Earlier today President Donald Trump held a bilateral oval office meeting with First Lady of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Fabiana Rosales.  The delegation accompanying Lady Rosales included: Carlos Vecchio, Ambassador-designate of Venezuela to the United States; Mrs. Romy Moreno Molina, Wife of Interim President Guaido’s Chief of Staff, Roberto Marrero; and Mrs. Belen Marrero Borjas, Sister of Roberto Marrero.
Juan Guaido’s Chief of staff Roberto Marrero was recently kidnapped by the Maduro regime.  Today’s meeting was a show of support for Jaun Guaido. [Video]

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Today on the Senate floor, United States Senator Mike Lee received his first star for conspicuous pageantry, meritorious valor, and ridicule with specific consequence during the great meme battle of 2019 against the Green New Deal. WATCH:

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China has no cultural or political space between peace and war; they are a historic nation based on two points of polarity.  They see peace and war as coexisting with each other.
China accepts and believes opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another.  Flowing between these polar states is a natural dynamic to be used -with serious contemplation- in advancing objectives as needed.
Peace or war. Yin and Yang. Panda or Dragon. Culturally there is no middle position in dealings with communist China; they are not capable of understanding or valuing the western philosophy of mutual benefit where concession of terms gains a larger outcome.  If it does not benefit China, it is not done. The outlook is simply, a polarity of peace or war.  In politics or economics the same perspective is true.  It is a zero-sum outlook.
Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford confirm to the Senate Armed Services Committee that Google’s work in China is directly benefiting the government and Chinese military.

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When Senator Chuck Schumer said the “intelligence community has six ways to Sunday to get back at you“, few realized he meant the IC were treasonous spies and the “you” was our country.  An official within the DIA from 2014 to 2018 was selling U.S. intelligence secrets to China and he plead guilty today (full pdf below).
(Justice Department) Ron Rockwell Hansen, 58, a resident of Syracuse, Utah, and a former Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officer, pleaded guilty today in the District of Utah in connection with his attempted transmission of national defense information to the People’s Republic of China. Sentencing is set for Sept. 24, 2019.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney John Huber for the District of Utah and Special Agent in Charge Paul Haertel of the FBI’s Salt Lake City Field Office announced the charges.
Hansen retired from the U.S. Army as a Warrant Officer with a background in signals intelligence and human intelligence. He speaks fluent Mandarin-Chinese and Russian. DIA hired Hansen as a civilian intelligence case officer in 2006. Hansen held a Top Secret clearance for many years, and signed several non-disclosure agreements during his tenure at DIA and as a government contractor.
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Chairman Lindsey Graham appears on late-night-interuptus to discuss his Senate Judiciary investigation into allegations of FISA abuse, etc.

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U.S. Trade Rep Robert Lighthizer’s work on the U.S-China trade negotiations is easily the most technically challenging and legally complex trade deal in the history of U.S. Commerce.
Lighthizer is not focused on selling more U.S. product, he is focused on bigger issues and enforcement therein.
Think about it.  This is a deal between a U.S. open market economy and a communist controlled closed market economy in China.  No nation has a comprehensive trade deal with China on anything except individual business sectors.
Despite China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, no nation has ever achieved anything close to an aggregate FTA (Free Trade Agreement) with China.  This deal would be the first comprehensive deal, and as such Lighthizer is essentially mapping out an agreement that all other nations could follow….  This is big-league.
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The UC Berkeley Police have arrested and identified the suspect (pictured below) who was caught on camera attacking a young college conservative.  According to CBS:

BERKELEY (CBS SF) — A man being sought for the assault of a conservative activist on the University of California, Berkeley campus last month has been arrested.
A statement from UC Berkeley Public Affairs said a warrant was issued for suspect Zachary Greenberg and UC police arrested him Friday, booking him into jail at 1 p.m.
[…] Police will formally present the case to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office for consideration of the filing of criminal charges, the university said. (read more)

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We can somewhat throw out the schedule; President Trump and Chairman Kim held a much longer one-on-one, and informal small group discussion….. Culminating in this historic moment with the media present and the formal bilat about to begin.
First, watch Chairman Kim Jong-un take questions from U.S. media.  That’s historic. Second, and more importantly, listen carefully to the answers: MUST WATCH

U.S. Journalist: “Chairman Kim are you willing to denuclearize?”

Chairman Kim Jong-un: “If I’m not willing to do that, I won’t be here right now.”

POTUS Trump injected: “That might be the best answer you’ve ever heard.”

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You might want to bookmark this congressional testimony from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to the House Ways and Means Committee for specific purposes…
There are many people who are understandably worried that any U.S. trade agreement between the U.S. and China might not have the most ferocious teeth behind a binding enforcement provision.  If you listen to Ambassador Lighthizer he makes clear that President Donald Trump, and the negotiating team, will not accept any agreement that does not have the strongest enforcement mechanisms at every level.

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In his testimony Lighthizer walks through the basic outline of what a U.S. successful agreement would look like.  While increased Chinese purchases to lower the deficit are a part of the goal, they are a VERY SMALL part of the goal.
The protection of U.S. intellectual property; the removal of non-tariff trade barriers; the confrontation of currency manipulation and the sector by sector enforcement provisions are the primary objective.
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The majority of the political engagements between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un will take place early Wednesday morning (U.S. EST). Vietnam is 12 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time.

Wed. Hostage Rescue Schedule and Livestream Below:

• 5:55am EST / 5:55pm (local) – President Trump departs his hotel en route to the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, Hanoi, Vietnam
• 6:15am EST / 6:15pm (local) – President Trump arrives at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, Hanoi, Vietnam
• 6:30am EST / 6:30pm (local) – President Trump participates in a greeting with the Chairman Kim Jong-un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Hanoi, Vietnam
• 6:40am EST / 6:40pm (local) – President Trump participates in a one-on-one conversation with Chairman Kim Jong-un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Hanoi, Vietnam
• 7:00am EST / 7:00pm (local) – President Trump participates in a social dinner with Chairman Kim Jong-un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Hanoi, Vietnam
• 8:35am EST / 8:35pm (local) – President Trump departs the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi en route to his hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam
• 8:55am EST / 8:55pm (local) – President Trump arrives back at his hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam

Day #1 (Wednesday Local) concludes.
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