In an effort to improve page load-time we are breaking up the trial discussion threads.
There will be 24 hours of presentation by House Impeachment Managers (over 3 days); 24 hours of presentation by Defense team (over 3 days); 16 hours of Senate questioning; 4 hours of closing arguments, equally divided; and then a Senate debate/vote on further motions to include witnesses. If there are going to be witnesses, they will first be deposed prior to testimony. No witness testimony will be permitted without first being deposed.
The Senate Trial continues today on day six at 6:45pm ET with the evening session of the second day for the President Trump defense.
Fox News Livestream – Fox Business Livestream – Alternate GST Livestream Link

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There will be 24 hours of presentation by House Impeachment Managers (over 3 days); 24 hours of presentation by Defense team (over 3 days); 16 hours of Senate questioning; 4 hours of closing arguments, equally divided; and then a Senate debate/vote on further motions to include witnesses. If there are going to be witnesses, they will first be deposed prior to testimony. No witness testimony will be permitted without first being deposed.
The Senate Trial continues today on day six at 1:00pm ET. Today is the second day of the Trump defense and will continue with approximately 8 hours of presentation.
Fox News Livestream – Fox Business Livestream – Alternate GST Livestream Link

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Several days ago we anticipated a potentially important point we hoped would start the impeachment defense for President Donald Trump.   Today, attorney Patrick Philbin delivered.  The issue is a critical constitutional component that needed emphasis, and it is good to see pundits finally starting to realize the significance.
White House Counsel Patrick Philbin explains why House subpoenas were illegitimate: the subpoena power was never authorized; the initiating subpoena power was never voted on.

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Additionally, and specifically by design, absent a penalty for non-compliance, which factually makes a subpoena a ‘subpoena’, the Executive Branch had no constitutional pathway or process to engage an appellate review by federal courts. Make no mistake, this was a pre-planned purposeful trick within the Pelosi, Schiff and Lawfare road-map.
The House motive here, the forethought within their design, is very important now because it explains why they are vociferously demanding witnesses in the Senate.  The House plan was to work around the ability of the executive branch to go to court. The managers are now attempting to execute that plan, along with a manufactured political talking point, in the Senate trial.
The House intended for this to unfold exactly as it is happening.
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There will be 24 hours of presentation by House Impeachment Managers (over 3 days); 24 hours of presentation by Defense team (over 3 days); 16 hours of Senate questioning; 4 hours of closing arguments, equally divided; and then a Senate debate/vote on further motions to include witnesses. If there are going to be witnesses, they will first be deposed prior to testimony. No witness testimony will be permitted without first being deposed.
The Senate Trial continues today on day five at 10:00am ET. Today is the first day of the Trump defense and will only be three hours long by request/agreement with the Senate.
RSBN Livestream –  Fox10 Livestream – Fox News Livestream – Fox Business Livestream

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A quiet (oral) request from the DOJ/FBI is noted in a late Friday release from FISA Court Presiding Judge James Boasberg. [LINK]

The previous deadline was January 28th.  As noted the FISC has granted a one week  extension until February 5th.   [Some Possible Ramifications Outlined Here]
This is a hot mess.  Remember, IG Horowitz said he only found evidence of a FISA warrant against Carter Page, no other Trump campaign or Trump administration official was investigated using a FISA application. That statement is a little more important now.
As I go back through my notes seeing if I can identify the downstream consequences impacted by a rather stunning sequestration effort, I find myself wondering if the HJC case(s) for 6(e) material and Don McGahn testimony might even be part of the pull-back material as a derivative of the special counsel probe’ use of the Carter Page Title-1 surveillance warrant.  After all, there had to be an investigative reason for Mueller to want the renewal on June 29, 2017, long after Carter Page was gone from the Trump orbit.
Remember, the special counsel team used some form of pre-existing warrant authority to capture all of the Trump transition team emails and communication from the GSA, and then lied about it to the Trump White House. Perhaps National Security Letters (NSL’s).
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Did the original scope memo from Rod Rosenstein in May 2017 authorize Team Mueller to investigate allegations in the Steele Dossier?…  Allegations that were already debunked by the FBI four months earlier in mid-January 2017?

There’s more than a little irony in this brief CNN soundbite where Evan Perez is discussing the FBI’s fraudulent FISA applications.  On January 10th, 2017, it was the same Evan Perez along with CNN’s Jim Sciutto, who were operating as conduits from the FBI ‘small group’ to push the Steele Dossier as a valid investigative document. {Go Deep}
Evan Perez, Jim Sciutto, Jake Tapper and Carl Bernstein were working together with the FBI group headed by James Comey, to push the legitimacy of the Steele Dossier.
While the CNN crew was coordinating with the FBI; literally two days before the FBI renewed the FISA warrant on January 12th; and shortly after CNN pushed the narrative; FBI agents visited the U.K, interviewed Steele’s primary sub-source and determined the dossier was garbage.   It was the Steele Dossier being identified as garbage that made the FISA renewals invalid…. the same Dossier that Evan Perez was promoting in 2017:

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Inspector General Michael Horowitz informs us in his report the FBI determined the dossier was bunk “shortly after” the January 12, 2017, FISA renewal.
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Representative Elise Stefanik is a member of President Trump’s defense team.  In this interview the issue of the deficient articles is raised surrounding witnesses.
House witnesses who gave testimony when the articles were framed could be considered appropriate, if needed, when debating those articles in the Senate.  However, witnesses not called by the House; and therefore not used in the assembly of the articles being debated in the Senate; are not valid for consideration.

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It is not the responsibility of the Senate, nor is it constitutionally valid, for the Senate to attempt to rehabilitate improperly constructed articles simply because the House refused to assemble with due diligence.  Any evidence, including witnesses, that falls outside the originating assembly of the two House articles should be considered null and void.
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There will be 24 hours of presentation by House Impeachment Managers (over 3 days); 24 hours of presentation by Defense team (over 3 days); 16 hours of Senate questioning; 4 hours of closing arguments, equally divided; and then a Senate debate/vote on further motions to include witnesses. If there are going to be witnesses, they will first be deposed prior to testimony. No witness testimony will be permitted without first being deposed.
The Senate Trial continues with the second session today at 7:15pm EST. McConnell announced the evening session will last until approximately 10:30pm.
PBS Livestream Link – Fox10 News Livestream Link – Fox Business – CSPAN Link

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An interesting ruling, brief and order from the FISA Court (Judge Boasberg) released today [pdf here] reflects an admission by the DOJ the 2nd and 3rd FISA renewal against U.S. person Carter Page were invalid.

The “DOJ assesses that with respect to the applications in [April and June 2017] “if not earlier, there was insufficient predication to establish probable cause to believe that [Carter]Page was acting as an agent of a foreign power.””

The original FISA application was October 21st, 2016.  The first FISA renewal was January 12, 2017 (84 days from origination).  The second renewal was April 7, 2017 (85 days from prior renewal).  The third renewal was on June 29th, 2017 (83 days from prior renewal).
The DOJ has now attested to the FISC the FISA application on April 7, 2017, and the FISA application of June 29th were invalid.  However, the DOJ has not taken a position on the validity of the original application, Oct 21, 2016, or the first renewal of January 12, 2017.
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As 21 different state attorneys general noted earlier today, there are several reasons why the impeachment effort is unconstitutional.  These are not process arguments; they are factual arguments central to the constitutional framework of our government.
The failure of a full House vote to authorize the House Judiciary Committee to pursue evidence -via enforceable subpoenas- was a defect by design of Nancy Pelosi’s decision to initiate an impeachment inquiry by her decree, not an authorizing vote.  White House lawyer Patrick Philbin explains the legal issue; this could be the lead argument in the defense case when it starts.  [Video prompted to 03:20]

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CTH noted this structural issue last August, and the issue remained throughout the heavily manipulated proceedings. None of the House requests for testimony or documents held any enforcement authority because the House did not follow the constitutional process.
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