Those who have traveled the deep weeds will know the Washington Post is the primary and historic defense media for the Intelligence Community (IC).  That backdrop is CRITICAL to understanding this story.

The Washington Post is quick to the presses ahead of congressional intelligence committees discovering the specific content of communication between the lead FBI agent on Robert Muellers team… that led to an Inspector General investigation… that led to Mueller firing the top FBI agent from the team.
Again, for EMPHASIS, this Washington Post report is specifically trying to get out ahead of the story to defend Mueller and the FBI.

FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok (above left box), was the deputy head of counterintelligence at the FBI.  He was the tip-of-the-spear in the Clinton email investigation assigned by James Comey.  FBI Agent Strzok was part of a very small special team, called the “skinny team”, tasked with investigating Hillary Clinton.  Agent Peter Strzok was one of the few people who actually interviewed Hillary Clinton.
Additionally, this year agent Peter Strzok was personally selected by Special Counsel Robert Mueller to be the TOP FBI AGENT in charge of the investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian collusion conspiracy.
However, as a direct outcome of an Inspector General investigation into Peter Strzok, it is just coming to light that text messages and written communication between Strzok and an FBI lawyer named Lisa Page will show a strong bias to clear Clinton and against Trump.
Behind the communication, Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page were having an affair.  Strzok and Page communicated with each other about their disdain and hatred for Donald Trump while they were key members of the Muller investigative team.
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The Department of Justice unsealed an arrest warrant Friday for Jose Inez Garcia Zarate, the illegal immigrant acquitted Thursday in Kate Steinle’s murder trial.

There is an existing federal detainer that requires this defendant to be remanded into the custody of US Marshals Service to be transported to the Western District of Texas pursuant to the arrest warrant.

Jose Zarate was acquitted of first- and second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and found not guilty of assault with a semi-automatic weapon. He was found guilty of possessing a firearm by a felon.
ICE Deputy Director Tom Homan stated: “San Francisco’s policy of refusing to honor ICE detainers is a blatant threat to public safety and undermines the rule of law. This tragedy could have been prevented if San Francisco had turned the alien over to ICE, as we requested, instead of releasing him back onto the streets.”
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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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After two days of deliberations, jurors in San Francisco have found a Mexican national not guilty of murder in the killing of Kate Steinle.

Ms. Steinle was fatally shot in the back in 2015; she died in her fathers arms. A five time deported Mexican national named Jose Zarante admitted to the shooting, saying it was an accident.
Prior to the shooting, Mr. Zarante was arrested and released -despite a federal immigration hold request- due to San Francisco’s sanctuary city policy.
The verdict today is an abhorrent miscarriage of justice.

(Via Fox News) Jurors have found Jose Ines Garcia Zarate not guilty of killing Kate Steinle on Pier 14 in San Francisco in July 2015 in the trial that sparked a national debate over illegal immigration.
Jurors reached the decision Thursday in the sixth day of deliberations after first receiving the case last week.

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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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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.

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.

“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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What’s this? …MORE winning?  …Sheesh.  Well, just add it to the pile in the corner over there, along with all the other winning we haven’t got around to yet.
The internal legal counsel for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has just agreed with the White House Office of Legal Counsel that President Trump has full authority to appoint OMB Director Mick Mulvaney as the acting head of the agency.
Oh noes, Princess Moonbat Feathers is gonna have a ‘splodey head in 3…. 2…. 1…

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top lawyer for the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has concluded that President Donald Trump has the authority to name its acting director, three sources familiar with the matter said on Sunday, rejecting an effort by her former boss at the agency to name his immediate successor.
The office of CFPB General Counsel Mary McLeod has prepared a memo concurring with the opinion of the U.S. Justice Department that Trump has the power to appoint his budget chief, Mick Mulvaney, as temporary leader of the federal watchdog agency, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
One source said the memo would be sent to CFPB staff on Monday.

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was the brainchild of Senator Elizabeth Warren as an outcome of the Dodd-Frank legislation. With the CFPB Pocahontas tried to set up the head of the agency, the Director, in a manner that that he/she would operate without oversight. Unfortunately, her dictatorial-fiat-design collapsed when challenged in court.  Backstory #1 – Backstory #2
A federal court found the CFPB Director position held too much power and deemed it unconstitutional. The court decision noted that giving the President power to fire the Director would fix the constitutional problem.
However, with the prior court ruling as a backdrop, a second issue for Warren surfaces as an outcome of the current CFPB Director, Richard Cordray, resigning and President Trump appointing an ‘interim’ head for the agency.
Senator Warren, apoplectic at the thought of CFPB critic Mick Mulvaney acting as head of the agency, wants the Deputy Director,  Leandra English, to become Acting Director and points to Warren’s legislative outline as evidence to support her demand. Except it doesn’t…. not even a little bit.

(WARREN LINK)

The language Pocahontas points to in the CFPB construct, points to the Deputy Director filling in during the “absence” or “unavailability” of the Director. The statute clearly does not provide a mechanism when the Director position is “Vacant”.
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