The War Room: The Justice Department has opened an investigation into how a cache of secret documents revealing and detailing US involvement in the Ukraine war ended up posted online for all to see.
  The 100-plus pages of slides and briefing documents reveal that the US is enmeshed in the day-to-day conduct of the war with precise intelligence information and logistics that have helped Ukraine fight off the bigger Russian army.
  Some of the information is highly sensitive, like maps of Ukrainian air defenses that could be handy for the Russians.
  It’s going badly for Russia. The Institute for the Study of War reports that  the Russian  military’s offensive potential continues to decline and that current Russian attacks are focused on distracting and dispersing Ukrainian troops in anticipation of counteroffensives. Analysts say that Russian forces are not making serious advances anywhere on the front line.
  As a sign that Russia fears the tide of war may turn against them, they’ve begun digging elaborate defensive trenches in the Crimean peninsula, which Russia took from Ukraine in 2014. The Washington Post reports that satellite images reveal that Russia has built dozens of defensive positions in Crimea.
  They report, for instance, that the area around the small town of Medvedivka, near a crossing to mainland Ukraine, is webbed with several miles of elaborate trench systems. The Russians use a Soviet era trenching machine that digs as fast as half a mile per hour, even when the ground is frozen.
  They’ve also installed tanks traps and dragon’s teeth, the concrete pyramids designed to stop tanks.Ian Matveev, a Russian military analyst, told The Washington Post, “The Russian military, apparently, understands that Crimea will have to be defended in the near future.” 
 
The Law of the Pecos: The federal judge in Texas who ruled last Friday to stop the use and distribution of the abortion drug mifepristone cited among his justifications the 150-year-old Comstock Act, the Victorian-era morality law used to indict Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger and ban the novel “Lady Chatterley’s Lover.”
   Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk said the Comstock Act bars mailing “every article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine or thing which is advertised or described in a manner calculated to lead another to use or apply it for producing abortion or for any indecent or immoral purpose.” The Comstock Act is largely forgotten, but it was never repealed and is being revived by the anti-abortion movement.
  Kacsmaryk signed an injunction suspending mifepristone’s FDA approval while a lawsuit challenging the safety and approval of the drug continues. “Simply put, FDA stonewalled judicial review — until now,” Kacsmaryk wrote.
  Mifepristone has been in use for more than 20 years, but Kacsmaryk said in his ruling that the drug’s safety was never properly assessed. 
  There appears to be no precedent for a single federal judge to overturn an FDA drug approval. Kacsmaryk gave the FDA seven days to argue for a stay.
  Kacsmaryk is a former federal prosecutor and lawyer for the conservative First Liberty Institute who was confirmed in 2019 under Donald Trump. You know where he stands before he considers the law. He was previously active in the anti-abortion movement and in his decision uses the anti-abortion term “unborn child” rather than “fetus” as well as the opprobrious “abortionists.” 
  Kacsmaryk cites unnamed studies saying chemical abortion can cause psychological injuries and even death. He concludes in part that “the lack of restrictions resulted in many deaths and many more severe or life- threatening adverse reactions.”
 
High Water Mark: Scientists have documented an abnormal and dramatic surge in sea levels along the gulf and southeastern coastlines since about 2010, suggesting that New Orleans, Miami, Houston, and other coastal communities might be at greater risk than previously predicted, the Washington Post reports.
  Large swaths of coastline occupied by millions of people are at greater risk from  catastrophic  storms and flooding. The paper cites one study that says the recent devastating hurricanes — Michael in 2018 and Ian last year — were made considerably worse by a faster-rising ocean.
  On the West coast, where it’s been a rough winter of torrential rains and record snowfall, some forecasts say that’s been nothing compared to what’s predicted in a warmer world. 
 
The Obit Page: Craig Breedlove, once titled “The Fastest Man on Earth” after breaking the land-speed records of 400, 500 and 600 miles per hour, died last week at home in Rio Vista, California. He was 86.
  Breedlove was a household name in the 1960s as he set records on the Bonneville salt flats in his jet-powered vehicles all named “Spirit of America.”
  He was a former firefighter who loved cars and his first land speed vehicle was all hand built, costing $250,000.
  Setting the record required making two runs in opposite directions to average out the wind advantage. After setting the record at 407.45 in 1963, he told Sports Illustrated,  “I don’t I think I can go faster.” And he did. On Nov. 15, he clocked a speed of 600.601 mph.
 
The Spin Rack: The two Tennessee state representatives expelled from their seats last week could be given temporary appointments back to their positions this week, maybe even as soon as today. Democrats Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis were voted out by the Republican majority after they demonstrated in favor of gun control on the house floor. — Light trucks, including pickups, vans ,and SUVs, now outnumber passengers cars on American roads, according to registration records. 
 
Below the Fold: Donald Trump was seen in public together with wife Melania for the first time yesterday since his arrest and indictment in New York. They were having Easter brunch. He was eating crow.