(L-R) Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, FBI Director Christopher Wray

NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers has announced to his staff he is resigning. A nominee will be announced to replace him shortly. Rogers departure makes sense.  His incredible accomplishments are complete; he will now be free to testify, unencumbered, to congress.
Intelligence information is housed by compartments within the larger intelligence community network. Each intelligence unit holds intelligence unique to that compartment and task.
The FBI Counterintelligence unit would hold the intelligence information specific to their task or assignment; the DOJ National Security Division would hold their own compartmented intelligence; again, specific to their task and objectives. So too would the DoD (Pentagon), State Dept., or CIA.
This compartmented structure is what led to the creation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, ODNI. The 911 commission recommended the office to serve as a hub able to ensure intelligence sharing; that is – to ensure intelligence was not intentionally withheld from other compartments when needed.
In 2016 the ODNI for President Obama was James Clapper.  The DNI is a political appointment, a cabinet member, of the President. If the executive branch, the President, wanted to weaponize intelligence as a political tool, he/she would have control over such weaponization as an outcome of their political appointees within the: FBI (Comey, McCabe), DOJ (Lynch/Yates), CIA (Brennan), DNI (Clapper), or DoD (Ash Carter). The efficient weaponization of intelligence stems from controlling the hub, James Clapper.
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President Trump, Vice-President Mike Pence and leadership from the administration deliver remarks from Camp David following extensive meetings on this year’s administrative priorities.

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…”Ever watch those nature documentaries on the cable?”  Yeah.  “See the one about lions?”…

Here are the officials joining President Trump at Camp David:
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Earlier today President Trump held a meeting on immigration policy with key administration officials and members of congress. (Video and Transcript Below)

[Transcript] THE PRESIDENT: Important meeting. Thank you very much for being here. We’re making a lot of progress on a lot of different things.
Today, I’m with the Senate working group on immigration. It’s become a very big subject. I think that started around November 8th, and maybe a year and a half before that, starting with the campaign.
We’re all working in an effort to develop an immigration reform plan that will serve the interests of the American workers and the American families and safety.
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Former Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann appeared on Jim Baker’s broadcast last week and indicated she might possibly enter the 2018 special election Senate race open due to Al Franken’s resignation.  [Video Here]

Mrs. Bachmann was known as a deficit hawk and previously represented Minesota’s 6th District from 2007 to 2015. In addition to founding the Tea Party Caucus in the House of Representatives, she also ran for the 2012 presidential nomination.  She is now 61-years-old.
Interesting consideration.  During her previous time in office she was often a target of severe sexist attacks from left-wing media pundits and Democrat opposition.

Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, the second-longest serving U.S. senator, plans to retire at the end of his current term.  In a video shared via his twitter feed, the 83-year-old Republican announced today his plan to leave the Senate after more than 40 years.  Senator Hatch is the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, his announcement comes after the Republican tax plan he helped to create was signed into law.

[…] “When the president visited Utah last month, he said I was a fighter. I’ve always been a fighter. I was an amateur boxer in my youth, and I brought that fighting spirit with me to Washington. But every good fighter knows when to hang up the gloves. And for me, that time is soon approaching. That’s why, after much prayer and discussion with family and friends, I’ve decided to retire at the end of this term. Although I will miss serving you in the Senate, I look forward to spending more time with family, especially my sweet wife Elaine, whose unwavering love and support made all of this possible.”

2018 was looking to be a difficult year for Senator Hatch as he was caught between his newly espoused loyalty to President Trump and his life-long relationship with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
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Interesting discussion today between Senator Lindsey Graham and CBS journalist Major Garrett.  Senator Graham went through a myriad of issues, from his specific perspective, including: Iran (and current protests), North Korea (nukes), DACA, Robert Mueller and the Russian Dossier.

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Well, that didn’t take long.  About a decade ago we needed a phrase to describe a very specific set of republican senators, thus originated the term “Decepticons”.
Decepticons are different from traditional ‘establishment’ types in that they are a cloistered club, a sub-set of the upper-tier within the GOPe, and they protect their exclusive position because of the payments and benefits they receive from an individual lobbyist, Tom Donohue.

Tom Donohue is the President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest single lobbying group in all of Washington DC.   Donohue represents the interests of massive financial institutions and multinational corporations.  Donohue receives hundreds of millions from his corporate conglomerates; and he controls the distribution of tens-of-millions toward individual senators on capitol hill who agree to uphold those interests.
A ‘Decepticon’ will NEVER break ranks with the Chamber. EVER.  Regardless of the Chamber position.  That character trait is what makes them uniquely “Decepticons.”

WASHINGTON DC – Senate Republicans are growing frustrated with what they see as a lack of clear direction in President Trump’s trade agenda, which they warn is hurting U.S. exporters.
Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee vented their concerns in a recent meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

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It is important to remember the Washington Post is the unofficial public relations outfit of the U.S. intelligence community: FBI, CIA, etc.  When a leaked source, or insider release of information appears within the Washington Post, it is there by collaboration with the intelligence community.
That said, the story today about Assistant FBI Director Andrew McCabe planning to retire in March 2018, should be viewed as the WaPo attempting to create leverage for McCabe to retain his position up to his pension eligibility.  It is NOT coincidental that Inspector General Michael Horowitz is planning to release his Year-Long OIG report outlining his investigative details into the politicization of the FBI and DOJ.

This maneuver by “Andy” McCabe is similar to moves by his former boss James Comey. McCabe is trying to gain leverage over a pending IG report release and ongoing congressional investigations that recently have begun to run a parallel track. By publicizing his intent to leave the FBI ahead of all the investigative outcomes being public, McCabe is attempting to change his central disposition to the scandals.
The Washington Post report is shaped to deliver a specific narrative about Andrew McCabe and assist his positioning.  The absence of any WaPo mention of the FBI counterintelligence operation, “The Trump Project”, including the absence of any mention of the FBI involvement in the Steele Dossier (FISA Warrants, Wiretaps and Surveillance), and the myriad of explosive issues therein, is evidence of WaPo’s motive:

WASHINGTON – Andrew McCabe, the FBI’s deputy director who has been the target of Republican critics for more than a year, plans to retire in a few months when he becomes fully eligible for pension benefits, according to people familiar with the matter.

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The Super-MAGA-Winning continues with more companies joining the Christmas Bonus parade.   Amid the passage of the tax reform package in congress, numerous companies have announced their intention to pass out Christmas bonuses to employees.

Previously:  ♦AT&T announced $1,000 bonuses for 200,000 employees (link); ♦Wells Fargo Bank announced they were raising the minimum wage to $15/hr and planned on donating $400 million to charity (link); ♦Fifth-Third Bankcorp joined in with its own plan for $15 minimum wages and $1,000 bonuses for 1,500 employees (link); and ♦Comcast announced they were giving $1,000 bonuses to more than 100,000 of their employees (link).
Today, the tax benefits continue: ♦Sinclair Broadcasting announced they would pass out $1,000 Christmas bonuses to over 9,000 eligible workers (link).  Not to be left out, ♦Bank of America announced $1,000 bonuses for 145,000 American workers (link); and ♦Billionaire businessman Bob Parsons joins in with $1,000 and $2,000 bonuses to each of his 600+ employees (link).

…”The passage of the tax credit is a catalyst for explosive economic growth. On a massive scale, the lowered federal tax burden on businesses will increase investment, entrepreneurship and corporate philanthropy,” said Parsons. “I’ve always believed in sharing good news and have decided to celebrate the tax plan by giving back to my staff.”…

Our big and very popular Tax Cut and Reform Bill has taken on an unexpected new source of “love” – that is big companies and corporations showering their workers with bonuses. This is a phenomenon that nobody even thought of, and now it is the rage. Merry Christmas!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2017

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