Recently release FOIA documents into the special counsel team of Robert Mueller reveal the remarkable trail of a 2017 entrapment scheme conducted by Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann to target George Papadopoulos.
[Hat Tip to Undercover Huber and Rosie Memos who have been reviewing documents.]

Before digging into the details it is important to note this is a DOJ/FBI entrapment operation being conducted in 2017 by the special counsel; this is not prior to the 2016 election. The detail surrounds a series of events previously discussed {Go Deep} where George Papadopoulos was approached by a known CIA operative named Charles Tawil.
In 2017 George Papadopoulos and his wife Simona were approached in Greece by a known CIA/FBI operative, Charles Tawil.  Mr. Tawil enlisted George as a business consultant, under the auspices of energy development interests, and invited him to Israel.
On June 8th, 2017, in Israel under very suspicious circumstances, where Papadopoulos felt very unnerved, Mr. Tawil hands him $10,000 in cash for future consultancy based on a $10k/month retainer.
On June 9th, 2017, according to his book, Papadopoulos and Tawil fly back to Cyprus.
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Against the backdrop of documents from the state department, Senator Lindsey Graham sends a letter to both OIG Michael Horowitz and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo seeking additional information about State Department contact with Christopher Steele.

(Source Link)

Additionally, the FBI has apparently reversed course on the self-serving redactions they put in place when the Kavalec Memo was released.  A less redacted version is below:
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According to Reuters, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler is negotiating terms for special counsel Robert Mueller to testify before the committee…  [I doubt this].
In my opinion, no-one in DC wants Robert Mueller to testify because they know Mueller was/is purely a figurehead for a corrupt investigative enterprise that was simply an extension of the 2016 DOJ and FBI effort.

Mueller was the 2017 cover that allowed the 2016 DOJ and FBI team to continue their efforts. Mueller didn’t select an investigative team, a pre-assembled TEAM that included Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe and FBI Counsel James Baker selected Mueller; and they successfully leveraged DAG Rod Rosenstein to appoint him.

“Hopefully he will come in. It won’t be next week,” Nadler said. “If necessary, we will subpoena him and he will come.”

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Today President Trump outlines an approach to head-off the anticipated retaliation from China over the increase in U.S. tariffs that began today. Whether this is structurally possible, or whether this is Trump’s attempt to diminish the leverage carried by Vice-Chairman Liu He, is an interesting question. However, the strategy is clear.
Overall U.S. inflation remains low relative to the economic gains from MAGAnomic policy. [Current CPI HERE].  GDP and wage growth are both exceeding inflation. As such, now is indeed the best time to confront China. President Trump notes this today in a tweet:

Inflation in the U.S. remains low overall at 1.8%…. now is the perfect time to hit Beijing with expanded tariffs.  However, President Trump knows China will retaliate through the multinationals on Wall Street.  President Trump knows China will specifically target the U.S. Agriculture sector. China will likely attempt to put pressure on Trump by refusing to buy U.S. farm product. The BIG AG multinationals will go bananas.
The BIG AG multinationals, those who control food/farm production, also control key Senators; they have been purchased through lobbyists. This is part of the Big Club approach/strategy.  Wall Street and the U.S. Senate will be aligned to support China; as a consequence President Trump needs to counteract their effort.
President Trump’s approach to counteract China’s strike against the U.S. agricultural community is visible in a series of tweets today.  I don’t necessarily agree with the proposal long-term, BUT I do understand the short-term objective…. optimum expediency.
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House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes discusses James Comey’s recent comments and the ongoing efforts against Attorney General Bill Barr.

House Judiciary member Mark Meadows has provided John Solomon with notes taken by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec on Oct. 11, 2016, during her meeting with Dossier author Christopher Steele (full pdf below). Solomon Article HERE.

Within the notes Kavalec outlines: ¹the motives of Steele; ²innacuracies in his claims; and ³his media distribution network used to push the sketchy information.  From the notes Kavalec wrote an email (currently classified by FBI/DOJ) informing the FBI of her review, two weeks ahead of the FBI application to the FISA court, which should have led investigators to withdraw Steele’s dossier from the application:
[scribd id=409363897 key=key-msf8r3AmC6FEpoDTsQUT mode=scroll]
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Paul Sperry has an interesting article today at Real Clear Politics outlining the amount of expenditures by special counsel Robert Mueller during his two-year investigation.  Sperry notes many in DC are wondering who the “contractors” are that were paid by Mueller:

Special Counsel Robert Mueller spent more than $732,000 on outside contractors, including private investigators and researchers, records show, but his office refuses to say who they were. While it’s not unusual for special government offices to outsource for services such as computer support, Mueller also hired contractors to compile “investigative reports” and other “information.”  (read more)

Strongly suggest reading the above article.
Sperry outlines the breadcrumb trail which seems to indicate that Glenn Simpson (Fusion GPS) and Chris Steele may have been paid.  One of the key aspects lending weight to this likelihood is the part of Mueller’s specific mandate, as delivered by DAG Rosenstein, that the special counsel investigate the claims within the Steele Dossier.
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The Southern District of New York has released a criminal complaint to accompany the seizure of a North Korean freighter “Wise Honest” (Full pdf below). The freighter was seized by Indonesian authorities on/around April 2, 2018 [media story here]. However, the background story of Wise Honest is more interesting.

The indictment outlines how the freighter was used to transport coal from North Korea to China and Russia and back-haul heavy equipment from Chinese ports into the DPRK. However, the transport network changed with the timing of increased sanctions on the DPRK.  Simply, the ship was routed to avoid being caught for violating sanctions.
The indictment also outlines how Chinese entities in Hong Kong assisted with routing the vessel to avoid maritime surveillance. There’s an aspect here that overlays a prior set of CTH discussions surrounding U.S. Navy training for a potential U.S. maritime blockade.
You might remember November 2017 CTH discussions about U.S. vessels conducting training exercises in/around shipping lanes. In 2017 and 2018 there were some maritime collisions that seemed to align with the possibility of these training exercises. In June 2017 The USS Fitzgerald was one such example near the coast of Japan.
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This is the big one.  This is the inflection moment.  Tonight around 5:00pm Chinese Vice-Chairman Liu He will engage with team U.S.A. on the substantive issues around the future of the U.S-China trade relationship.   Trillions at stake.
At midnight tonight the tariffs on Round One of Chinese goods are scheduled to increase from 10 percent to 25 percent.  Round Two is yet determined.  The background for the disposition of TEAM USA was outlined HERE.

Mnuchin – Trump – Lighthizer and Ross

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnunchin previously worked a 150-page outline agreement with China on seven chapters of trade issues covering: Theft of U.S. intellectual property; protection for trade secrets; forced technology transfers; competition policy; access to financial services; and currency manipulation.  Last week China reversed course on all of the substantive agreements. 
Today Vice-Chairman Liu He is going to try to justify to President Trump why China can no longer accept the commitments they made over the past three months.
It cannot be overstated how everything in/around DC must first be filtered through the prism of this inflection point.  At the heart of U.S. politics, the majority of the Senate Chamber is aligned with the Chinese through purchased multinational lobbying interests. Again, there are trillions at stake.  Wall Street through K-Street has paid the Big Club to defend their multinational/financial interests from President Trump.
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Ranking Member Representative Doug Collins discusses the House Judiciary impeachment scheme, and the “desperate move” to discredit Attorney General Bill Barr.
Rep. Collins notes that former Special Counsel Robert Mueller is unlikely to appear before the committee and there is no appearance currently on their schedule: