Part of the successful negotiations amid the 21 congressional holdouts to the McCarthy speakership, was a pledge to create a subcommittee styled after the Frank Church committee.  The purpose of the subcommittee would be to investigate the intelligence apparatus of the U.S. government and the conflicting intersections created by the unconstitutional surveillance state.

It appears from a review of the 6-page framework [See Proposal HERE], the subcommittee will fall under the jurisdiction of the House Judiciary Committee which will likely be chaired by Jim Jordan (R-OH).  The framework of the committee as it is surfacing would be structured to have investigative authorities into U.S. intelligence operations, Homeland Security, FBI and DOJ-NSD activity.  Thomas Massie will likely be a member of the committee and appeared with Tucker Carlson to discuss. {Direct Rumble Link} – WATCH:

Readers here are very familiar with how the intelligence and national security interests have risen to control almost every institution of government.  CTH has deeply outlined how these intelligence departments and homeland security systems have enmeshed to control the executive, legislative and judicial branch of government.

What this committee appears to be motivated toward, and what Massie is outlining in that interview, is the process of going into each of the purposefully created information silos (CIA, DHS, ODNI, FBI, DOJ-NSD etc), reviewing their operational missions, extracting the evidence of their activity and then cross-referencing with unconstitutional outcomes.

The subcommittee has a noble goal; however, the success or lack thereof will ultimately come down to the personnel choices on and in the committee itself.  Additionally, and this is a major hurdle, the subcommittee is going to run head-first into the Senate Intelligence Committee obstruction and disinformation system.

The operational mission of the current Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), is entirely to stop any government action that might impede, investigate or attempt to remove the Fourth Branch of Government the Senate has created.   The SSCI, the U.S. Intelligence Community and the Dept of Homeland Security will target this House Subcommittee, the members, the staffers and their families, with extreme prejudice.

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Republican Representative Mike Rogers (House Armed Services Committee Chair) was furious when Kevin McCarthy came up one vote short in his effort to become Speaker of the House on ballot #14.

While McCarthy tried to convince Florida Representative Matt Gaetz to change his vote, Mike Rogers came into the picture to fight and had to be physically restrained.  The event was captured on C-SPAN camera.   Video at 01:20 Prompted:

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The House is scheduled to begin the effort for the installation of California Representative Kevin McCarthy at 10:00pm ET.   It is unknown whether the 14th ballot effort will succeed or exactly how many representatives are still in DC for the activity.   The livestream is below:

UPDATE:

• Round 14 fails for McCarthy by one vote.  232 votes cast. McCarthy got 216 – one vote short of majority.
• Representative Mike Rogers (AL) tried to fight Matt Gaetz and had to be restrained. (LINK)
• GOP tried to adjourn.  Voice vote failed and failed counting of yeas and nays.  House cannot adjourn.
• Republicans now go for round #15

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How many months ago did CTH start saying ‘watch Mexico’? Having said that, what is unfolding right now in the battle between the Sinaloa cartel and the Mexican military is fraught with unknown variables and hidden U.S. interests.

Use the example of the U.S. manipulating Ukraine as the reference point for what is happening in Mexico right now with Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau scheduled to visit Mexico City in four days for the North American Summit.

It’s all sketchy. Do not formulate opinions because we have no idea how many peas and shells are being maneuvered by U.S. intelligence and national security state interests.

We are told the Mexican military arrested Ovidio Guzman-Lopez, the son of El Chapo, who it is claimed to be running the drug cartel Culiacan, Sinaloa state. Some form of Mexican or U.S. military unit, contractor or federal office with guns and big juice then transferred Ovidio Guzman-Lopez to Mexico City where the summit is supposed to take place.

The Sinaloa cartel has now begun a rampage of revenge across the Sinaloa state attacking, police, government buildings, transportation, airports and planes, setting vehicles ablaze and setting up roadblocks. At least seven Mexican security force personnel are reported to have been killed in clashes where the government was trying to retake control.  Eight civilians are also reported dead.

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Our dear friend Sharon always reminds us, “Those whose motives are based on deception, will always find an audience willing to be deceived.”  That, my friends, is the current status of the Republican party watchers and one of the primary reasons this little corner of the internet, The Last Refuge, was formed.

We accept things as they are, not as we would wish them to be and never as we would pretend them to be.   Pretending is an endless quest akin to convincing. Those who operate in the world of political pretense expend an exhaustive amount of energy in constant vigilance against those who speak plain truths.

The House of Representatives has adjourned until 10pm tonight, when another vote will be taken, as outlined by the design of the Kevin McCarthy supporters.

Why adjourn?  Why return at 10:00pm on a Friday evening?  Simply, because the McCarthy team is counting on several House members (mostly Democrats) not being in attendance for the quorum, facilitating a lower threshold of the vote to achieve a majority.

435/434 members present = 218 votes needed
433/432 members present = 217 votes needed
431/430 members present = 216 votes needed
429/428 members present = 215 votes needed
etc.

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During his opening monologue tonight, Fox News host Tucker Carlson outlines the attacks against those opposing Kevin McCarthy for House Speaker.

Tucker Carlson asks why the visibility of democracy in action ends up with DC insiders claiming the American political structure is going to collapse just because Kevin McCarthy is not being anointed as House Speaker.   Those in opposition to McCarthy are deemed as Russian operatives, domestic terrorists and corrupt sketchy voices belonging to various shady patriotic movements that have threatened the domestic tranquility of the nation.   WATCH:

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Representative Matt Rosendale (R-MT) railed against Congress’s “broken system” as he nominated Byron Donalds for the 9th round of voting in the race for Speaker of the House on Thursday.

During his remarks, Rosendale outlined the power dynamic and rules system, what he calls “the nasty little secret, put into place by prior leadership that has corrupted the institution and made the voices of individual members irrelevant to the activity within the lower chamber.  Rosendale outlines how changing these rules and the power dynamic of the few is what the protest against Kevin McCarthy is all about.  WATCH:

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That slow grinding creak you hear in the background; that’s the U.S. economic engine running without oil and beginning that slowdown phase just before it stutters and stalls completely.  Alas, the pretending continues…

As noted by the Wall Street Journal, an economic gaslighting institution with a central mission to maintain pretenses, “business surveys show U.S. factory activity declined in December, the Institute for Supply Management and S&P Global both said this week. Separately, S&P Global said Thursday that U.S. services-sector businesses reported a decline in output for the third month running in December.” This comes as “U.S. imports dropped more, by 6.4% on the month, as Americans cut back on holiday-related purchases, including items from other countries such as computers and autos.”

Keep in mind, November retail sales—which included consumer spending at stores, online and at restaurants—fell 0.6% from the prior month for their biggest decline of 2022, according to the Commerce Department. Manufacturing output declined in November as well, the Fed reported, while U.S. home sales fell for a record 10th straight month.

Into this mix of economic metrics, driven by a collapse in disposable consumer income and high energy prices, now we begin to see the number one business expense being curtailed.

(Market Watch) […] Amazon.com Inc layoffs will affect more than 18,000 employees, the highest reduction tally revealed in the past year at a major technology company as the industry pares back amid economic uncertainty.

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Most people are unaware that outside lobbyist groups hold the power over the internal dynamic.  In addition to internal financial systems, each congressperson is aligned with a lobbyist group that pays for their political election efforts, sort of like a corporate sponsor in a professional sports team.  Ultimately the sponsors determine what issues the politician supports.  This is the business end of DC politics.

According to Politico, the Congressional Leadership Fund (team McCarthy) has come to an agreement with the Club for Growth Fund (team not McCarthy) and worked out a deal the representatives may be permitted to support.  The deal “includes a vote on term limits for members, more seats for Freedom Caucus members on the powerful House Rules Committee and allowing a single member to force a vote on ousting the speaker.”  The voting continues today.

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Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is one of the primary voices against Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for the House speaker role. Gaetz appeared on Fox News to discuss the background issues with Kevin McCarthy and the lack of trust held by the group opposing him.

Additionally, Gaetz refuses to accept the criticism from former House republicans who created the crisis of confidence within the American electorate.  When challenged about the specific criticism, Gaetz does a good job putting context to the failed republican efforts over the past 15 years.  The video is a good encapsulation of the current status.  WATCH (prompted to 02:29):

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The House will reconvene at Noon Thursday to continue the process of trying to nominate a speaker.

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