On Tuesday June 12th, 2018, South Carolina MAGA congressional candidate Katie Arrington defeated incumbent Mark Sanford.  On Friday night June 22nd, Mrs Arrington survived a deadly head-on collision in her vehicle; sustaining serious injuries and requiring multiple surgeries.  On July 1st, Katie Arrington sent thanks and prayers from her hospital recovery room.
Incredibly, yesterday candidate Katie Arrington held a news conference in Charleston, her first public appearance since she was critically injured in the auto accident.  She was discharged from the hospital following brief remarks to the media, and will continue her recovery at home.  Many prayers answered.

Imran Awan pleaded guilty today to one count of bank fraud.  However, all of the more serious charges; that were based on intelligence compromises and national security; and that naturally would implicate members of congress; were dropped and dispatched by federal prosecutors.
Add in the date of the announcement today, when everyone is headed to a long July 4th holiday weekend, and voilà we see the all-too-familiar Potomac Two-Step:

(Via Daily Caller)  An assistant US attorney said Tuesday he would not prosecute Imran Awan, a former systems administrator for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and other Democrats, for any crimes on Capitol Hill in a plea agreement that had him plead guilty to one count of bank fraud.
Only one person sat at the prosecutors’ table: J.P. Coomey, who unsuccessfully prosecuted New Jersey Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez for corruption and was only added to the case Monday. There was no sign of Michael Marando, who had previously led the prosecution.
Coomey did not object to the removal of Awan’s GPS monitor, said he would not oppose a sentence of probation, and agreed to drop charges against his wife, fellow former systems administrative Hina Alvi.  (continue reading)

Reminder Here

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte has filed a subpoena to compel open hearing testimony from FBI Agent Peter Strzok, July 10th, 2018 at 10:00am.
Chairman Goodlatte tweets notification (link); Committee Announces/Schedules (link)

Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday, July 10, 2018 at 10:00 a.m., the House Committees on the Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform will hold a joint hearing on “Oversight of FBI and DOJ Actions Surrounding the 2016 Election: Testimony by FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok.” The House Judiciary Committee today issued a subpoena to Peter Strzok – a former senior official in the FBI’s counterintelligence division – to testify publicly before the Committees regarding FBI and DOJ actions surrounding the 2016 presidential election. (link)

Strzok’s attorney has indicated he would not comply with the request: “Having sharpened their knives behind closed doors, the committee would now like to drag back Special Agent Strzok and have him testify in public — a request that we originally made and the committee denied,” Goelman said. “What’s being asked of Special Agent Strzok is to participate in what anyone can recognize as a trap.”  (CNN Reports)

Today U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue announced another campaign to protect and defend his Wall Street contributors against initiatives that benefit Main Street U.S.A. This is not the first time, and unfortunately it will likely not be the last time.
For a great historic reference consider THIS ARTICLE from 2014; when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced their direct attack against the Tea Party backed candidates that threatened to remove the massive lobbying power of Tom Donohue’s corrupt officials. That 2014 reference point has two parts. I strongly urge anyone who would defend the U.S. CoC approach to read both.

The overwhelming majority of economic punditry and opinion come from salespeople on the purchased payroll, direct and indirect, of the chamber. It is one of the most, check that, it is the most corrupt and abusive enterprise in the history of our nation. They are pulling out a very familiar playbook.

(Reuters) – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday denounced President Donald Trump’s handling of a global trade dispute, issuing a report that argued the tariffs imposed by Washington and retaliation by its partners would boomerang badly on the American economy.

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Earlier today in response to questioning about the current Democrat platform to abolish ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), President Trump said he hoped his political opposition would run on that issue because they are out of touch with the American voter.
A Harvard Harris poll (full pdf below) shows President Trump’s instincts are spot-on.  1,448 polled voters. [Poll ideology: Democrat 37%, Republican 32%, Independent 29%]

An overwhelming majority of American registered voters, 70 percent, support tougher immigration enforcement to include a border wall (60% support), deportation (64% support), and repatriation of all illegal border crossers including families with Children (61% support). Additionally 69% of voters do not support the position of disbanding I.C.E.
♦ Page #67 – Do you think current border security is adequate or inadequate? 61% Inadequate / 39% Adequate
♦ Page #69 – Do you support or oppose building a combination of physical and electronic barriers across the U.S.-Mexico border?  60% Support / 40% Oppose
♦ Page #72 – Do you think that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, known as ICE, should be disbanded or not?   31% Disbanded / 69% Not Disbanded
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Within the German economy the auto-sector holds the largest political influence.  Because of this dynamic all German politicians kneel at the knee of the big industrial auto manufacturers.  It has been said that losing support from within the auto-sector is much worse on a German politician than losing support from party or parliament.
Because of this dynamic; and specifically because the German auto-sector is dependent on the United States as their biggest customer, President Trump holds leverage over German Chancellor Angela Merkel.  This makes Fraulein Merkel unhappy.

President Trump wants three EU issues resolved: 1) Germany to contribute the minimum 2% of GDP for their own NATO defense.  2) Germany/EU to support enhanced sanctions against Iran; and  3) President Trump wants all German/EU protectionist trade barriers and tariffs lowered or eliminated – and new trade deals negotiated.
To gain momentum on these initiatives, President Trump is using the economics of trade as leverage.  Trump has suggested a 20% tariff on all EU automobiles shipped into the U.S. [The same standard now likely proposed toward Canada]  The German auto-sector, and as a consequence the German economy, simply cannot survive without low cost access to the U.S. market, their biggest customer.
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Retiring ICE Director Thomas Homan had a message for congress, politicians and media on his last day in office.   Namely all need to get their facts straight.

Today Canada released an updated list of retaliatory tariffs designed as countermeasures to the U.S. Steel and Aluminum tariffs [SEE HERE] which will begin Sunday, July 1st.
Additionally, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, and Employment and Labour Minister Patty Hajdu, announced they would initiate an emergency program to use Canadian taxes compensate workers, expand unemployment benefits, and subsidize impacted industry.  Yes, in a transparent display of political ideology (throwing capitalism directly out the window), Canada doubles-down on centralized government subsidies to offset market impacts.   Brilliant ‘eh!

Chrystia Freeland made the announcement on the floor of a Hamilton steel factory Friday. In a rare backdrop, Ms. Freeland actually entered a factory with machines and things, to deliver the carefully choreographed political message (video below – watch the last minute to understand).
Team U.S.A. have applied tariffs to Canadian softwood lumber, Steel and Aluminum as Canada refuses to negotiate new terms for NAFTA where North American products are prioritized.  Canada demands the ability to continue importing Asian, mostly Chinese, products for their assembly-based market.
With the latest counter-move by Justin and Chrystia from Canada, it is increasingly likely President Trump will levy a 20% tariff on imported Canadian automobiles.  Last month (May) the Canadian economy dropped over 31,000 Full-Time jobs.
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The House Judiciary Committee has primary oversight authority over the DOJ.  House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte discusses the testimony from FBI Agent Peter Strzok, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, along with the next steps.

Representative Ron DeSantis confronts Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein about Rosenstein’s conflicts of interest in the Mueller probe.  Additionally, DeSantis questions Rosenstein about his specific efforts to block DOJ and FBI document production.