an unsuccessful effort to buy the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.

  DeutscheBank itself is already the subject of investigation by the House Financial Services and Intelligence committees related to business with  Trump.

  Investigations in other jurisdictions continue even though the Special Counsel is done. The House is demanding Trump’s taxes and business records. Trump said yesterday in the White House driveway, “The subpoena is ridiculous. We have been, I have been, the most transparent President and administration in the history of our country so far.”

  This “most transparent president is the first to refuse to reveal his tax returns since the discovery that Richard Nixon paid virtually no taxes. He is moving to block  former White House lawyer Don McGahn from testifying before Congress as well as aides who already spoke to the Special Counsel. 

  Trump himself refused to speak to the Special Counsel and at least 30 times in response to written questions he said he did not “recall” or “remember” or have an “independent recollection.”

  And last, the press secretary for the “most transparent” administration has all but stopped giving briefings to the press. The last one was 45 days ago.

Most Foul: Police have charged an Illinois couple with murdering their 5-year-old son after reporting him missing from his bedroom. AJ Freund was the subject of a massive search, but the police now say  his parents JoAnn Cunningham and Andrew Freund gave them information about where the boy’s body was buried wrapped in plastic in a shallow grave. They are being charged with  first-degree murder.

  AJ’s parents reported him missing April 18 from their home in Crystal Lake, about 50 miles northwest of Chicago. Police dogs later found traces of his scent in the trunk of the family car. The parents have a history of drug trouble and AJ had spent some time in foster care.

Execution:Texas last night executed John William King, one of two men convicted in the horrific racial murder of a 49-year-old man 21 years ago. The murder shocked the country at the time.

  Asked if he had any last words, King said, “No.”

  King and two friends in the East Texas town of Jasper killed  the disabled  James Byrd Jr. by dragging him behind a pickup truck for three miles down a country road.  They dumped the remains in front of a black church. 

  The driver was sentenced to life in prison. King’s other accomplice, an avowed white nationalist named Lawrence Brewer, was executed in September, 2011. He said if he had it all to do over, he’d do it again.

Extreme:Two sons of a wealthy Sri Lankan spice baron were among the eight suicide bombers who attacked churches and luxury hotels last Sunday. Inshaf and Ilham Ibrahim were the sons of  Mohammad Yusuf Ibrahim who built a fortune selling pepper, nutmeg, cloves, and vanilla. 

  The bombings killed more than 350 people. During a raid Sunday at the Ibrahim family compound, a woman believed to be the wife of one of the two sons blew herself up, also killing two of her children.

   The Islamic state has claimed credit for the attacks carried out by a local extremist group. Investigators are trying to learn the connection.

The Twilight Zone:Military pilots in recent years have reported an uptick in what the Pentagon refers to as  “unexplained aerial phenomena,”what everyone else refers to as UFOs — unidentified flying objects.

   Military pilots are smart, educated, and level-headed people. They’ve reported seeing small spherical objects flying in formation. Others describe white, Tic Tac-shaped vehicles. They say these craft appear to have no air intake or exhaust.

  UFOs bear that tag because they’ve never been verified as anything other than “unidentified.” In response to pilot complaints about their reports being dismissed, the Navy has adopted a new policy of investigating every sighting. Chris Mellon, a staffer on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told The Washington Post,  “I don’t believe in safety through ignorance,”

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