DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz testified before congress today on matters relating to the overall IG office.  However, with Democrat majority chairs refusing to call Horowitz for testimony on the recent Comey Report, republicans on the House Oversight Committee took advantage of the opportunity to ask questions about the FISA investigation and the prior IG reports on James Comey and Andrew McCabe.
The full hearing is below. However, to save time the key parts of the discussion are time sequenced and identified (each prompted, just hit play):
[@59:55] IG questioning by Rep. Hice begins to center on issues related to the IG report on FISA.  Mr. Horowitz discusses the current status of the FISA IG report as under rough draft review by AG Bill Barr, where decisions on classification are taking place.

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Chopper pressers are the best pressers; even when they are from the tarmac at LAX in California.  Moments ago President Donald Trump talked to the press pool with his newly named national security adviser, Robert O’Brien.  [Video below Transcript ADDED]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. We’re with Robert O’Brien, who, as you know, is the new National Security Advisor. He’s worked with me for quite a while now on hostages, and we’ve had a tremendous track record with respect to hostages. Robert can tell you about it.
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Housing starts (and permits) have been a long-term key performance indicator for the economic stability and strength of Main Street USA for generations. Across all key metrics, the economics of middle-class America is defined by confidence in housing. A strong housing market reflects worker/purchaser confidence in their economic position.

The U.S. Commerce Department reports today that U.S. housing starts and permits has reached a 12-year-high. [data here] This is a key point because it cuts to the heart of the difference between a thriving Main Street economy and the disconnect surrounding issues with Wall Street (multinational) financial markets.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. homebuilding surged to more than a 12-year high in August as both single- and multi-family housing construction accelerated, suggesting that lower mortgage rates were finally providing a boost to the struggling housing market.

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House Judiciary committee members Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows appear on Fox News this morning to discuss the ridiculous committee hearing yesterday where former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski delivered testimony.

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Robert C O’Brien (pictured left) is currently the State Department’s special presidential envoy for hostage affairs.  A founding partner of the Los Angeles-based law firm Larson O’Brien.

NYT – Mr. O’Brien served with Mr. Bolton when he was President George W. Bush’s ambassador to the United Nations and has advised Republican candidates like Mitt Romney, Scott Walker and Ted Cruz. In both the Bush and Obama administrations, Mr. O’Brien worked on an initiative to train lawyers and judges in Afghanistan.  (link)

People describe O’Brien as similar to his friend John Bolton without the virulent twitchy trigger finger. In his capacity as special envoy for hostage affairs, O’Brien wrote a letter to Swedish prosecutors urging them to release A$AP Rocky.  According to CBS O’Brien’s work “on Rocky’s case endeared him to Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and one of his top advisers.”
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A man has driven a vehicle through the front doors of Trump Plaza New Rochelle in New Rochelle New York.  There are injuries from people who were in/near the lobby of the building.

Details are sketchy, but according to one report: “Workers at Trump Plaza New Rochelle say after car plowed into lobby, male driver got out and took a seat on a sofa. Said nothing. Several injuries but none are life threatening.”

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Corey Lewandowski is exploring a run for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire:

Stand With Corey – Link

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This is a topic we have previously discussed.  The current status is unfortunately what CTH previously predicted….  The consequences here are very serious.

Representative Denver Riggleman (R-Va.), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, claims a significant number of House Democrats are ready to vote to approve the USMCA trade deal.  However, Nancy Pelosi is holding back the vote.

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Everyone agrees that passage of the USMCA would provide leverage for the U.S. position in both China and EU trade negotiations.  Representative Andy Barr says despite a likely 300+ vote of support, he believes Pelosi is stalling to block that exact leverage.
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Following a subpoena for testimony, today the House Judiciary Committee, Chaired by Jerry Nadler, is scheduled to hold another made-for-media event with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.  However, this hearing will be slightly different.
Following the spring and summer failures by the Judiciary and Intelligence committees, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler changed the rules.  Instead of questions from congressional representatives, Corey Lewandowski will face questions from a group of lawyers contracted by Pelosi and Nadler.  The corrupt group of former DOJ and FBI staff lawyers -known colloquially as the “Lawfare Alliance”- has provided the lawyers.
The new Lawfare Committee 2.0 fiasco is scheduled to commence at 1:00pm ET.
Judiciary Livestream Link – Fox News Livestream – PBS Livestream Link

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On February 8th, 2018, Senator Lindsey Graham first revealed an inauguration day email from Susan Rice to herself. That’s 585 days ago and yet we still don’t know what is behind the removed and classified paragraph.  Why is this being kept hidden?

(L-R) Ruemmler, Obama, Monaco and Rice

At 12:15pm on January 20th, 2017, Obama’s outgoing National Security Advisor Susan Rice wrote a memo-to-self. Many people have called this her “CYA” (cover your ass) memo, from the position that Susan Rice was protecting herself from consequences if the scheme against President Trump was discovered. Here’s the email:

On January 5, following a briefing by IC leadership on Russian hacking during the 2016 Presidential election, President Obama had a brief follow-on conversation with FBI Director Jim Corney and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates in the Oval Office. Vice President Biden and I were also present.
President Obama began the conversation by stressing his continued commitment to ensuring that every aspect of this issue is handled by the Intelligence and law enforcement communities “by the book“.

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