There has been a great deal of consternation, directed toward AG Jeff Sessions surrounding the ongoing FISA abuse scandal and the larger issues of unlawful DOJ and FBI conduct in their political investigation of candidate Donald Trump.  It is a matter of great division amid people who follow the details.

That said, AG Jeff Sessions revealed tonight in an interview with Shannon Bream, that he previously appointed a DOJ official to investigate the issues delivered by Chairman Bob Goodlatte (House Judiciary), prior to receiving the request for a Special Counsel from Chairman Goodlatte and Trey Gowdy.  WATCH:

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Transcript @00:15 (emphasis mine) “Well, I have great respect for Mr. Gowdy and Chairman Goodlatte, and we are going to consider seriously their recommendations. I have appointed a person outside of Washington, many years in the Department of Justice to look at all the allegations that the House Judiciary Committee members sent to us; and we’re conducting that investigation.

Also I am well aware we have a responsibility to insure the integrity of the FISA process, we’re not afraid to look at that. The inspector general, some think that our inspector general is not very strong; but he has almost 500 employers, employees, most of which are lawyers and prosecutors; and they are looking at the FISA process. We must make sure that it’s done properly, and we’re going to do that. And I’ll consider their request.”

Well, there you have it.  There is already an appointed person, likely a prosecutor, from “outside of Washington”, in place prior to the recent request for a Special Counsel by Goodlatte and Gowdy.   That was exactly what an objective analysis of the events previously outlined – and we previously noted.

Attorney Jeff Sessions is noting the existence of an outside prosecutor who has been in place for quite a while, exactly as we thought.  All the evidence of this was/is clear if you follow the granular details closely.   Here’s how we figure it out; and also the reason why no-one in Washington DC -including congress and the president- was previously aware.

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Judicial analyst and Fox News host, Shannon Bream, has an exclusive interview airing tonight on Fox News.  Jake Gibson is a Fox News producer and just tweeted this:

It would appear Attorney General Jeff Sessions already has a DOJ prosecutor looking into the issues uncovered by the House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte.

You might note, as we previously outlined, Chairman Bob Goodlatte -as a specific outcome of his oversight role-  is the congressional leader working closest with DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz.   I shall resist the urge….

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Important stuff in this ‘straight talk’ interview.  Buckets of ‘breaking’ stuff to unpack.

First, per Trade Adviser Peter Navarro, the Steel and Aluminum tariffs will be announced tomorrow.  Second, Mexico and Canada will be given an exemption from those tariffs while NAFTA is being renegotiated.  WATCH:

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The exemption will give U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer increased leverage in his efforts to close the NAFTA loophole.  Closing the NAFTA “fatal flaw” is the essential “Option 1” that we have discussed previously several times.  It would be against the interests of Canada and Mexico to ever agree to close the loophole.  However, the steel and aluminum tariffs add a bit of financial incentive not previously in the equation.

It is still highly doubtful the amount of money in the steel and aluminum tariff aspect is close to enough to get Canada and Mexico to agree to close the backdoor loophole.  However, any amount is more than was there before…. so the possibility of “option 1” increases a smidge.

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Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross talks about the importance of trade “reciprocity”.  As Wilburine outlines phase-2 MAGAnomics is only just beginning the reciprocity discussion.

Additionally, Secretary Ross talks about the issues with Chinese steel trans-shipment and the reason for Steel and Aluminum tariffs to be global in order to address China’s use of proxy nation states to continue dumping.   In this interview Ross begins to outline the fine points behind the pending 2018 trade negotiations. It is going to take a lot of repeated effort to awaken the larger U.S. electorate to the issues.

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*ahem* As if on cue…

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DEEP-DIVE FULL BACKSTORY

The Eagle, The Panda and The Red Dragon

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Very cautious optimism because Red Dragon has history of using the Panda Mask to cloud intents as a strategy.   North Korea is a proxy state to their enabler, China.  DPRK Kim Jong-un is little stompy-feet panda to the big panda/red dragon, Chairman Xi Jinping.

The one constant in an ever-changing universe is the gravity of China; it only goes one-way.  China allows and directs what is in China’s best interests.  Period.

Chinese Chairman-for-life Xi Jinping (all he represents) view smiling panda economics as modern intercontinental nuclear weapons.

Chairman Xi and President Trump have been deep inside a geopolitical smiling contest for over a year.  Xi and Trump are playing grandmaster level geopolitical economics.  Their most consequential moves are well beyond the horizon; far away from the gaze of the crowd; the media is oblivious to them.

•Japan (Shinzo Abe) has stated they have “great confidence” in President Trump’s Asian national security approach. •South Korea (President Moon Jae-in) stated they are “confident there will not be war again on the Korean peninsula“; •and they are willing to send a special envoy to North Korea to begin talks. •In addition, China quietly removed the 71-year-old veteran diplomat, Wu Dawei, from the position of negotiator toward the DPRK, and replaced him with 58-year-old Kong Xuanyou. Kong is a long time Chinese diplomat in charge of Asian affairs and he speaks Korean.

All of this was generally under-reported and took place months before President Trump arrived in Asia last year.  The U.S. media was busy pushing racism and Charlottesville narratives.  More importantly this quiet activity took place while President Trump directed US Trade Rep Robert Lighthizer to begin a section 301 trade investigation (Intellectual Property theft) into China.

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There will obviously be another media cycle decrying crisis at the White House with the announcement that National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn is departing.

However, for those who follow the administration closely, this was a foregone conclusion; the MAGAnomic “America First” policy has a specifically timed exit ramp for just this purpose.

We have previously outlined the relationship between President Trump and Gary Cohn HERE – Along with what each of them brings to the perspectives of the other.  In addition, the larger Trump economic policy always held two distinct aspects:

1. The financial aspects – taxes and monetary policy stability; or perhaps more succinctly the Wall Street aspect.
2. The trade, jobs and manufacturing aspects – trade policy; or perhaps more succinctly the Main Street aspect.

The implementation of Trump’s economic policy involves those two elements: Taxes and Trade. Inside the Trump administration there are economic policy advocates who agree on the tax element, but disagree on the trade element. Economic adviser Gary Cohn is an example.

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House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte has direct oversight authority over the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Courts. Within this oversight, the House Judiciary Committee also has oversight over the FISA court. Additionally, in his current oversight role, Chairman Goodlatte has been working closely with DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

Today Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Representative Trey Gowdy pen a letter (full pdf below) to Attorney General Jeff Sessions requesting the appointment of a special counsel to investigate “conflicts of interest” and decisions “made and not made” by current and former Justice Department officials in 2016 and 2017, noting that “the public interest requires” the action.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Gowdy and Goodlatte spoke about the discovery of new information as their reasoning behind calling for a second independent counsel:

“What changed for me was the knowledge that there are two dozen witnesses that Michael Horowitz, the [DOJ] Inspector General, would not have access to,” Gowdy said. “When I counted up 24 witnesses that he would not be able to access were he to investigate it, yeah only one conclusion, that’s special counsel.”

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CNN doesn’t have a single broadcast show in the top 40 of cable. CNN’s current ratings are the worst in their history. CNN uses Bananas and Apples to explain their 2018 journalistic mission statement.

A few months ago, a special CNN investigative unit reached the end of a year compiling information that proved Pokemon-Go conspired to defeat Hillary Clinton. Last month the network sent a reporter to St. Petersburg, where he literally dug around a dumpster looking for leads to the global Russian election conspiracy.

Earlier tonight, after Jake Tapper interviewed him by phone, CNN quickly arranged for an hour-long broadcast interview with a seemingly drunk guy , “sketchy sam“, to discuss the vast Russian-Trump planetary conspiracy theory & his involvement with Robert Mueller.

And now this:

Yes America, today CNN sends Ivan Watson to Bangkok, Thailand, for an interview with a prostitute claiming to have the goods on the President Trump’s collusion with Russia. The hooker, Anastasia Vashukevich, who is also a self-described “sex coach,” is currently imprisoned, and hopes that America will offer her asylum in exchange for naked pictures of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

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It was the Mississippi primary race between 40-year-term Senator Thad Cochran and Chris McDaniel in 2014 that revealed just how far the GOPe would go to keep a grip on their power.  The establishment and Mitch McConnell were willing to do anything to protect Thad Cochran despite his infirmity and near certain senility.

Senator Cochran was barely awake for the past few years.  Today his staff announce his retirement effective April 1st:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, today announced his intention to resign from the U.S. Senate effective April 1, 2018.

“I regret my health has become an ongoing challenge. I intend to fulfill my responsibilities and commitments to the people of Mississippi and the Senate through the completion of the 2018 appropriations cycle, after which I will formally retire from the U.S. Senate.

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