Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn releases a statement following his plea agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller:

It would appear, as CTH has predicted for well over a year, that Flynn brokered a deal with Robert Mueller to admit to misleading statements to the FBI in exchange for Mueller agreeing not to prosecute Flynn for his FARA (lobbying) violations.
As CTH warned in November of 2016 Flynn was involved in lobbying efforts on behalf of the Turkish government.  The financial constructs surrounding the payments to Flynn were sketchy, very sketchy.  CTH anticipated this sketchy behavior would come back to bite Flynn and -by extension- could be an issue for the White House if he took a high level position.  None of that had anything whatsoever to do with the fictitious vast Russian conspiracy story.
It is increasingly clear that Mueller used the sketchy financial arrangement between Turkey and Flynn -specifically how Flynn maneuvered the money- as the leverage in the unrelated Russian conspiracy investigation.
Giving Flynn a pass on his failure to register the arrangement under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and the banking issues (possibly IRS trouble), gets Robert Mueller a dual benefit.
Benefit #1 – Robert Mueller gets Flynn as a notch on his political belt and; Benefit #2 simultaneously sets up a scenario where he can allow Tony Podesta et al, to skate prosecution for similar illegal and sketchy lobbying activity.
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Former National Security Adviser General Michael Flynn has pleaded guilty to a process crime of lying to FBI investigators about the content of a December 29th phone call with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak. The conversation occurred the same day that then-president Barack Obama announced sanctions against Russia for its interference in the 2016 election.
This is the same misleading information that led to the White House firing Michael Flynn.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller has charged Flynn (full pdf below) with falsely telling FBI agents that he did not ask the ambassador “to refrain from escalating the situation” in response to the sanctions.
According to the plea, while being questioned by FBI agents on January 24, 2017, Flynn also lied when he claimed he could not recall a subsequent conversation with Kislyak, in which the ambassador told Flynn that the Putin regime had “chosen to moderate its response to those sanctions as a result of [Flynn’s] request.”
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Director Mick Mulvaney appears on Fox Business News to discuss the ongoing tax reform efforts along with ongoing revelations within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

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I don’t often do this, but there’s two really insightful articles, written by Ronald Rubin -who was there at the start of the bureau-  about the CFPB, that deserve to be read by anyone looking to understand the organization and the left-wing constructs within it.
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Good grief, when does this get accurately labeled as super-creepy, villain-level, ‘work-place rape‘?

According to updates reports in Variety and The New York Times, NBC Today Show creep, Matt Lauer, actually had a button installed on his desk to auto-lock his office door, and forcibly sexually assaulted a married woman in his office.

VARIETY – […]  These accounts of Lauer’s behavior at NBC are the result of a two-month investigation by Variety, with dozens of interviews with current and former staffers. Variety has talked to three women who identified themselves as victims of sexual harassment by Lauer, and their stories have been corroborated by friends or colleagues that they told at the time. They have asked for now to remain unnamed, fearing professional repercussions.
Several women told Variety they complained to executives at the network about Lauer’s behavior, which fell on deaf ears given the lucrative advertising surrounding “Today.” NBC declined to comment. For most of Lauer’s tenure at “Today,” the morning news show was No. 1 in the ratings, and executives were eager to keep him happy.

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Previously, the Department of Justice, White House Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), agreed with President Trump’s authority to appoint an ‘acting director’.  The legal counsel within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) also agreed that President Trump was well within his authority to appoint Mick Mulvaney.   However, that didn’t stop bureau employee Leandra English from filing a personal lawsuit requesting an injunction against President Trump trying to stop Director Mulvaney and install herself as director.
Federal judge Tim Kelly listened to the argument of CFPB employee Ms. English yesterday.   Judge Kelly did not make an immediate ruling.  Instead, the DOJ filed a response to the pleading (read here), and Judge Kelly scheduled a hearing for 4:00pm today.

BREAKING: Federal Judge Tim Kelly Rules In Favor Of Trump Administration:

WASHINGTON – A federal judge on Tuesday handed a win to the Trump administration in the latest fight over the scope of President Donald Trump’s authority, denying a request for an emergency order to block Trump from appointing Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, as the acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

US District Judge Timothy Kelly, announcing his decision from the bench on Tuesday afternoon, said that Leandra English — the CFPB official suing Trump and Mulvaney and claiming to be the rightful acting director — had failed to show that she was likely to succeed in her lawsuit at this stage of the case. (read more)

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Resist we much.  Anticipating intransigence President Trump tweeted ahead of a meeting today with Minority Leaders Nancy Pelosi (House) and Chuck Schumer (Senate).

In response to the brutal truth, and attempting to save face against a backdrop of needed legislative positioning, Pelosi and Schumer announce their delicate sensibilities are hurt.

WASHINGTON – “Given that the President doesn’t see a deal between Democrats and the White House, we believe the best path forward is to continue negotiating with our Republican counterparts in Congress instead,” Pelosi and Schumer said in a joint statement.

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OMB Director Mick Mulvaney is covering as ‘Acting Director‘ for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) until a permanent replacement is nominated by President Trump.  Democrats are apoplectic about their holy grail bureau being under oversight of Mr. Mulvaney.  As evidence of their angst they are supporting legal maneuvers to stop the Trump administration from carrying authority within the agency.
The Department of Justice, White House Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), agreed with President Trump’s authority to appoint an ‘acting director’.  The legal counsel within the CFPB also agreed that President Trump was well within his authority to appoint Mulvaney.   However, that didn’t stop bureau employee Leandra English from filing a personal lawsuit trying to stop Director Mulvaney and install herself as director.
A federal judge listened to the argument of CFPB employee Ms. English yesterday. Judge Tim Kelly did not make an immediate ruling.  Instead, the DOJ filed a response to the pleading (full pdf below), and Judge Kelly scheduled a hearing for 4:00pm today:
[scribd id=365766390 key=key-ZpJkp38yRIvQ8VJLcUwR mode=scroll]
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Inspector General Charles McCullough III was the top of the IG office in direct oversight of 17 intelligence agencies including Treasury and FBI.
In his position Mr. McCullough was directly responsible for oversight of the Hillary Clinton email investigation from the position of reviewing any potential risk to the entire intelligence community.
McCullough’s direct boss was the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), James Clapper.
McCullough informed Clapper of the “above top secret‘ content of Hillary Clinton’s emails.  However, soon after sharing that information McCullough received instructions to stop briefing James Clapper.  Continued briefing would remove the necessary ‘plausible deniability‘ Clapper, James Comey (FBI) and  John Brennan (CIA) would later use to defend their actions in the investigation.
Mr. McCullough appears on Tucker Carlson program tonight to outline the scope of the political pressure upon him to cover for Hillary Clinton.

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Make Sure You Watch The Video:

OMB Director Mick Mulvaney is covering as ‘Acting Director‘ for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) until a permanent replacement is nominated by President Trump.  As most people are aware the Democrats are apoplectic about their holy grail bureau being under oversight of Mr. Mulvaney.  As evidence of their angst they are supporting legal maneuvers to stop the Trump administration from carrying authority within the agency.
The Department of Justice, White House Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), agreed with President Trump’s authority to appoint an ‘acting director’.  The legal counsel within the CFPB also agreed that President Trump was well within his authority to appoint Mulvaney.   However, that didn’t stop bureau employee Leandra English from filing a weakly positioned lawsuit trying to stop Director Mulvaney.
A federal judge listened to the argument of CFPB employee Ms. English a few hours ago. Judge Tim Kelly did not make an immediate ruling.  Instead, the DOJ will file a response to the pleading later tonight and Judge Kelly said he’ll take a look and make a decision from there.
The CFPB is the product of far-left progressives, specifically Elizabeth Warren, initially setting up a financial control agency that operates without congressional oversight. The Bureau construct was challenged in court and ruled ‘unconstitutional’.  That’s the backdrop for this press conference today with Acting Director Mick Mulvaney.

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“Only one person who today showed up at work claiming to be director.”  “She wasn’t here.”   “In the ordinary world, if you don’t call, you don’t show, you don’t have a job the next day, but I’m not sure how it works here.”

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BACKSTORY:

• CFPB Financial Control Schemes
• President Trump appoints Mick Mulvaney as interim director for CFPB
• Elizabeth Warren goes bananas.
• DOJ Office of Legal Counsel agrees with President Trump
• CFPB Internal Legal Counsel Agrees with President Trump

Everything you need to know to understand the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau back-story is contrast against Mick Mulvaney and Leandra English today.   Director Mulvaney goes to the CFPB office to review the CFPB transition guidance, while Leandra English runs to a meeting on capital hill with Senator Chuck Schumer and Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Mr. Mulvaney is focused on the job and tasks at hand. Ms. English is focused on the internal politics within DC. ‘Nuf said.  Pretty obvious where each establishes their priorities.

Last night CFPB employee Leandra English (pictured above) filed a lawsuit to install herself as the acting director of the CFPB.  This action was despite the legal guidance by the department’s own top lawyer Mary McLeod who informed all CFPB employees that President Trump has the legal authority to appoint the interim director of the agency:
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