Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appears on NBC News to outline the purpose and intents of the lifting sanctions as it pertains to Russian and Iranian oil shipments currently in transit.  The video and transcript below:

[Transcript] – KRISTEN WELKER: And joining me now is treasury secretary Scott Bessent. Secretary Bessent, welcome back to Meet the Press.

SEC. SCOTT BESSENT: Kristen, good morning.

KRISTEN WELKER: Good morning. Good to have you back. I want to start with the latest of what we’re hearing from President Trump. Let me read you what he posted overnight. He says, “If Iran doesn’t fully open, without threat, the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various power plants, starting with the biggest one first.” Has the president changed his mind about winding down the war, as he said a day earlier, and instead plans to escalate?

SEC. SCOTT BESSENT: I think he said he could wind the war down at any time he wants. And, Kristen, this is the only language the Iranians understand.

KRISTEN WELKER: But this seems to be an escalation, a threat of escalation, and it seems to run counter to his statement that he, in fact, wants to wind down the war.

SEC. SCOTT BESSENT: Again, Kristen, the president’s been very clear from the beginning that the goals are: destroy the Iranian air force and the navy, to completely demolish their missile capabilities, demolish their ability to replenish those capabilities, make sure the Iranians cannot have a nuclear weapon and stop their ability to project power internationally. And the president will take whatever steps it takes to achieve those goals.

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According to multiple media and government accounts, Iran targeted the joint U.S-UK base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean with two intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBM).

This is significant because Diego Garcia is 4,000 km away from where the missiles were launched and would indicate that all of Europe was within the strike zone as President Donald Trump previously warned.

Europe and the NATO alliance previously said Iran did not possess such capabilities. Apparently, they do.

As noted by Defense Security, “This attempted strike occurred around day 22 of the latest escalation cycle in the U.S.–Israel–Iran confrontation, reinforcing the view among defense planners that Tehran is prepared to expand its missile envelope to threaten strategic rear-area bases supporting Western operations rather than limiting attacks to regional targets within the Persian Gulf.”

“Diego Garcia’s distance of roughly 3,800 – 4,000 km from Iran makes the launch operationally significant because it suggests either the use of a lighter warhead estimated at approximately 300–500 kg or the deployment of a previously undisclosed extended-range variant, both of which indicate a deliberate demonstration of reach rather than a conventional strike attempt.”

According to the reports, one missile failed in flight whilst the other was engaged by a U.S. destroyer utilizing an SM-3 interceptor; however, as of this writing a successful interception was not confirmed.

Regardless, neither of the missiles hit the base.  Iranian long-range precision missiles have not previously been publicly assessed as having this kind of range.

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President Trump released the following message via Truth Social:

“We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East with respect to the Terrorist Regime of Iran: (1) Completely degrading Iranian Missile Capability, Launchers, and everything else pertaining to them. (2) Destroying Iran’s Defense Industrial Base. (3) Eliminating their Navy and Air Force, including Anti Aircraft Weaponry. (4) Never allowing Iran to get even close to Nuclear Capability, and always being in a position where the U.S.A. can quickly and powerfully react to such a situation, should it take place. (5) Protecting, at the highest level, our Middle Eastern Allies, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and others. The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it — The United States does not! If asked, we will help these Countries in their Hormuz efforts, but it shouldn’t be necessary once Iran’s threat is eradicated. Importantly, it will be an easy Military Operation for them. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

~President DONALD J. TRUMP

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Let me start by saying there is a lot of misleading information circling current events, some of it by what CTH considers very dubious alt-right voices.   I suggest just to be leery of “exclusive” insider information.  There are motives and angles that are not obvious and would not be comfortable for those who follow events closely.

[As an example, the election/voting information -connected to the Intelligence Community- and recently outlined by John Solomon, is not new.  What Solomon is rehashing is the background information exposed by Catherine Engelbrecht and True the Vote surrounding Chinese involvement in prior elections (Konnech etc.).  Engelbrecht gave the FBI the data, the FBI buried it and eventually targeted Engelbrecht.  The hidden data and FBI conduct is now resurfacing.]

As a result of datamining the FBI ‘prohibited access’ records Chuck Grassley has released an FD-302 from an FBI agent who was on the Mueller team and became a whistleblower about the motives and agenda of the Mueller participants. [SEE HERE]

One of the stories surfacing surrounds one of the Mueller targets, Walid Phares.   [SEE HERE]

Walid Phares was the 5th target within the Weissmann/Mueller probe who were using Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) violations as targeting mechanisms.

The other four were Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Carter Page and George Papadopoulos.

♦ Why Phares?  This is a little complicated but becomes straightforward once you get it.

One of the first things President Obama did when he took office was to travel to Cairo, Egypt, give a speech to the Islamic world and trigger what later became known as the “Arab Spring.”  Obama was an ideological ally of the Muslim Brotherhood, which positioned him in alignment with Qatar, Iran, Turkey and various factions of the more extremist Muslim community.  The Muslim Brotherhood is political Islam.

Trying to keep it short, essentially Walid Phares was on the opposite side of that ideology.  He was a critic of the Brotherhood, and a supporter of the person who eventually shut down the Arab Spring uprisings, Egyptian President Fattah al-Sisi.

After success in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and Libya, President Obama was furious when Army General al-Sisi stepped up and removed Muslim Brotherhood aligned Mohammed Morsi in Egypt.  That military uprising stopped the Arab Spring, and it stalled out thereafter.

Obama’s efforts to give increased power and voice to the Muslim Brotherhood was essentially stopped by Sisi, and that made anyone on the stability side of Islam an enemy of Obama.  Without Egypt, Team Obama couldn’t trigger Syria – they did get extremism to expand via ISIS, but the coalition of Arab states al-Sisi put together pushed back on the extremists.

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Michael Caputo was interviewed by Catherine Herridge as he outlines all of the FBI targeting and DOJ harassment that took place in the past several years.  This is a very interesting interview. WATCH:

00:35 Michael Caputo: Biden Era FBI ‘Surveilled’ Dozens of Trump Associates
01:28 Caputo Says He Was Targeted Over His Investigation into Bidens and Anti-Weaponization Initiative
02:12 How Did the Biden-Era Investigation Continue Under AG Bondi?
03:10 Google Alert: FBI Subpoenaed His Records
04:29 Caputo Says He Was Working in Same DOJ Building as DOJ Investigation Targeting Him
06:00 August 2024 Susie Wiles Calls with Shocking News
06:40 Before 2024 Presidential Election, FBI Laid A Trap?

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President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio take questions from the media in front of the White House.

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In the next few days, much more about the overall investigative review underway in Florida will begin to surface.  The review has been led by USAO Jason A. Reding Quiñones, a federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida.

As with all investigations containing multiple players and actors, the first investigative information is extracted from testimony by those furthest away from the principals, yet closest to the granular details of the events being reviewed.  The questioning then goes upstream, using information collected to assemble more specific questions as the principal players are approached.

The widest concentric circles are questioned first. Then, using the responses and investigative information from that circle, the questioning and inquiry goes to the next inner circle of participants.  The information is assembled, and more pointed questions are then targeted to the next inner circle; the process continues until the core is questioned.

Beginning with the end in mind, the biggest challenge is knowing what the correct questions are to ask of those who were closest to the corrupt activity (the outer circle). Background research is critical – CTH of value. From those pointed questions you get answers.  Then, next level of more specific questions get focus, and so on, and so on.

FLORIDA – Former FBI Director James Comey has been subpoenaed in connection with a wide-ranging investigation being run by a Trump-appointed federal prosecutor in Florida, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News on Thursday.

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Representative Elise Stefanik is a strong supporter of Israel and has concerns about current narratives swirling around the politicization of Intelligence Community information to shape anti-Israel sentiments.  Part of that collective effort is a not-so-subtle effort to remove DNI Gabbard from her position by questioning her loyalties.  A considerable segment of Washington DC wants to return to a more Dan Coats style DNI.

As a tenured member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), Mrs. Stefanik used her time during the congressional testimony of Gabbard, Ratcliffe and Patel to confirm the Trump administration policy toward the IC to remove all political interests.  WATCH:

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In the political horse racing analogy, the stable of Peter Thiel has taken major hits recently as the stable of Larry Ellison is gaining considerable influence.  However, it’s a steeplechase and anything can happen.

Peter Thiel <-> Elon Musk <-> Larry Ellison

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Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, FBI Director Kash Patel, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and other national security officials testify on threats to the U.S. amid the Iran war before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI).

The testimony begins at 10:00am ET, with livestream links below:

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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, hold a press briefing at the Pentagon.

Secretary Hegseth and General Caine spoke of attending the return ceremony for the refueling crews killed in the recent combat mission, then gave an operations update.   General Caine noted the recent operation to drop 5,000/lb ground penetrating bombs along the coast to destroy underground missile and drone launch facilities.

General Caine also confirmed that A-10 Warthog fighters are deployed to hunt and destroy Iranian fast boat terror missions.  The media Q&A begins at 20:05.  WATCH: 

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