This is a little lengthy of a discussion, but it touches upon something very relevant to this election cycle.  Author Diana West discusses a network and pattern of ideology within the modern pentagon leadership, and how a worldview is threatened by President Trump. The interview and discussion is below.

The conversation necessarily gets in the weeds and is filled with unique insight into a very complex alignment. However, in the big picture it’s not difficult to figure out why the Pentagon would be opposed to Trump.  During the campaign and early administration President Trump’s expressed foreign policy was viewed by NATO alliance members as a threat.  The same type of perspective applies internally to the U.S. military.

President Trump’s preferred use of economic warfare makes the Pentagon’s role diminished. Instead of punching North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, President Trump hits the checkbook of Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping.  The primary has become the contingency. The value of James Mattis replaced by the effectiveness of Robert Lighthizer.  JC Milley isn’t in the planning room; Milley’s been replaced by Wilbur Ross (until he’s needed).

In the Trump era the President is telling the Pentagon where and when to position; and asks them for ‘contingency’ preparation.  Decades of Pentagon-centric foreign policy is lessened by an entirely new geopolitical approach based on economic strategy.

Take away power, or worse yet, stop using military power, and the leaders within the system start to sense their institution becoming functionally obsolescent.  Overlay this military view upon pre-existing ideological differences and the situation gets worse.

CTH touched on this last year when we noted how the Pentagon, specifically the joint chiefs, never took any action when Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman positioned himself as an opponent to President Trump’s policy perspective.  The pentagon left Vindman on assignment to the NSC even after Vindman attempted to take-down President Trump.

Another example was Joint Chief Chairman Milley, and the visit Pompeo and Milley took to Mar-a-Lago in December, where they were informing President Trump of military strikes in Syria and Iraq *after* they took place. [Background Here] [Background Here].

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DOJ Spokesperson Kerri Kupec is interviewed by Liz MacDonald to discuss today’s DC Circuit Court hearing in the Flynn case.  As Ms. Kupec notes there are several irregularities in the case stemming first-and-foremost from a decision by Judge Emett Sullivan refusing to accept an unopposed motion by both the DOJ and Flynn defense to drop the case.

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HPSCI Ranking Member Devin Nunes has an interview on OAN news to discuss FBI legal counsel Dana Boente and his exit from the FBI this month.  As Nunes notes Mr. Boente is at the center of an information flow which put him in a position to know the underlying evidence.  As an outcome of that position Boente is either a participant or a witness to corruption at the highest levels of the DOJ.

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In prior positions as U.S. Attorney for Virginia; and while leading the DOJ National Security Division; and then later shifting to the FBI as chief legal counsel under Chris Wray; Dana Boente was at the epicenter of corrupt intent and malign activity toward the Trump administration.

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DNI John Ratcliffe has declassified the Appendix to the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA). [Source Document Here] The appendix known as “Annex A” was the material the FBI and CIA did not include in the body of the ICA; however, it was used to brief congress.  [NOTE: the document quality/clarity is very poor as released]

There was always suspicion that “Annex A” was the ridiculous claims by FBI source Christopher Steele; those suspicions are confirmed today.  The ICA was written in late December ’16 & early January 2017, and the purpose was to politicize intelligence by making outlandish claims of the Trump-Russia conspiracy the official position of the U.S intelligence apparatus (CIA, FBI, DOJ and NSA).

[Link to Original pdf]

The “Annex A” supporting the narrative was made out of claims by Christopher Steele. The two-page document is stunningly obtuse by design; and despite the FBI knowing the purpose of Christopher Steele, the Annex pretends not to know his agenda.

By keeping the ridiculous Steele claims in the annex the FBI was able to use the claims and yet afford themselves plausible deniability under the pretense of non-verification.  When James Comey briefed President Trump about the claims he pretended not to know the political intents of the information; and worse still, he covered-up that Clinton’s campaign had paid for the information.  A stunningly political move based on deception.

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Earlier today President Trump signed an executive order targeting members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) who have engaged in corrupt activity.   The XO bars entry into the U.S. and seizes property belonging to the targets.  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, Attorney General Bill Barr and National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien explain why these measures are needed.

[White House] As part of President Donald J. Trump’s steadfast commitment to protecting American service members and defending our national sovereignty, the President has authorized economic sanctions against International Criminal Court officials directly engaged with any effort to investigate or prosecute United States personnel without the consent of the United States. The President has also authorized the expansion of visa restrictions against International Criminal Court officials and their family members.

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The DC circuit court of appeals has oral arguments scheduled for this coming Friday as the DOJ and Flynn defense both request intervention.  In the interim the underlying case continues in Judge Emett Sullivan’s court.  Part of that underlying case activity was a request by Sullivan for an Amicus briefing by court appointed lawyer John Gleeson.

John Gleeson is essentially filling an assignment by the judge to assume the role of prosecutor and inform the court through an amicus briefing.  That brief was filed today [pdf available here and below].  Within the brief, and counter to the position of the DOJ with new information, Gleeson claims the predicate for the investigation of Flynn was valid and sets out to launch his argument from that foundation.

In essence Gleeson is defending the origin of Spygate/Obamagate and all the downstream consequences from that originating decision; one of those origination issues was an investigation of Michael Flynn; and one downstream consequence was an interview of Flynn under the guise of the dubious originating investigation authority.

Assuming the role of “Spygate” defender is an interesting effort by John Gleeson; considering that Gleeson should have little knowledge about new discoveries into the DOJ and FBI predication activity in 2016.  The discoveries by USAO John Durham (Spygate in total) and USAO Jeff Jensen (Flynn case specific) should be unknown to Gleeson as he attempts to frame his argument.

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Fox News with Bret Baier broadcasts the second segment of their interview with U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr.  The interview begins with a discussion of recent rioting and the activist groups who participated in looting, arson and attacks against police.

AG Barr notes the ‘spygate’ investigation into DOJ and FBI conduct so far indicates that for the first time in American history, the police and national security apparatus was used to spy on the Trump campaign.  Additionally, the AG cautions people not to read into the lack of indictments as the investigation remains ongoing.

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Joe Biden’s Campaign Director James Clyburn takes denial of truth to never-before-seen levels of avoidance and lying. During an interview earlier today the Biden campaign architect claimed there was no evidence of violence in Washington DC last week.

According to Clyburn there was no violence, rioting, looting, arson or attacks against police. The burned out cars, buildings and churches, the videos of rampant looting, and the 150 police officers taken to the hospital were apparently staged and made up. According to his claims, none of what you saw actually happened.

Clyburn seems confident media will protect him and not call him out on his false claims. Judging by the non-response of Neil Cavuto, his confidence is accurate. WATCH:

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President Donald Trump has noted the unusual behavior of the Buffalo protester who was captured on a now-viral video last week:

Coincidentally, as we noted at the time of the incident something does indeed seem sketchy with the behavior of Mr. Martin Gugino both before and during the encounter.

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Mr. Martin Gugino is a 75-year-old professional activist, agitator and Antifa provocateur who brags on his blog about the number of times he can get arrested and escape prosecution. Also, according to Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown remarking on the incident: “here has been vandalism, there have been fires set, there have been stores broken into & looted. According to what was reported to me, that individual was a key major instigator of people engaging in those activities.”

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If you’ve been following the week-long, highly political, three state grievance tour consisting of five funerals and viewings timed and located to maximize a 2020 political narrative; today is the culmination of the effort. However, you might also notice a big difference between how the media announced the program to the final day events.

The media previously claimed funeral number four for George Floyd in Houston, Texas, would be a small private gathering of family and close friends and that’s why Joe Biden would not be present to give his remarks in person. As the Biden/Clyburn campaign explained to Reuters: “He is not expected to attend the service to avoid any disruption to mourners that could be caused by his Secret Service protective detail.”

That Biden/Clyburn claim was always transparently silly. As you can see today from the funeral dozens of congresspersons, senators, state and national officials were included in a large made-for-television, live-broadcast, event that was not the least bit “private”, “small” or reserved for close family and friends. Instead it was what we expected it would be; a Joe Biden political rally exploiting the death of George Floyd.

That said, there is also clarity of purpose behind the video that Biden recorded; and, as we expected, the video was carefully constructed for the candidate to read from a teleprompter, edited with sound enhancements and under careful control. It is likely James Clyburn was more concerned with Biden screwing up a live speech, thus the recording was needed.

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