HUNTER INDICTED: President Biden’s son Hunter has been indicted on three federal felony gun charges, accusing him of lying about being addicted to cocaine when he bought a firearm in October 2018. 

  The charges are somewhat unusually severe given that the gun was not used in a crime. The indictment comes weeks after a judge rejected a plea deal in which the younger Biden would have avoided a trial.

  Also, the indictment comes after a federal appeals court last month struck down the law prohibiting users of illegal drugs from buying a gun. Ironically, Hunter Biden’s defenders are saying this is a political prosecution as Republicans say about Donald Trump.

  Also, lawyer Abbe Lowell said the indictment “violates the agreement the government made with Hunter Biden,” a reference to the deal he reached with prosecutors this summer, which later collapsed. “Hunter owned an unloaded gun for 11 days,” Lowell told CNN. 

  Lowell blamed the reversal of the plea deal on “all the Republican screamers.” 

  It’s a bad break for Joe Biden, having a son headed for criminal trial going into the 2024 election. Hunter frequently goes to White House events. This also comes as House Republicans are claiming that the President was involved in sleazy foreign business dealings with his son.

ON STRIKE: The United Auto Workers overnight began a selective strike at three facilities, walking out on all of the big three companies in a fight over pay, pensions, and work hours. Roughly 12,700 workers at plants in Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio hit the picket lines. 

  The UAW demands a 40 percent pay increase over four years and the reversal of concessions the union made when the companies were near broke. Some employees are part time for years before getting full pay and benefits.

  The companies are still recovering from diminished production during the pandemic and are bracing for an expensive conversion to electric vehicles. 

  A long strike would raise auto prices and feed inflation.

DEAD AND MISSING: The number of dead following massive flooding and two dam breaks in Libya’s coastal city of Derna has soared to 11,300, the Libyan Red Crescent said yesterday. The aid group’s secretary general told The Associated Press that another 10,100 people are reported missing in the Mediterranean city.  Authorities are struggling to deal with all the bodies.

THE HOT SEAT: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy yesterday surrendered to his party’s most conservative representatives and abandoned the notion of trying to bring up the Pentagon spending measure this week.

  McCarthy is frustrated and mightily annoyed with the extremist members of his party threatening to oust him from the House speakership unless they get their way. He is reported to have said in a private meeting, go ahead, “File the fucking motion.” 

  Even launching an impeachment investigation of Joe Biden did not appease the demands of the Freedom Caucus and others who are threatening to shut down the government unless they get deep spending cuts. 

  “I showed frustration in here because I am frustrated with some people in the conference,” McCarthy told reporters after the meeting in the Capitol basement, ending the week’s legislative business. “But when we come back, we’re going to get this done. Nobody wins in a government shutdown.”

  McCarthy has just nine days to avoid it.

SUNK: Nobody spends money like the Pentagon. The Navy has decommissioned the littoral combat ship Sioux City, which joined the fleet only in 2018.  A little over a year ago the Navy announced that it is decommissioning nine of its 16 Freedom Class LCS ships at a savings of billions of dollars in operating costs. The Sioux City is the third to be mothballed.

  Once hailed as the future of the fleet, the LCS ships turned out to be expensive, impractical, under gunned, and highly vulnerable to the latest anti-ship missiles. The littoral ships were designed to be used close to shore and while they are supposed to be “stealthy” under radar they can be seen easily by the naked eye operating in coastal waters. They tend to break down and have never been used in combat.

  But don’t think the Pentagon has learned a lesson. While six more Freedom class ships are headed for permanent port, the Navy is fitting out four more for service.

THE SPIN RACK: Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of slaughtering four University of Idaho students, has asked that cameras be barred from court during his trial. — Right wing conspiracy monger Alex Jones continues with lavish personal spending despite stiffing the families who won a $1.5 billion judgement against him for saying the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax. His bankruptcy statements say he has a net worth of $14 million and that he spent $93,000 in July alone. He’s been begging listeners of his Infowars podcast to help him financially. — The judge in the Georgia election interference case is moving ahead with a separate trial for two of the co-defendants next month while Donald Trump and 15 others go to trial later. — Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis yesterday defied the CDC recommendation that everyone six months and older should get the new Covid vaccine. “I will not stand by and let the FDA and CDC use healthy Floridians as guinea pigs for new booster shots,” he said. Florida is the third largest state by population and 10^th for the number of Covid deaths.

BELOW THE FOLD:  Swimmer-on-a-mission Lewis Pugh yesterday finished stroking the entire length of the Hudson River from New York’s Adirondack Mountains to the lower tip of Manhattan. The 53-year-old endurance swimmer dealt with rapids, rocks, cold water, floating garbage, tugboats, and sewage overflows during his month long quest. He arrived wearing a Speedo, swim cap goggles, and a smile. 

  “It’s incredibly tough to swim for 30 days,” Pugh told reporters. “And yes, it does take an enormous toll on you. But I can honestly say I feel rejuvenated.”