Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appears on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo to discuss current events surrounding China and their aggression toward Hong Kong.
Within the discussion Secretary Pompeo outlines how the Trump administration is currently in the process of changing multiple levels of cabinet regulations (treasury, trade, state and commerce) and U.S. policy as it pertains to the new geopolitical threat presented by a new and more hostile Chinese Communist Party approach.
Earlier today President Donald Trump led a roundtable discussion with industry leaders on reopening the American economy. President Trump noted his administration built the greatest economy in American history before COVID-19 and is already at work on the “transition to greatness” to restore well-paying jobs and prosperity to all Americans.
Participating in the discussion with President Trump is: Larry Kudlow, Director of the National Economic Counsel; Ambassador Debbie Birx, M.D., White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator; Kevin Hassett, Senior Economic Advisor to the president; Tim Pataki, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Public Liaison; Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia.
External participants: Geoff Ballotti, President and CEO, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts; Brian Goldner, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Hasbro; David Hoffmann, CEO, Dunkin’ Brands; Gary Kelly, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Southwest; Rodney McMullen, Chairman and CEO, Kroger; Oscar Munoz, Executive Chairman, United; Brad Smith, President, Microsoft and Sonia Syngal, CEO, Gap Inc.
DNI John Ratcliffe has released the transcripts and FBI generated summaries known as “CR cuts” from the telephone calls between incoming National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. [pdf version here].
A fast review of the transcripts (also embed below) shows there was nothing inappropriate or improper about the conversations at all. Quite the opposite: Lt. General Flynn was direct, diplomatic, polite and represented the interests of U.S. policy from both the outgoing Obama administration and incoming Trump administration.
The views expressed by Lt. General Flynn did not impede or obstruct outgoing Obama policy nor did they undermine any position during the transition. Any media reporting to the contrary was completely false.
The FBI summaries or “CR Cuts”, created by FBI analysts, are what FBI Director James Comey gave to former DNI James Clapper on January 4th, for use in briefing former President Obama. The summaries are FBI interpretations of what the calls contained.
It has been my long-standing suspicion the FBI summaries (CR Cuts) will not accurately reflect the content of the calls; and were purposefully manipulated by the FBI to give a false impression that Flynn was undermining Obama. I am doing that comparison now.
An interesting couple of things happened just as Richard Grenell passed the sunlight baton to DNI John Ratcliffe. First, SSCI Vice-Chair Mark Warner is angered about the sunlight Grenell has delivered. Second, former AAG Matt Whitaker outlines how the Mueller investigation threatened him. Both issues merge (outlined below).
Michael Flynn’s defense attorney Sidney Powell appears on FBN with Liz MacDonald to discuss recent events. WATCH:
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When considering that Robert Mueller was used as a weapon (threat) and a shield (bury information); and when considering Senator Mark Warner’s recent protestations against Grenell; it is well worth going back in history to May 2018 when SSCI Vice-Chairman Warner was demanding the Mueller investigation must not allow congressional oversight.
Yes, it now makes sense, why Senator Mark Warner was demanding DAG Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray must keep records from congress.
This afternoon President Trump held a press availability in the oval office answering questions from the media as he signed an executive order [Available Here] directing the prevention of on-line censorship in social media platforms.
The president was joined by Attorney General Bill Barr, and both leaders delivered remarks and answered questions from the media. [Video Below, Transcript to Follow]
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[Read Executive Order Here] – In the periphery of this executive action there are indications, and a widespread expectation, the DOJ is close to filing an antitrust lawsuit against Google Inc and their affiliated companies. There is a strong possibility the controlling ideology of ‘big tech’ is about to merge with legal action by the DOJ.
The DOJ action has not yet happened, but there are signals it is very close. There have been visible signals, subtle but visible, that the DOJ was/is about to move on a massive (the biggest in history) antitrust lawsuit against Google and all affiliates.
Lee Smith appears on Lou Dobbs to discuss the latest revelations in the Obama-era surveillance operations. Mr. Smith calls it “Obama’s culture of espionage.”
After President Trump announced he would veto any FISA reauthorization bill, without a full investigative review of prior FISA abuse so that legislation could be created specifically to fix the severe flaws in the process, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has dropped the vote for FISA reauthorization:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The House of Representatives on Thursday dropped consideration of legislation that would have extended U.S. surveillance tools, after President Donald Trump threatened a veto and his fellow Republicans withdrew their support.
“The two-thirds of the Republican Party that voted for this bill in March have indicated they are going to vote against it now,” Representative Steny Hoyer said in a statement on Thursday, after a vote on the measure was unexpectedly postponed late on Wednesday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to members of the Democratic caucus saying she intends to hold negotiations with the Senate on a possible compromise bill that could be passed and sent to Trump. (read more)
A little background context is needed. In November of 2019 buried deep in the congressional budget Continuing Resolution (CR) was a short-term extension to reauthorize the FISA “business records provision”, the “roving wiretap” provision, the “lone wolf” provision, and the more controversial bulk metadata provisions [Call Detail Records (CDR)], all parts of the Patriot Act.
Within an interesting interview conducted by Jan Jekielek of Epoch Times, former AAG Matt Whitaker confirms what CTH long suspected. The Mueller investigation was used by corrupt interests within the special counsel’s office to threaten any/all executive branch and congressional officials with “obstruction of justice” charges if they revealed any exculpatory or counter-narrative information during the Mueller probe.
Whitaker describes this as the “obstruction of justice trap.”
Essentially, this approach confirms the second-prong purpose of the Mueller investigation itself. First, use the special counsel in 2017, 2018 and into the beginning of 2019, as a shield (hide information); and secondly a weapon (threats) against any entity who would reveal the background intelligence that undercut the Trump-Russia collusion narrative.
We know President Trump was threatened by Rod Rosenstein not to declassify any information in September of 2018 or the Mueller investigation would use that act as evidence of obstruction. Whitaker confirms that same approach was applied toward any executive branch officer who would reveal or release information to congress during the tenure of the special counsel; even within the DOJ and including the attorney general.
This is how the Mueller probe was weaponized to mislead the American people.
Moments ago President Trump tweeted he will veto the House FISA re-authorization if it is passed without first investigating and exposing prior FISA abuses committed against his prior election campaign and administration:
The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote by proxy on the FISA re-authorization previously passed by the Senate. No-one has any idea if the FISA vote will actually pass the House and it appears most republicans are positioned to vote against it.
Lou Dobbs discusses the issues with Representative Jim Jordan shortly before President Trump tweeted his intent. WATCH:
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These developments come on the heels of increased sunlight into the corrupt purposes and intents of Obama-era intelligence officials and how they weaponized their authorities to target the Trump administration starting with National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.
[…] It was the FBI, not the NSA, that wiretapped Kislyak’s calls and created the summary and transcript, the former officials said. (link)
We are entering a very precarious phase. I doubt congress has a full grasp on just how much the American electorate are aware of their prior activity.
Senator Marco Rubio was moved into the position of Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) for the specific purpose of defending the interests of the senate. The SSCI under republican leadership was weaponized against Donald Trump and was a participating unit in the soft-coup against a sitting U.S. president.
The corrupt intent crosses over party designations; this is a unified self-interest.
Rubio previously shielded SSCI Vice Chair Mark Warner for his covert contacts with Christopher Steele after a series of “would rather not have a paper trail” text messages were discovered during the investigation of SSCI Security Director James Wolfe’s leaks.
The Florida Senator was moved into position recently as surfacing documents started to put more sunlight on the Senate Intel Committee. Rubio’s role is to cover their tracks.
As an outcome we see this – Rubio Defending Obama-Era IC Weaponization: