Remember when we warned [November 8th, 2018] that a convergence of left-wing groups, activists, DNC donors and specifically the Lawfare team, would align with (and meet) incoming Democrat leadership to construct a road-map for the “resistance” priorities?
Well, exactly that planned and coordinated outcome is visible as incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi presents her new rules for the 116th congress.

[IMPORTANT: Keep in mind that Speaker Pelosi has selected former insider DOJ official Douglas Letter to be the Chief Legal Counsel for the House.  That becomes important when we get to the part about new powers granted to the House Counsel.]
The Pelosi House rules clearly present the outline for an impeachment calendar as directed by changes to the oversight committees.  Additionally, there is a myriad of new processes which appear to have been developed through the Lawfare alliance.  Here’s some of the overview (full pdf below):
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Decepticon caucus senator-elect Mitt Romney (U-DC) appears on CNN to outline why he stands in opposition to President Donald Trump.  Understanding the unspoken background color here is important.
The Decepticon Caucus in the senate is comprised of senators who represent the interests of Wall Street; and every principle of finance and commerce that intersects with Wall Street’s multinational interests.  In essence the Decepticon Caucus is the defensive force protecting the global financial elite; ie. “The Big Club”.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue is the mechanism used by Wall Street multinational banks, corporations and billionaire influence agents to pay the Decepticons to protect their interests.   Mitt Romney is the newest member of the Decepticon Caucus and thus he has a role to play:

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It’s about money… and power… but mostly money. It’s not necessarily personal opposition to President Trump – though they do despise him.  It’s really us they hate.
It’s business, big business; massive multinational business. There are trillions at stake, and U.S. President Donald J Trump is the existential threat to the global financial system. That’s the cornerstone of this opposition.
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U.S. President Donald Trump holds the first cabinet meeting of 2019 and allows the media to engage for a lengthy question and answer session:

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President Trump enters a new phase in legislative road-blocking fraught with challenges inside the Senate chamber.  Almost all U.S. Republican Senators have accepted the indulgences of U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue.
President Trump now relies on the upper chamber to consent on the America-First trade deals he has been renegotiating.  Simultaneously, Donohue and McConnell plot how to best utilize their increased influence over the executive branch…. [Romney was the first shot]

A tempered response does not come as a surprise given the landscape.
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CTH previously outlined the likely path Democrats will follow when they take control of the key congressional committees starting tomorrow {Go Deep}.  For those who walk through the deep weeds of DC politics, the sequence of 2019 events -based on accepting the historic resistance pattern- is entirely predictable.

Today, Fox News confirms the intention of Jerry Nadler (House Judiciary), Elijah Cummings (House Oversight) and Adam Schiff (HPSCI) as soon as they are sworn into office:

WASHINGTON DC – They’re about to get subpoena power – and they plan to use it.

As Democrats officially take back control of the House when the new Congress is seated Thursday, newly empowered House Committee chairmen are preparing to launch a slew of Trump administration investigations.

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Don’t get so caught up in a furor over Senator-elect Mitt Romney writing a political hit piece against the President of the United States that we forget to look at the big picture.
Senator-elect Mitt Romney’s niece is Ronna McDaniel, Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC). Senator Romney didn’t just wake up on New Year’s Day and haphazardly write a specifically constructed character assassination against the President of the republican party; who is currently the President of the United States.
No, this attack was done with forethought and specific intent.

Think rationally and logically.  Why write the op-ed at all?  What is the purpose behind writing the op-ed?  What does the author have to gain by writing the op-ed?…
And specifically, given the nature of the familial relationship between republican Senator Romney and RNC Chairwoman McDaniel, not to mention the political profession therein, with the senator writing something highly damaging; well, there’s obviously a larger intended purpose on Romney’s end of the equation.
Likely many will believe Ms. Ronna McDaniel was generally unaware that her uncle was going to take such a position of expressed opposition.  She didn’t know?  Mitt Romney wouldn’t, given the circumstances, tell his niece of his intention?
Let’s presume Romney didn’t tell his niece.  What does that tell us about the character of Mitt Romney; his obvious self-interest; and, in the bigger picture, what does that tell us of his relationship to republican party objectives, writ large?
What exactly is this ‘republican party‘, Romney’s frame-of-reference (under such a presumption), all about?  Who would Mitt and Ann Romney believe is operating it?
If Mitt Romney felt his current DC entry point, constructed by his specific intent, would leave him entirely isolated from any influence and/or affluence from his position – he wouldn’t do it.  Right?  But he did…. so he doesn’t view this adversarial starting point as damaging to his political objectives.
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No issue encapsulates the weakness of republicans and their simultaneous adherence to the UniParty position on illegal immigration more than the aftermath of illegal aliens killing U.S. citizens.   No-one ever forces democrats to own the consequences to their position; it is very frustrating.
No other issue is as easy to frame, and supported by the majority of American voters, as the issue of illegal alien impacts on local communities.  Yet, we never see republican politicians making democrats own and defend these toxic negative outcomes. The reason is likely because both wings of the UniParty benefit from massive lobbying to keep the problem in place.

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CTH has tracked this issue so closely through the years it often feels futile for another reminder.  However, with the insufferable political games surfacing, yet again, over the issue of illegal aliens – perhaps it is worth another visit.
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China’s Communist Chairman Xi Jinping delivered a prepared speech to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference on Saturday and stayed far away from mentioning the challenge of a U.S. -vs- China trade reset.

Those who follow China’s historic patterns will note careful and intentional inferences within Chairman Xi’s remarks as shared by SCMP media:

[…] While the Belt and Road Initiative has faced an increasing international pushback amid fears it is saddling poorer countries with unsustainable debts, Xi’s speech steered clear of this and other sensitive topics.

Instead he praised the initiative for helping to improve international ties, adding: “Our circle of friends is expanding.”

“Circle of friends” defined as those political suckers (selfish and corrupt political parasites willing to sell out their countries’ best interest) who accept the smiling panda face and completely ignore the cunning dragon behind the mask maneuvering to enslave the locals.
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South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham holds a press conference following lunch with President Donald Trump.  Beyond the border security shutdown issues, notably Senator Graham shares:

…” We had a great lunch.  We talked about Syria; and he told me some things I didn’t know that make me feel a lot better about where we’re headed in Syria”.. [@03:35]

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There are three key congressional events likely in the first quarter of 2019. The sequencing of those events will be key to the “Resistance” political year.

The baseline is that Democrat leadership are cunning political strategists; and have likely already drawn out the big picture road-map with details to be filled in as they proceed.

• The first event is the congressional use of Michael Cohen for a series of public committee hearings. [Oversight (Elijah Cummings) and possibly -though less likely- Judiciary (Nadler) and HPSCI (Schiff)] This likely has to happen before March 6th, 2019, when Cohen is scheduled to enter federal prison. It’s almost certain Cohen’s incarceration deferment contains the unwritten agreement to appear. [Democrat leadership almost certainly coordinated this plan with team Mueller and the SDNY some time ago.]
• The second event is the release of the Team Mueller political report which, despite its inability to find criminal wrongdoing, will most certainly be written with highly charged innuendo as damaging to President Trump as possible. The release of this report will absolutely fuel several public committee hearings [Oversight/Reform (Cummings), HPSCI (Schiff) and Judiciary (Nadler)] without any doubt.
• The third event is the release of the OIG Horowitz report on possible FISA abuse. Due to the nature of Mueller’s proprietary investigative blackout (Horowitz not allowed to  see investigative material or witnesses with Mueller probe ongoing), the Horowitz report will  likely come out *after* Mueller.

That’s the three key events the Democrats and media will be most likely to exploit for maximum political benefit in the first quarter of 2019.   The sequence between Mueller and Horowitz might reverse (though unlikely and I’ll explain later). Other investigative resistance paths will spur from these three primary Q1 events.
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