According to DOJ filings: “Tallahassee, Florida City Commissioner Scott Charles Maddox, 50, and Tallahassee political consultant Janice Paige Carter-Smith, 53, both of Tallahassee, have been indicted in a 44-count indictment for conspiring to operate a racketeering enterprise that engaged in acts of bank fraud, extortion, honest services fraud and bribery.”  Both were arrested yesterday.

The issues around the three-year investigation surfaced in the Florida Governors race when Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum was running for governor.  Part of the sting operation discovered Mayor Gillum taking trips with lobbyists and accepting perks from undercover FBI agents.  Outgoing governor Rick Scott has suspended Maddox.

Scott Maddox and Paige Carter-Smith, once power players in Tallahassee’s political scene, shuffled into a federal courtroom on Wednesday, their legs in shackles, to answer charges they shook down city vendors for bribes and pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars.  – Read More

[DOJ Press Announcement Here] – [Story Via Orlando Sentinel Here]

Earlier today President Trump signed an executive order establishing the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. The Council will be chaired by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, and comprised of 13 Federal agencies.
The goal of the council will be to stop the redundancy and duplication within the federal bureaucracy, and focus on actual delivery of results to specific economic empowerment zones.

[Transcript] 2:37 P.M. EST – THE PRESIDENT: Hello everybody. Good, Tim. It’s a big day.
SENATOR SCOTT: Yes, sir.
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers remarks to the media following his presentation to the U.N. surrounding ongoing issues with Iran, the failed JCPOA and the updated U.S. sanction policy.

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[Transcript] SECRETARY POMPEO: Good afternoon, everyone. We had a productive Security Council meeting where the United States made clear that Iran’s ballistic missile activity is out of control and that they are defying the UN Security Council 2231 in numerous ways.
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Interesting, very interesting.  As noted in the Flynn sentencing memo last night there were some curiously framed explanations of events surrounding his FBI inquisition.
Now Judge Emmet Sullivan wants expanded information, and wishes to see the actual notes (FD-302) that were mentioned by Flynn; and Judge Sullivan is directing the special counsel to provide all documents created by the FBI surrounding the Flynn interview:

(Source Link)

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Did you get your yellow vest yet?  The recently elected New York Attorney General, Letitia James, makes a public declaration that she intends to fully weaponize her office to target the Trump family.
On the bright side, democrats can no longer claim their preferred approach of weaponizing their offices for direct targeting of their political opposition as a “right-wing conspiracy theory”; they are specifically outlining their intent to do exactly that.

New York – New York Attorney Gen.-elect Letitia James says she plans to launch sweeping investigations into President Donald Trump, his family and “anyone” in his circle who may have violated the law once she settles into her new job next month.

“We will use every area of the law to investigate President Trump and his business transactions and that of his family as well,” James, a Democrat, told NBC News in her first extensive interview since she was elected last month.

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President Trump signs H.R. 390: The “Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018,” which authorizes assistance to entities engaged in aiding individuals and communities in Iraq or Syria who are being, or are likely to be, targeted for genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes.
After signing the bill [@03:00] President Trump took questions from the media.

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(Link to Court Order)

President Donald Trump invites the media to stick around and watch as he highlights the resistance between his administration and democrats on border security.
Democrat leader Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer are very uncomfortable allowing the media to hear their resistance discussion.

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Backstory: According to an email chain between Google executives obtained by Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and Breitbart News, Google’s Multicultural Marketing development head Eliana Murillo sent out an email November 9th, 2016, detailing how Google had “supported partners like Voto Latino to pay for rides to the polls in key states,” which she characterized as a “silent donation.”
“We even helped them create ad campaigns to promote the rides (with support from HOLA folks who rallied and volunteered their time to help),” Murillo said. “We supported Voto Latino to help them land an interview with Sen. Meza of Arizona (key state for us) to talk about the election and how to use Google search to find information about how to vote. They were a strong partner, among many in this effort.”
Jim Jordan questions Google CEO Sundar Pichai about their specific political bias.

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These answers ring especially hollow when you remember the video of Google CEO Sundar Pichai and all top executives discussing their sadness at the result of the 2016 election. See below:
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With massive civil unrest overwhelming many parts of French society, President Emmanuel Macron made a televised speech to the nation attempting to calm the anger. Macron declared a social and economic state of emergency and attempted to stop the ongoing Yellow Vest protests by announcing a special year-end bonus.
In addition to the year-end bonus, during the national address from the Elysee Palace Macron announced an increase in the minimum wage of €100 per month; a tax exemption on overtime pay; and a plan to not raise taxes on pensioners with an income less than €2,000/month.  Here’s the english version of the EU broadcast.

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When the same issues happened in Venezuela, Maduro followed a similar plan… things didn’t end well.   Macron has already committed the full weight of his police and military to crush any uprising.  Tenuous times in France.
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