Earlier today President Trump signed an Executive Order requiring Federal agencies to focus hiring on the skills job seekers possess, rather than focusing on whether they earned a college degree.  The order requires Federal agencies to revise and update outdated Federal job qualification standards and candidate assessments, improving the quality and competency of the civil service.

The order implements best practices already adopted by private sector leaders to promote equity and inclusion.  As a result of this reform, talented individuals with apprenticeships, technical training, and apt backgrounds will have greater opportunity to pursue careers in the Federal civil service.  [Video and Transcript of Workforce Meeting]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Nice to see you. Thank you very much. Busy time.

MS. TRUMP: Absolutely.

THE PRESIDENT: We’re making a lot of progress with the whole situation that came in from a place called China, as you probably know. You probably see. But we have a little work to do, and we’ll get it done. We’re having some very good numbers coming out in terms of the comeback — the comeback of our nation. And I think it’s going very rapidly and it’s going to be very good. But right now, we’re in that process of building.

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Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross appears on Fox News with Stuart Varney to discuss a change in federal hiring policy.  However, within the interview Ross notes some key economic data that has a very solid predictor value for economic growth.

Both the spending rates and the savings rates for Americans are at all time highs.  The COVID-19 lockdown has limited purchase options, leading to less initial spending; however, consumers have a lot of recent cash reserve as shown in their rate of savings.

Ross is right, within this dynamic, as soon as economic limits are removed, the spending will boost the economy very quickly.

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During President Trump’s visit to Wisconsin he sat down for a town hall event with Fox News host Sean Hannity.

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Earlier today President toured Fincantieri Marine shipyard and delivered remarks about the historic $5 billion dollar contract the Administration recently granted Fincantieri Marinette Marine. This is the first visit by a sitting President to the city of Marinette, Wisconsin.

Fincantieri Marinette Marine is a United States subsidiary of Italian enterprise Fincantieri, one of the world’s largest shipbuilders, the shipyard was established in 1942 to meet America’s growing demand for naval construction.

The Trump Administration’s contract to build up to ten new guided missile frigates worth nearly $5.5 billion, will secure the future of the shipyard. Fincantieri plans to invest $130 million in upgrades to the facility, add approximately 1,000 jobs and projects that the investment will create 15,000 additional jobs in the Wisconsin and Michigan supply chains.

[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, it’s a good song, isn’t it though? Lee Greenwood.

And thank you very much. I’m thrilled to be here with you on this incredible summer day in Wisconsin on the edge of the beautiful Lake Michigan — that is beautiful too; I know it well — with the legendary workers of Marinette Marine. And you now have a lot of contracts because of the United States government. You’re going to — you’re going to be so busy. (Applause.) You’re going to be so busy. I know you went through a little bit of a hard time; not anymore. Not anymore. Got you covered for years.

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Today, President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attended a Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War and remember the brave American soldiers who selflessly sacrificed their lives in the fight for peace.

Attending with the President and First Lady was Secretary David Bernhardt, Department of the Interior; Secretary Robert Wilkie, Department of Veteran Affairs; and Ambassador Lee Soo Hyuck, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the United States

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Korean War Veteran Participants Included:

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…”because I’m good enough; I’m strong enough; and doggone it, people like me.”

That’s the kitchen table sensibility as projected by FBI Director Christopher Wray in this interview. It’s a communication style blending the modern term “corporate responsibility” with the patronizing mannerisms of a dad discussing sixth grade peer pressure with his tender gender-neutral offspring.

This is actually a very revealing interview to understand why 50 FBI agents chased the Russian conspiracy for two years with Robert Mueller; and why 15 FBI agents excitedly responded to a garage door pull-down rope. The emphasis is on the wrong syllable, but golly we only have a 0.4 percent turnover ratio, so we must be doing something right.

I’ve actually met a Chris Wray clone in the past. While culling a tier of toxic executive management, the CEO voice in the organization said to me: “what if you fire all of them and later find out you’re wrong?” To which I replied: “what’s more dangerous to you, my firing them and being wrong, or you keeping them around and my being right?”…

Director Wray is the guy who doesn’t deal with the toxic infection, instead he uses words like: “we have an opportunity”, “they need to be supported more”; and “I challenge you to provide continuous coaching.” Note at 09:45 Wray says “I put in place an entire new leadership team”, without even realizing that Bill Barr just removed -by force- Wray’s hand-selected chief legal counsel, Dana Boente. It doesn’t even register with him.

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Chris Wray’s performance as FBI Director is akin to what would happen if you took a hotel manager and made him the captain of a cruise ship.

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Michael Flynn’s defense counsel, Sidney Powell, appears on Lou Dobbs tonight to discuss the defense victory in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals; and the next steps in the case.

Ms. Powell still has legal business in front of Judge Emmet Sullivan, so she obviously needs to be a little tempered at this inflection point.  That said, what an incredible job Ms. Powell has done on behalf of her client.  Remarkable legal counsel.  WATCH:

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In a court filing yesterday [pdf here] the DOJ provided -initially under seal- the Flynn defense team with more exculpatory evidence.  The filing includes hand-written notes taken by FBI agent Peter Strzok in/around key dates in early January 2017.

The filing was unsealed today, and the Peter Strzok notes are released.

One of the reasons CTH has been slow on discussing this release is specifically because I am trying to accurately determine the provenance of the notes (as below).  USAO Jeff Jensen is unsure of the exact date of the notes.  Either January 3rd, 4th, or 5th… and there’s a good reason for that confusing ambiguity; which I am attempting to filter.

The notes are written by Peter Strzok during a conversation with former FBI Director James Comey; that context is important.  What the notes contain are Peter Strzok writing down what Comey relays to him from conversations with White House officials.

Repeat: The notes are Strzok writing down what Comey relays to him from conversations with the White House.   Comey is communicating to Strzok the status of opinion from various officials; those officials may include President Obama and Vice-President Biden.

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President Trump and President Andrzej Duda of the Republic of Poland are scheduled to hold a joint press conference today following their bilateral meetings. Both leaders have a warm personal friendship.  Anticipated start time 3:30pm ET.

UPDATE: Video Added

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Earlier today President Trump commemorated the 200th mile of border wall being built along the U.S-Mexico border. [Video and Transcript]

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[Transcript] – Q Can I ask question on the wall: How’s it looking?

THE PRESIDENT: I think it’s great. It’s great. It’s going to be — it’s really foolproof. It’s solid steel. It’s rebar and concrete inside the steel. So we have a very heavy concrete inside the steel. And inside the concrete, we have rebar. So you have everything you could have. It’s what they wanted, and that’s what we did.

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