National Emergency: President Trump plans to sign the spending bill that lacks money for a southern border wall then declare a national emergency to build it anyway, The White House announced yesterday. 

  “The president is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country,” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. 

  What that means is that there is no national emergency, only the declaration of an emergency as a political tactic to get what the President wants. Allowing another government shutdown to pressure the Democrats would have been politically suicidal for Trump. In declaring an emergency, the President would be grabbing money appropriated by Congress for other purposes, setting up a potential fight over the extent and limits of presidential power. The Constitution gives Congress, not the President, the power to allot government spending

  The $49 billion spending bill provides only $1.375 billion for 55 miles of steel-post fencing, far less than the $5.7 billion he demanded for 200 miles of steel or concrete wall.It’s a rebuke of the President’s long-standing promise to seal off the southern border against illegal immigrants.

Lost Package: After stepping into a minefield of New York politics with its plan to build a new headquarters in Long Island City, the internet sales giant Amazon announced that it is cancelling. Legislators, community activists, and labor leader were in an uproar over an agreement to give the $1 trillion company $3 billion in subsidies to build an operation that would have employed 25,000 people.

  “A number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward,’’ Amazon said in a statement.

  It’s a big blow to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, two Democrats who hate each other but worked together to make the deal happen.

  A prime mover in the effort to eject Amazon was the newly-elected firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who coalesced the party’s left wing against Amazon. She tweeted, “Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazon’s corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world.”

The Buried Lede: Former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe says Justice Department officials were so concerned about President Trump’s firing of Director James Comey that they considered recruiting cabinet members to invoke the 25^thAmendment to remove Trump from office.

  McCabe also told Scott Pelley of “60 Minutes” that he ordered FBI agents to examine whether Trump was actually working on behalf of Russia to thwart the investigation of Russian election meddling.

  It’s a stunning admission that the Justice Department considered that it might be necessary to topple the President.

  The full interview airs on Sunday. 

  Predictably, Trump fired back in a tweet. “Disgraced FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe pretends to be a “poor little Angel” when in fact he was a big part of the Crooked Hillary Scandal & the Russia Hoax – a puppet for Leakin’ James Comey.” 

Under Suspicion:Chicago police raided and searched the home of two Nigerian men in their investigation of the reported street attack last month on “Empire” actor Jessie Smollett. The two men, who are extras on the show, left the country the day of the incident and were taken into custody at O’Hare airport when they returned.

  Local news organizations have reported that the police suspect the attack on Smollett was staged, but the cops deny it.

Art News:A man named Samuel Little who may be one of the most prolific serial killers in American history, is digging back into his memory to help the police identify his victims and maybe even locate their bodies. The 78-year-old Little is spending life in a California prison.

  Most of his victims were drug addicts and prostitutes, people who were not missed when they disappeared.

  Little remembers details about the women he murdered, the color and drape of their hair, their eyes, and lips. He is also an artist and he has been painting pictures of his victims from memory.  The FBI  has released 16 portraits  that reveal the creepy memories of a killer. 

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