White House and administration officials were on multiple news outlets today giving interviews about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report.  Below you will find interviews with Attorney Jay Sekulow, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and White House Senior Advisor to the President, Kellyanne Conway.
Jay Sekulow:

Speaking with “Fox & Friends” after the Mueller report found no evidence of a Trump-Russia conspiracy, President Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, issued a cryptic warning Monday that whoever convinced the FBI to pursue the Russia collusion investigation into the Trump campaign will soon be outed.
Giuliani was asked whether someone tricked the FBI into opening the original investigation.  Mr. Giuliani also called for President Trump’s “shameless ” critics to apologize for their false claims.

Alan Dershowitz is exactly correct on the point; but he’s incorrect on the Mueller team’s motive.
Team Mueller didn’t punt the Obstruction issue to the Attorney General because Mueller’s a coward…. Team Mueller punted the Obstruction issue because they specifically wanted to create room for The House to work an impeachment angle.  It was a political decision.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr sends a four-page letter to congress summarizing the Robert Mueller report.  This four-page letter is known as the “Principal Conclusion” notification to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.
[pdf link] and [raw download link]

Here’s the Letter:

[scribd id=402973466 key=key-d6W3OkqRPlz3GXlfTDQk mode=scroll]
.
Full page screen-grabs below
(more…)

It should always be remembered that Representative John Ratcliffe is one of only a few members of congress who have seen every single document across the entire spectrum of classification.
Rep. Ratcliffe appears on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo for a lengthy discussion on the Mueller probe, report, and the findings.  Additionally and importantly, Ratcliffe then shifts to discuss the corruption of the DOJ/FBI and how accountability might soon surface.

We shared a discussion thread several months ago about how the media are enmeshed within the story of the DOJ and FBI corruption. The media engagements with the parties swirling around the FBI, DOJ and Clinton-Steele Dossier are so pervasive they cannot reasonably report on any aspect of the story without exposing their own duplicity.
As more and more information surfaces about corrupt DOJ and FBI activity, it’s worth remembering the media’s complicit role. Here’s an updated review for context:

Michael Isikoff highlighted that level of how enmeshed media is with the story in February when he admitted his reporting was being used by the DOJ and FBI to advance the political objectives of the intelligence community. Additionally, FBI investigator Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page were shown in their text messages to be leaking stories from the Clinton Investigation, the Trump investigation and the Mueller investigation to journalists at Politico, The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. –SEE HERE–
FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was busted by the Inspector General leaking stories to the media and then lying about it to INSD and IG investigators. FBI Director James Comey admitted to leaking stories to the New York Times, and even hired his friend Andrew Richman (off-the-books), gave him access to FBI and NSA databases, and then leaked information to Richman along with another friend Benjamin Wittes at Lawfare blog.
(more…)

Fox News ran a special report on the Mueller investigation concluding with several key interviews.  ♦Devin Nunes discusses the recent revelations around the McCabe text messages, and material he wants to see declassified, along with his intent to submit several criminal referrals. ♦David Bosse discusses the political ramifications of the Mueller probe. ♦Gregg Jarrett discusses the issues within the DOJ and FBI. ♦Alan Dershowitz discusses the FISA court and possible abuse.

According to most media reporting AG William Barr is meeting with Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein today and reviewing the completed Mueller report.  At the end of this review, according to statute, AG Barr will commission a “Principle Conclusion” summary report that he will deliver to congress.  As of 4:00pm EST, the White House has not been privately briefed on the Mueller findings.

The summary report from AGBarr will be given to House and Senate judiciary oversight committees before wider dissemination. The Chair of the House Judiciary Committee is Jerry Nadler (ranking member Doug Collins); the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee is Lindsey Graham (Vice-Chair Dianne Feinstein).  AG William Barr may also brief those committees, or he may assign DAG Rosenstein to the briefing.
Depending on conversations between the DOJ and congressional leadership, there’s also a possibility of a more extensive briefing covering details within the Mueller investigation.  However, that briefing would likely be reserved for the intelligence oversight group known as the “Gang of Eight”: Nancy Pelosi, Kevin McCarthy, Adam Schiff, Devin Nunes, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Richard Burr and Mark Warner.
Due to the politics surrounding the Barr report, it is likely the White House will be given the Principle Conclusion Summary around the same time as congress.  The White House (executive branch) may also be able to review the full underlying documentation behind the summary…. that’s likely where the political fight for the ‘narrative’ will take place.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi tipped her hand at the Democrat approach during a strategy meeting today.  According to early reporting Pelosi will refuse to attend any ‘Gang of Eight’ briefing and will demand the full investigative file be declassified:
(more…)

Not a Tick-Tock

All day long, even before the Mueller news broke, Fox News reporter Catherine Herridge has really been leaning-forward, giving insight into the pending Inspector General report by OIG Michael Horowitz. Herridge is one of those reporters who is careful not to get out in front of her skis.  Ms. Herridge is not a book-selling member of the tick-tock community of pundits.

We noted earlier how the specific emphasis of Ms. Herridge seemed to indicate the Horowitz report was closer to the surface of completion than previously thought.
Immediately after the Mueller news broke (around 5pm EST), Herridge filed her first live report providing details of the Mueller report.  Within that first report Herridge stated she was previously bound to “confidences” until the Mueller probe was complete.
In subsequent reporting we begin to see what those confidences are, and how they connect to her exclusive reporting on text messages between Andrew McCabe and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page.
Ms. Herridge is strongly emphasizing a few key points that need additional emphasis:
(more…)

Shortly before the president signed an executive order on affirming first amendment rights on college campuses yesterday, President Trump sat down for an extensive interview with Maria Bartiromo.
The interview covers a wide range of topics with a primary focus on the U.S. economy, ongoing trade discussions and issues that impact the U.S. workforce. One of the granular issues that surfaces is a subject we discuss frequently, the value of the ‘chicken tax‘; the 25% tariff on imported trucks and SUV’s.   WATCH: