As they say… things get clearer with more data. The activity behind the curtain starts to make more sense.
Thanks to an article from Newsmax we now get to see the fourth corner of the 2020 Fox News motives:

NEWSMAX – The parent company of Fox News has hired a former top aide to Joe Biden as its chief lobbyist in Washington.
On Tuesday the new Fox Corp., a spin-off of 21^st Century Fox which just merged with Disney, became a standalone public company, controlling television assets such as Fox News and the Fox television network.
Broadcasting & Cable reported that new Fox “hit the ground running on day one” with its Washington lobbying operation headed by Danny O’Brien, a well-known Democrat.

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Everything about last year’s headline story just two-weeks before the mid-term election was weird; including the refusal of the FBI to state what ‘specifically’ was the material suspect Cesar Sayoc was accused of using to create his Acme looking pipe bombs.
[Full Indictment Here]
You might remember: FBI Director Christopher Wray outlined during his remarks that the devices consisted of PVC pipe, clocks, batteries, wiring and “energetic material that can become combustible when subjected to heat or friction”.
The FBI director went out of his way to state: “these were not hoax devices.”  The DOJ then moved to seal all court filings and the case against the nut continued behind the curtain of ‘national security’.  Suspect Cesar Sayoc was scheduled to go on trial this summer on charges relating to the pipe bombs.  However, today he entered a guilty plea before a federal judge in New York.

(Via Washington Post) Cesar Sayoc, the Florida man accused of mailing explosive devices to more than a dozen politicians and media figures who have been critical of President Trump, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court.

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As of today the geographical ISIS caliphate, the open control over territory, has ended.  There is no longer a geographic land mass under the control and ownership of the extremist ISIS group known as ISIS.  All their territory has been removed.
An review of multiple DoD, State and Media reports essentially boils down to ISIS returning to an insurgency, a loosely connected ideological terror group without control over any specific area.
Interestingly, the foreign fighters who traveled to Syria to fight for ISIS were reported as the last ones to give up the caliphate fight.  Presumably because they would be unable to assimilate into the local communities, those foreign fighters were the last to be eliminated.

BAGHOUZ, Syria — The caliphate has crumbled, and the final offensive is over. While the official announcement hasn’t yet been made – Fox News has been told that this village, the last ISIS stronghold, is liberated.

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White House Senior Adviser Kellyanne Conway sits down for an interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.  Within the interview Bartiromo asks Ms. Conway about her husband’s very public criticisms of President Trump…. and the conversation gets weird.
This is an unusual public conversation about an odd personal dynamic.

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With a few exceptions CTH is not a big fan of expecting congressional letters to deliver results and information.  However, that said, I hope this is one of the exceptions.
Representatives Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows send a letter (full pdf below) to Attorney General William Barr wanting to know what is the status of the criminal referral for fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
The referral was made April 19th, 2018, approximately five days after the OIG published their report outlining McCabe’s lies.

The McCabe criminal referral was made to Jessie K. Liu (above right), the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia who is also a member of the Attorney General Advisory Council (AGAC). According to reporting from last year there was a grand jury impaneled in/around July 2018.
Grand Jury testimony and activity is generally kept quiet; there have been no leaks and no public activity noted in the past eight months.  However, Mr. McCabe has recently been highly visible on his book tour.  Adding to speculation the grand jury may no longer exist, U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu is expected to be nominated to the #3 spot at the DOJ.
Given the distance from the original McCabe grand jury investigation (8 months); and accepting the current high-profile book tour by Andrew McCabe; and considering Ms. Liu is soon to exit as U.S. Attorney for DC; it would appear Mr. Jordan and Mr. Meadows are inquiring about whether or not the legal issues around McCabe still remain.
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It was previously noted how Senator Dianne Feinstein abdicated her position as Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, a Gang-of-Eight member, following the 2016 election. Senator Feinstein’s top aide was Daniel Jones; who, following the election, continued funding Christopher Steele and the Russia Conspiracy narrative.

Paul Sperry has done some great follow-up research into Jones’ group, The Democracy Integrity Project; and how the team continued to collaborate with journalists, pushing the Russia Conspiracy, from January 2017 through to today.

(RCP Investigations) […] The operation’s nerve center is a Washington-based nonprofit called The Democracy Integrity Project, or TDIP. Among other activities, it pumps out daily “research” briefings to prominent Washington journalists, as well as congressional staffers, to keep the Russia “collusion” narrative alive.
TDIP is led by Daniel J. Jones, a former FBI investigator, Clinton administration volunteer and top staffer to California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. It employs the key opposition-research figures behind the salacious and unverified dossier: Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson and ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele. Its financial backers include the actor/director Rob Reiner and billionaire activist George Soros.

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Earlier this afternoon President Donald Trump delivered a speech in Lima, Ohio, at an Army tank plant.  The overall speech held a jobs and economic focus highlighting a strong U.S. economy that continues to expand.
Within the remarks President Trump mixed in a wide variety of current event topics including U.S. military success against ISIS; and the need for GM and the UAW to come to terms, then sell or re-lease the Lordstown, Ohio, auto plant.

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UPDATE Transcript Added – [Transcript] – 3:15 P.M. EDT – AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA! (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you better love me; I kept this place open, that I can tell you. (Applause.) They said, “We’re closing it.” And I said, “No, we’re not.” And now you’re doing record business. The job you do is incredible. And I’m thrilled to be here in Ohio with the hardworking men and women of Lima. (Applause.)
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Oh dear, this doesn’t bode well for those who are concerned about U.S. imposed 20% auto tariffs on EU, mostly German, automobiles.  [NOTE: Pay attention to the timing here as it relates to Nord Stream 2] Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel has announced she will no longer uphold her prior agreement for NATO military spending.

At the 2014 NATO meeting in Wales, all NATO members agreed they would immediately begin a process to increase their military spending to two percent of GDP.  However, over time, and in direct contravention to the purpose of the effort, Germany (Merkel) began secretly working behind the scenes with Russia (Putin) on the Nord Stream II gas pipeline.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline delivers natural gas from Russia to Germany.  That pipeline is expected to go on-line this November, 2019.  Today, Angela Merkel announces she will no longer uphold Germany’s financial commitments to NATO. These two issues are directly related.  It now looks like Merkel made a back-door agreement with Russia on NATO.

(Via Daily Mail) Germany’s military spending is set to fall below its NATO targets, in the latest flashpoint in Berlin’s long-running row with Washington.
The latest German budget plans, revealed on Monday, will see defence spending drop well below the two per cent of GDP expected from NATO members.
U.S. ambassador Richard Grenell said the cuts were a ‘worrisome signal’, while President Donald Trump has repeatedly accused Germany of freeloading on U.S. military might.

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The Supreme Court reversed a prior 9th Circuit Court ruling restricting when illegal aliens could be detained and deported.
The SCOTUS ruling (full pdf below) was in favor the Trump administration, allowing federal officials to detain and deport illegal aliens after they have served their time in the U.S. for other crimes regardless of whether they were picked up immediately or later, after criminal release.
The 9th Circuit Court previously stated ICE would have to detain illegal aliens immediately after release or they would be exempt from later detainment.  SCOTUS eliminated that restriction and affirmed detainment and deportation at any time after criminal release.  The ruling was 5-4 with Justice Alito announcing the majority judgement of the court below:
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On the same day that polls show Americans increasingly see through the false premise of the Mueller investigation, and now agree that it’s a ‘witch hunt’, President Trump tweeted out a video segment from Tucker Carlson’s opening monologue. The video is below.  The topic is how the Russia Hoax was pushed on the U.S. electorate:

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