President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump become the first guests of Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako at the Imperial Palace.
Following custom there are three components to the state visit: (1) The guest arrival and formal greeting by the Emperor and Empress. (2) The ceremonial anthems of both nations and the presentation of the imperial guard.  (3) A “state call” or discussion of diplomatic matters between the Emperor, Empress and their honored guests.
During the official state call component there is an exchange of gifts. First, the arrival:

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The ‘inside palace’ greeting and introduction was not covered by international media. However, due to the significance of the visit (first of imperial era of Reiwa) it was broadcast on local Japanese media as below:
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Polls are all closed.  Election results are beginning to come in fast.  The overall result in the European (EU) Parliamentary Election reflects massive gains for conservative nationalists in Italy, Greece, France, Poland, Hungary, Austria, U.K. and others…
Over 400 million people can vote in 28 countries, seven of which held ballots between Thursday and Saturday, with the remainder voting today, Sunday.
Source Feeds: Here (BBC) and Here (Reuters) and Here and Here and Here (UK centric)
♦In France Marine Le Pen has defeated the party led by Emmanuel Macron. Exit polls in France indicated that Marine Le Pen’s far-right, anti-immigrant National Rally party came out on top in an astonishing rebuke of French President Emmanuel Macron, who has made EU integration the heart of his presidency (link).
♦In Greece Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is likely to call a snap general election in June, after the opposition party took the lead.
♦Poland’s ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party is expected to come first in the election with 42.4% of the vote.
♦Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, was expected to win 56% of votes, state television reported.
♦Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz leading with support for Kurz’s conservative People’s Party, at 34.5%.
♦In Italy Matteo Salvini’s far-right League is now emerging as Italy’s largest party, and the 5-Star Movement has lost a third of its voters over the course of a year.
♦Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition, the CDU/CSU, has lost multiple seats now dropping to a projected 28 (out of 96).

♦In the U.K. Nigel Farage Brexit Party is crushing the traditional political classes. With 100 of 373 counts complete, the brand new Brexit Party is in the lead with 31.9%, crushing the two largest parties,Conservatives and Labour, who are down 12-14% each so far.

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Ian Bremmer is a professor at New York University; a columnist with Time Magazine and has 428,000 Twitter followers. Earlier today he fabricated a Trump quote out of thin air, and thousands of followers and politicians instantly shared it:

Professor Bremmer was challenged on the quote he attributed to President Trump during his state visit to Japan. Instead of admitting he made the entire thing up, Bremmer deletes the quote and offers no apology.
To be clear, this was entirely made up. President Trump said nothing of the sort. The claim is completely fabricated and false. Yet it was shared by thousands of people before the professor and columnist decided to delete it. This is the current state of credibility within the fake news media.
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Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham appears on Fox News to discuss his relationship with President Trump; the upcoming declassification of documents; and the possibility of Senate committee hearings to follow the IG report on FISA abuse.
Graham gives an explanation for his change in disposition. However, his decision not to call Robert Mueller to task highlights he’s still paddling in the shallow water of the deep state…

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When President Trump announced the futility of attempting an infrastructure bill with Pelosi and Schumer as they simultaneously tried to impeach him, the president certainly knew he was going to issue a declassification memo within hours.
The declassification directive to AG Bill Barr creates a dynamic ensuring Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer will align with the former intelligence officials and further attack the offices of the President and Attorney General; they have few options.
Those who participated in the creation of Russia-Gate or Spy-Gate have few options except to manufacture a narrative shield and accuse the President of unethical, immoral and criminal conduct.  See: Pelosi’ recent “cover-up” charge.
By advancing even stronger attacks against the president, the ‘small group’ position any investigation into their wrong-doing as political retaliation.  Their best defense is to build a deeper foundation for their political retaliation claim.  Therefore a House impeachment investigation, in some manner or form, is more likely than ever.
The legal risk for participants in ‘Russia-Gate’/’Spy-Gate’ seems very real.  The best defense against that risk is political.  Speaker Pelosi and Senator Schumer know how to lead the defense by saying any evidence discovered by AG Barr is merely weaponized retaliation from the Trump DOJ.  The media are already supporting that cause.
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Based on time zones (Japan is 13 hours ahead), and considering Lighthizer left on Thursday; it would appear Japanese Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer are meeting right about now.

(Reuters) – Japanese Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Friday that he will meet with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in Tokyo on Saturday for trade talks ahead of a summit meeting between leaders from the two nations on Monday.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump are expected to discuss topics including North Korea’s nuclear programs, trade issues and the coming Group of 20 leaders’ summit. (link)

Following the State Dinner to celebrate the beginning of the Reiwa Era, introduced with the coronation of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are scheduled to hold a summit and joint press conference on Monday.
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Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage calls-in to Fox Business for a discussion of Theresa May’s resignation and the success of the Brexit Party movement in the recent EU election.

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[ps. I still think U.K. far-left media are sandbagging the results of the British vote for EU Parliament members.  Farage puts the total at 35%. Don’t be surprised if the official numbers are not even higher when announced on Sunday]
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Repost by Request – Considering the upcoming declassification window…between Trump’s state visit in Japan (5/25 – 5/28) and the state visit with the U.K (6/3 – 6/5).

Bucket Five – Intelligence documents that were presented to the Gang of Eight in 2016 that pertain to the FISA application used against U.S. person Carter Page; including all exculpatory intelligence documents that may not have been presented to the FISA Court.  Presumably this would include the recently revealed State Dept Kavalac email; and the FBI transcripts from wiretaps of George Papadopoulos (also listed in Carter Page FISA).

Now that we have significant research files on the 2015 and 2016 political surveillance program; which includes the trail evident within the Weissmann/Mueller report; in combination with the Obama-era DOJ “secret research project” (their words, not mine); we are able to overlay the entire objective and gain a full understanding of how political surveillance was conducted over a period of approximately four to six years.
This is why there’s panic.
Working with a timeline, but also referencing origination material in 2015/2016 – CTH hopes to show how the program operated. This explains an evolution from The IRS Files in 2010 to the FISA Files in 2016.
More importantly, research indicates the modern political exploitation of the NSA database, for weaponized intelligence surveillance of politicians, began mid 2012.
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The day after President Trump authorized AG Bill Barr to declassify documents relating to 2016 political activity by the intelligence apparatus, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler appeared to almost collapse when he slumped and said he was not well as he sat beside New York mayor Bill de Blasio at a press conference.

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The 71-year-old congressman was put on a stretcher and taken to a waiting ambulance for transfer to a local hospital. A representative for Nadler told NBC4 News he was ‘responsive and receiving a check-up.’ He was taken to the hospital for medical attention and later tweeted that he was ‘feeling much better.’ Media Report
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British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced she will be resigning from office, effective June 7th, immediately following the state visit by U.S. President Donald Trump.
In an emotional statement in front of 10 Downing Street, the prime minister made her announcement. Bowing to the inevitable, Theresa May announced she will step down as U.K. Conservative Party leader in two weeks, admitting defeat in her attempt to take Britain out of the European Union and sparking a contest to replace her as prime minister.

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