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Federal Trade Court Rules President Trump Cannot Initiate Tariffs Under International Emergency Economic Powers Act, All Tariffs Blocked

We all knew the system would strike back. There are trillions at stake.

UPDATES AT BOTTOM: A federal trade court based out of New York has just ruled in a three-judge decision that President Trump does not have the authority within the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to initiate emergency trade tariffs.  [The Ruling is HERE]

WASHINGTON DC – A federal trade court ruled President Trump didn’t have the authority to impose sweeping tariffs on virtually every nation, voiding the levies that have sparked a global trade war and threatened to upend the world economy.

The decision on Wednesday from the Court of International Trade blocked one of the Trump administration’s most audacious assertions of executive power, under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, and sets the stage for a possible appeal by the White House.

“The court does not read IEEPA to confer such unbounded authority and sets aside the challenged tariffs imposed thereunder,” a three-judge panel wrote. (link)

“The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs,” the court wrote.  The court also ordered that the tariffs that the Trump administration has collected so far be “vacated.”

UPDATE #1: I’m tearing through this ruling right now and I can find several structural flaws in the 3-judge panel decision.

[From Page 6, pdf] “…[…] in 1962, Congress delegated to the President the power to take action to adjust imports when the Secretary of Commerce finds that an “article is being imported into the United States in such quantities or under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security.” Trade Expansion Act of 1962, Pub. L. No. 87-794, § 232(b), 76 Stat. 872, 877 (codified as amended at 19 U.S.C. § 1862(c)(1)(A)). This delegation is conditioned upon an investigation and findings by the Secretary of Commerce, and agreement by the President. See id. Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, requires that the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) take action, which may include imposing tariffs, where “the rights of the United States under any trade agreement are being denied” or “an act, policy, or practice of a foreign country” is “unjustifiable and burdens or restricts United States commerce.” 19 U.S.C. § 2411(a)(1)(A)–(B). The USTR may impose duties also where the USTR determines that “an act, policy, or practice of a foreign country is unreasonable or discriminatory and burdens or restricts United States commerce.” Id. § 2411(b)(1). This power is conditioned on extensive procedural requirements including an investigation that culminates in an affirmative finding that another country imposed unfair trade barriers under § 2411(a)(1)(A) or (B) or § 2411(b), and a public notice and comment period. See id. § 2414(b).”… [source]

I’ve just gotten started, but that citation is just one reason why the ruling can be overturned on appeal.

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Rubio: State Dept Will Begin Revoking Chinese Student Visas

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced (via X) the U.S. State Department will begin revoking the student visas of Chinese nationals, “including those” connected to the Chinese Communist Party:

[SOURCE BACKGROUND]

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Senator Chuck Grassley Declassifies FBI Files on Nellie Ohr, Including Lies Told to Congress

Eight years ago, I created a simple graphic to help readers and researchers understand how Nellie Ohr was connected to the construct of the Steele Dossier, the core source material that underpinned the Title-1 FISA surveillance warrant used against the Donald Trump 2016 campaign and President Trump administration.

In addition to outlining how Nellie Ohr took Ham radio operator classes (May 2016) during her employment with Fusion GPS (began Dec 2015), the graphic shows the circular process of how the Steele Dossier (technically Nellie Ohr’s dossier) was constructed.  Additionally, the graphic is also a timeline showing how Nellie Ohr interacted with the overall ‘Crossfire Hurricane’ investigation, which eventually evolved to the Mueller investigation.

A CTH review of the Nellie Ohr research activity proved Nellie Ohr’s work aligned with the content of the Dossier, and the Nellie research was used as verification of the dossier. [See the release of verification documents (SEE HERE)] In essence the source information for the Dossier was used to validate the dossier conclusions because it’s the same damn material. That’s why Nellie Ohr took the Fusion-GPS header off the top of the material she provided to congress. NOTE: This graphic is almost eight years old.

Nellie Ohr was far more important than Chris Steele.

It was Nellie Ohr’s work product that Steele used in his dossier assembly.

In addition to publicly publishing all of the research material on Nellie Ohr, including how she falsified her testimony to congress, I have personally hand-delivered all of the Nellie Ohr research files to Washington DC, repeatedly, including the FCC License which contradicted her testimony.

Today, Senator Chuck Grassley declassified and released the FBI research files into Nellie Ohr [SEE FILE HERE], proving everything CTH previously asserted in our research.    Chuck Grassley’s press release IS HERE.

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Ukraine Presents Draft Proposal, a “Term Sheet” for Ceasefire Discussions

Eventually both sides have to get past the talking points and start putting demands to paper.

According to President Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, Ukraine has put forth a draft proposal outlining their general terms for a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.  Now the Trump administration is awaiting a similar draft from the Kremlin.

Once both drafts, what they are calling “term sheets”, are received and reviewed it appears that President Trump will reengage the process and seek to bring both parties to the negotiation table.  At least that looks like the general outline.

Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, notably an anti-Russia leaning participant in the construct (worked for Mike Pence), appeared on Fox and Friends earlier this morning to discuss the current status of the issues, against the backdrop of President Trump’s frustration.  WATCH:

(Via MSM) – […] “We have received everything we need. The facts are sufficient for action. We do not need any more evidence,” Kellogg said he said on Fox News, speaking about recent developments in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Following the first direct meeting between Ukraine and Russia since the war started in Istanbul on May 16, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Kremlin would draw up a draft proposal listing its conditions for a lasting peace, which is due to be released this week.

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President Trump and President Putin Coordinating a 24 Person, Seven Nation, Prisoner Exchange

Following last week’s phone call between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, there is currently a multi-nation prisoner exchange in the works being coordinated with ‘seven’ (looks like six to me) nations.

NBC has some details on the dynamic [SEE HERE] which includes this paragraph: “The massive deal, cut among seven nations, involved 24 people, including five Germans and seven Russian citizens held in Russia, and eight Russians imprisoned in the U.S., Germany, Slovenia, Norway and Poland.

This comes amid some rather complicated -to untangle- western media gaslighting around the dynamic of U.S-Russia relations.  However, if you cut through the chaff and countermeasures assigned within the prose, there are cautious indications to be optimistic.

Remember, President Trump’s emissary Steven Witkoff and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio have spent a great deal of time, literal facetime, with both Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.  Lavrov seems to have a good take on the Trump dynamic overall within this statement attributed to him by TASS, the Russian news agency.

“He sees some of the Europeans are working to sabotage his efforts [on peace]… of course, he gets emotional, and, of course, as someone who does not like anything to stand in the way of his noble goals, he looks at it a certain way,” Lavrov said, according to Russian news outlet Tass.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov is calm and cool overall when considering the European effort to ramp up conflict.  Peskov is noting that U.K, French and German missiles would still need to utilize USA micro-chips, and advance satellite tracking, within any deployed missile targeting systems.

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Germany’s New Leftist Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, Gives Ukraine Permission to Launch Long-range Taurus Cruise Missiles Deep into Russia

The escalation continues and unfortunately there are few indications the people around President Donald Trump are advising caution.

The U.K, German, French, EU, NATO and ‘western’ intelligence control agents are pushing for expanded conflict with Russia.  The latest development comes as the new leftist German Chancellor Friedrich Merz gives the greenlight for Ukraine to launch long-range Taurus cruise missiles directly into Russia.

(Bloomberg) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Ukraine has been given permission to use weapons supplied by its allies to launch strikes deep inside Russia.

“There are absolutely no range limits anymore for weapons delivered to Ukraine, not from Britain, the French or from us — also not from the Americans,” Merz said at a conference in Berlin on Monday. “That means Ukraine can defend itself by attacking military positions also in Russia.”

[…] Ukraine’s Western allies are trying to intensify pressure on the Kremlin after Moscow launched its biggest drone barrage against Ukraine since the full-scale invasion over three years ago. European leaders have condemned what they call Russia’s foot-dragging as efforts to lock in a ceasefire have gone nowhere.

[…] Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that, if confirmed, a decision to allow long-range strikes could undermine efforts toward reaching a political settlement, according to Interfax. He called such a decision “dangerous.” (read more)

The proxy war between the U.S/NATO and Russia is now entering its fourth year.

In some ways these efforts by the ‘coalition of the nervously willing’ only solidify the previous position of Russian President Vladimir Putin that any western move toward a diplomatic handshake was generally duplicitous and not to be trusted.  Hence, Putin has instructed the armed forces of the Russian Federation to continue building out an expanded ‘buffer zone’ between Russian held territory and NATO within Ukraine.

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British King Charles Arrives in Canada to Coordinate Defense Against U.S. Economic Positioning

King Charles is arriving in Canada today in advance of an opening speech he will deliver to the Canadian Parliament.   Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney invited King Charles to attend, and while the media portray the visit as mostly symbolic there is no doubt the substantive issue for Canada is the economic dependency on the USA and how the U.K can bolster the position of Canada against that threat.

Everything is always about the money of the thing, this dynamic between the U.K and Canada is no different.  What we would call the ‘western’ global financial system is contingent upon all U.S. allies retaining the United States as their consumer base and stable currency center.  President Trump has exposed the vulnerability of Canada as he confronts the parasitic relationship {GO DEEP}.

In advance of the U.K positioning itself as the skirt behind which Canada can hide from the horrible Trump, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer extended an invitation for President Trump to attend a state visit in his honor later this year.  The effusive praise from Starmer during the White House meeting was keenly strategic, so too was their urgency in creating the first new-era free trade agreement with the USA.

Perhaps President Trump’s embrace of Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia should be viewed through this financial prism where the EU, U.K and Canada will ultimately go to war (together) against the efforts of President Trump.  Within the partnership of the UK, EU and Canada, the Snow Mexicans are the weakest link, the most vulnerable to collapse from Trump’s economic policy.

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Zelenskyy Blames U.S. Silence for Increased Russian Attacks

Russia has continued the operation to secure a “buffer zone” between the held regions in the Eastern part of Ukraine and the area west of the Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod regions.  The NATO alliance continues pouring weapons in to support Ukraine defenses, but the Russians are methodically grinding down the Ukrainian military.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now saying President Trump’s silence is emboldening the Russian assaults. “Each such terrorist attack by Russia is a sufficient reason for new sanctions against Russia. Russia is dragging out this war and continues to kill every day,” Zelensky said in a post on Telegram Sunday morning.  “The world may go on vacation, but the war continues, despite weekends and weekdays. This cannot be ignored. America’s silence, and the silence of others in the world, only encourages Putin,” he continued.

This is an interesting dynamic to continue watching unfold.  In the background as Tulsi Gabbard, Marco Rubio and perhaps even John Ratcliffe begin confronting rogue elements within the CIA and pulling them away from covert operation in Ukraine, per the strategic withdrawal of influence announced by President Trump, the position of Zelenskyy could weaken quickly.

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Susan Rice is Very Upset That President Trump Doesn’t Review the Intelligence Community Presidential Daily Brief

As we often remind ourselves, maintaining a leftist ideology is contingent upon pretending not to know things, and that applies even when you are discussing the opposition not doing something that you yourself never did.

During a recent podcast interview, President Obama’s former National Security Advisor, Susan Rice, takes the pretending to stratospheric levels needed in order to retain Obama-level pretending.  The criticism she rails against is so hilariously hypocritical I find myself wondering if anyone ever were to call her out, could she even respond.

Susan Rice complains about President Trump having a relationship with the duplicitous “Qataris,” who she proclaims are terribly nefarious and dastardly, and no President should have a relationship with Qatar.  Laughably, it was Susan Rice herself who constructed the “CIA Finding Memo” for President Obama to sign, which authorized sending Surface to Air missiles to Qatar, which would then be transferred by CIA Director Leon Panetta to Libya.  It was Susan Rice herself organizing covert operations inside our government using the horribly nefarious Qataris she now says are terrible.

That’s only one background reality amid more than a dozen points of gaslighting hypocrisy I could point out from this interview.  However, for the sake of recent headlines, the part where Susan Rice complains about President Trump not trusting or using the CIA’s Presidential Daily Brief is almost too funny {prompted below}.  President Obama famously didn’t put any value on the PDB and didn’t even want it, sending it to almost two-dozen staff so he didn’t have to bother with it.   Methinks Mrs Rice doth protest too much. WATCH:

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We shall skip the entire Benghazi was the result of a YouTube fiasco, that Susan Rice was so well known for, and put it beside the infamous January 5, 2017, Susan Rice memo published on 1/20/17 pretending that President Obama didn’t know or authorize the FBI Russiagate operation.  lolol

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DNI Tulsi Gabbard and NSA Marco Rubio, a Powerful Combination

I have been requested to update and revisit my outline from summer 2024 when I discussed the potential for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), a position now occupied by DNI Tulsi Gabbard.  As a new White House strategy begins to surface, perhaps revisiting what is possible will provide a perspective not often discussed.

Confronting a weaponized Intelligence Community is of great interest, because it is a component battle against the main tools of the Fourth Branch of Government.  The IC influence is in every policy related to Trump’s domestic and foreign agenda. Taking control and neutering the capabilities of the IC and CIA specifically, is an important undertaking.

Again, as I originally noted in 2024, “This is going to be a little odd, because factually almost no one knows what the position of Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is about.”  Sometimes you have to wait until people reach a point of frustration, when they turn around and say, “Hey, about that thing”…

The ODNI was created as an outcome of the 9-11 Commission recommendations.  In the era shortly after 9/11, the DC national security apparatus was constructed to preserve continuity of government and simultaneously view all Americans as potential threats.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) were created specifically for this purpose.

Washington DC created the modern national security apparatus immediately and hurriedly after 9/11/01.  DHS came along in 2002, and within the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 the ODNI was formed. 

When Barack Obama and Eric Holder arrived a few years later, those newly formed institutions were viewed as opportunities to create a very specific national security apparatus that would focus almost exclusively against their political opposition.

Here is the weird part.  The ODNI was formed in 2004, with the intent for the office to be the pivot point of a national security radar.   The DNI was intended to provide information to domestic agencies about foreign terror networks that would prevent something like 9-11 from happening again.  However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has never, not for one day, operated on this intent.   This is why they are such a critical position from my perspective.

The office was new, not established yet as a functioning silo, when Barack Obama and Eric Holder arrived in 2009.  They quickly dispatched an idiot, James Clapper, into the operation so they could weaponize around the office’s fulcrum point.

Prior to the DNI office existing, the CIA radar would sweep externally and then report to the Office of the President. The DNI was intended to take external radar sweep (CIA) and make it a full 360° circle, adding a sweep inside the USA that would be handled by the Dept of Homeland Security.

The DHS sweep and the CIA sweep would then be combined into a central collection hub called the ODNI.  Everyone with responsibility for “national security” could access the ODNI material. Essentially, and presumably, post 9-11 nothing like jihadists practicing flying airplanes would be missed again – at least that was the intent.

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