Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced Tuesday he will appoint GOP Rep. Martha McSally to the Senate to fill the seat of the late Sen. John McCain.

“All her life, Martha has put service first — leading in the toughest of fights and at the toughest of times. She served 26 years in the military; deployed six times to the Middle East and Afghanistan; was the first woman to fly in combat and command a fighter squadron in combat; and she’s represented Southern Arizona in Congress for the past four years. With her experience and long record of service, Martha is uniquely qualified to step up and fight for Arizona’s interests in the U.S. Senate. I thank her for taking on this significant responsibility and look forward to working with her and Senator-Elect Sinema to get positive things done.” ~ Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey

Former FBI Director James Comey appeared December 17th, 2018, for a second round of questions by a joint House committee oversight probe into the DOJ and FBI conduct during the 2016 presidential election and incoming Trump administration.
The Joint House Committee just released the transcript (full pdf below):
[scribd id=395972408 key=key-VowRINMl7U6kF9efRfAx mode=scroll]
.
This was just released.  Analysis to follow.

Without cameras in the courtroom we are constrained to understand the Flynn sentencing hearing today through the perspectives of others. The Daily Caller has an article [See Here] and a thread on the events [is Here] and a great video recap of the events by Will Chamberlain [is HERE].
That said, there is much speculation and punditry delivered opinion on what took place; and how the hearing ended with Judge Emmet Sullivan delaying the sentencing of Michael Flynn for 90-days. While we await the transcript from the court, here’s my view.

Last night, while contemplating the possible outcomes of the hearing, there was a strong likelihood of exactly what happened today…. but only if Judge Sullivan was aware of the conflicted position of Michael Flynn, and approached the hearing from that perspective.
Flynn took the guilty plea of lying to investigators to avoid Mueller charging him over the Turkish lobbying issues (FARA).
Happily, it appears Judge Sullivan is well aware of this very specific dynamic and the issues therein. Special Counsel Robert Mueller used the unregistered foreign lobbying charges, and -more importantly- the devastating narrative that can be drawn from those FARA violations, as leverage over Flynn. Based on the comments from Judge Sullivan, it is clear he is aware of this dynamic.
(more…)

There’s a rather extensive backstory to the Turkish lobbying efforts that involved Michael Flynn.  [BACKSTORY HERE] Much of the Flynn issue was before the election of 2016 {Go Deep} and recent events align exactly as we would expect {Go Deep}. As CTH predicted the day after the original Flynn plea, the Turkish lobbying was used by Mueller as leverage.

It would appear, as CTH has predicted for well over a year, that Flynn brokered a deal with Robert Mueller to admit to misleading statements to the FBI in exchange for Mueller agreeing not to prosecute Flynn for FARA (lobbying) violations.
As CTH warned in November of 2016 Flynn was involved in lobbying efforts on behalf of the Turkish government via Bijan Rafiekian, aka Bijan Kian, 66, of San Juan Capistrano, California, and Kamil Ekim Alptekin, 41, of Istanbul. The financial constructs surrounding the payments to Flynn were sketchy, very sketchy.
In 2016 CTH anticipated this sketchy behavior would come back to bite Flynn and -by extension- could be an issue for the White House if he took a high level position.  None of that had anything whatsoever to do with the fictitious vast Russian conspiracy story.
It is increasingly clear that Mueller used the sketchy financial arrangement between Turkey and Flynn -specifically how Flynn maneuvered the money- as the leverage in the unrelated Russian conspiracy investigation.
(more…)

It was curious to see Michael Cohen walk out of his sentencing hearing last week without having to report to jail/prison for the punishment therein.  Generally speaking when the final adjudication is presented the accused begins to serve his/her punishment. However, not in this case; and not with the construct of this pleading, this quid-pro-quo.
In the prosecutorial agreement within the Cohen case, there obviously remains the fulfillment of terms.  Michael Cohen doesn’t report to prison until March 6th, 2019.  Why the exceptional judicial delay and generosity?….  The incoming Chairman for the House Government and Oversight Committee, Elijah Cummings, explains:

.
There it is; transparently obvious for any political observer who has a modicum of intellectual honesty. House committees will use testimony from Michael Cohen as the cornerstone for their well-structured political strategy to eliminate the existential threat to their ongoing DC livelihood, President Trump.
There should be no doubt this plan was conceived well before Special Counsel Robert Mueller passed the investigative torch to his compatriots in the Southern District of New York. This impeachment/removal approach is a synergy between multiple benefactors, and is entirely by design.
(more…)

White House senior adviser Stephen Miller joins Margaret Brennan to discuss the future of Obamacare and whether the government will shut down over the congressional funding battle regarding border security.

(more…)

U.S. District in Texas, Judge Reed O’Connor (Fort Worth) has agreed with a coalition of 19 states that Obamacare is structurally unconstitutional without an enforced federal mandate that requires individual participation. (full ruling pdf below)

Absent the enforcement of the individual mandate, Judge O’Conner ruled it was impossible for the Obamacare law to remain.  Texas and the 19 state coalition successfully argued they’ve been harmed by an increase in the number of people on state-funded insurance rolls.
The plaintiffs argued: when Congress repealed the tax penalty last year for the individual mandate; they eliminated the U.S. Supreme Court’s prior rationale for finding the ACA constitutional in 2012. The Texas judge agreed.
Judge O’Conner found it is clear the individual mandate is the linchpin of the law “without marching through every nook and cranny of the ACA’s 900-plus pages. The court must find the individual mandate inseverable from the ACA,” he said. “To find otherwise would be to introduce an entirely new regulatory scheme never intended by Congress or signed by the president.”
(more…)

Forget the unmentioned brutally obvious political motives and intents behind the operation against Donald Trump for a moment; and focus on the collective Obama activity as if they actually believed the claims they have since presented…
The counterintelligence investigation into candidate, president-elect, and president Donald Trump was predicated on the Obama’s intelligence community believing that campaign officials were colluding, conspiring and otherwise coordinating to take over the office of the presidency, with help from a foreign government.  So why wouldn’t the intelligence services of the United States government conduct wiretaps and full blown surveillance upon that incoming administration?

The John Brennan CIA presented a classified electronic communication, “ec”, origination memo (we are not allowed to see) to ODNI (Clapper) and FBI (Comey); who then opened a full-blown counterintelligence operation against officials within the Trump campaign.
We know this operation was political, but again, ignore that aspect and just look at the issues, details and activity while accepting -at face value- their demonstrably dubious claims.
Carter Page, George Papadopoulos, Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn provided the opening for operational surveillance of the Trump team. We can argue about how they were framed in that regard; however, it is factual that FISA-Title-One surveillance is all encompassing.
The target is validated and defined by the FBI as “an agent of a foreign government”. This legal distinction permits full surveillance: electronic, physical, the works.  Everything is on the table, no limits or boundaries.
(more…)

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a 35-page sentencing memo (full pdf below) recommending a two-year prison term for busted Senate Intelligence Committee Director of Security, James Wolfe.   The DOJ is seeking a term of imprisonment above the guidelines for the plea of lying to federal investigators.

The DOJ sentencing recommendation outlines the events surrounding the FBI investigation of Wolfe, and provides a more fulsome picture of the issues faced when a top-tier staff member of the legislative branch is suspected of leaking classified intelligence.
The DOJ notes the challenge presented when the executive branch is investigating a critical internal office of the legislative branch.   While James Wolfe was never actually charged with leaking classified documents, the type of leaks he participated in and the resulting media reports which drew from his information network – certainly implies there was classified documentary evidence leaked; the DOJ claims they cannot prove it.
Given the direct evidence of corrupt and politically motivated conduct by officials within the DOJ and FBI the sentencing memo is an interesting read with multiple facets for consideration.
(more…)

President Trump signs H.R. 390: The “Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018,” which authorizes assistance to entities engaged in aiding individuals and communities in Iraq or Syria who are being, or are likely to be, targeted for genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes.
After signing the bill [@03:00] President Trump took questions from the media.

(more…)