In the 48 hours since the Washington Post outlined the financial backing for the Christopher Steele “Russian Dossier” as the Hillary Clinton campaign and DNC, the Democrat apparatus writ large has been trying to obfuscate and distance themselves from it. Yesterday Clinton campaign Spokesman Brian Fallon denied his knowledge of the campaign financing Fusion GPS for the commissioned dossier contract.
Today, in the latest laughable attempt at dodge-ball Hillary Clinton is now stating she didn’t know her campaign was paying for it:

(NYT) […] Officials from the Clinton campaign and the D.N.C. have said they were unaware that Perkins Coie facilitated the research on their behalf, even though the law firm was using their money to pay for it.
Even Mrs. Clinton only found about Mr. Steele’s research after Buzzfeed published the dossier, according to two associates who discussed the matter with her. They said that she was disappointed that the research — as well as the fact that the F.B.I. was looking into connections between Mr. Trump’s associates and Russia — was not made public before Election Day. (read more – link)

The reason the financing of the dossier is ultimately so relevant is because it shreds the entire narrative that the Russians were trying to help candidate Donald Trump.
A strong, heck, even a moderate application of common sense would accept that the dossier was created to undermine candidate Trump, to the benefit of Hillary Clinton, and the publication of the generally refuted and debunked material post-election was only intended to undermine the presidency of Donald Trump.
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On Tuesday of this week the Senate voted, narrowly, to strike down a CFPB banking rule that was set to begin in 2019.  The CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau), is the watchdog financial agency created by Congress in the aftermath of the mortgage mess.
The CFPB rule, five years in the making, would have allowed individual and class action lawsuits against financial institutions by consumers and lawyers instead of arbitration to settle disputes.  The Democrats and those who supported the rule framed the arguments around protecting consumers from predatory banks. However, those against the rule pointed out the cost to smaller banks, community banks and credit unions.
Big banks and multinational financial enterprises (ie. The Big Club) can afford massive groups of lawyers to defend their interests; smaller community banks and credit unions cannot afford such litigious costs.  The K-Street lobbyists were against the regulatory rule as a natural outcome of their general disposition toward regulation.  However, K-Street was specifically ambivalent to the final senate vote because increased systemic regulation supports their competitive ability to dominate the U.S. financial system.

Richard Condray is the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and was appointed in 2012 to a five year term by President Obama.  Condray is anticipated to step down soon and run for Ohio governor.  President Trump will appoint his replacement and will likely appoint someone who is focused on protecting consumers but also understands the important need to expand capital investment into Main Street USA.

President Trump’s political opposition will frame any appointee as a person likely to remove regulation; thus will continue their political argument that POTUS Trump is removing all of the regulatory “progress” installed by President Obama. However, those who have followed the goals and objectives of President Trump and Secretary Mnuchin will note the administration regulatory goals are inherently different from all prior approaches.

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If any more concerning information was needed to add fuel to growing skepticism of the official Mandalay Bay Massacre narrative the latest information is exponentially concerning.
According to border crossing documents provided to Fox News Tucker Carlson, the Mandalay Bay employee, eyewitness and security guard (labeled hero), Jose’ Campos, fled to Mexico immediately after the Las Vegas shooting and resurfaced a week later driving back through the San Diego crossing.

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Why officials would allow Campos to leave the country immediately after the shooting only leads to further speculation about the official story, his attachment to a manufactured narrative and his immigration status.
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Amid all the sketchiness of the Mandalay Bay Massacre, and the weird disappearance of anything related to the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, a new report outlines that Stephen Paddock’s hotel room laptop was missing the hard drive.
Additionally, the shooter’s brother, Bruce Paddock (59), was arrested early Wednesday for possession of child pornography, Los Angeles police said in a news release. He is being held on $60,000 bail.

(Via AP) A laptop computer recovered from the Las Vegas hotel room where Stephen Paddock launched the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history was missing its hard drive, depriving investigators of a potential key source of information on why he killed and maimed so many people, ABC News has learned.

Paddock is believed to have removed the hard drive before fatally shooting himself, and the missing device has not yet been recovered, sources told ABC News.

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President Trump arrives in Dallas, Texas, to get a briefing on ongoing hurricane recovery efforts and attend two republican party functions.  After an initial greeting by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, POTUS Trump goes to meet the crowd.
A very enthusiastic group of Gen-Zer’s greets President Trump with a sign: “We Played Hooky to High-Five Our President“. Of course POTUS Trump couldn’t resist:

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The President arrived in Dallas, TX, (3:10pm) for a briefing on hurricane recovery efforts (3:30pm – Video Below). The President then participated in a roundtable with Republican National Committee (RNC) supporters (4:30pm). In the evening, the President will give remarks at a Dallas Trump victory reception (5:20pm). The President will then depart Dallas (6:25pm), TX for Washington D.C., en route to the White House (10pm).
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There is a tremendous amount of obfuscation coming from democrats after the revelation that Hillary Clinton and the DNC paid Fusion GPS to contract Christoper Steele to create the now infamous “Dossier”.  One of the most significant falsehoods is that the dossier origins began with an unknown GOP entity within the primary.  This narrative is entirely false.
The “Russian Dossier” did not begin assembly until after it was commissioned by Hillary Clinton and the DNC (June 2016).  Prior to that Fusion GPS was simply doing opposition research on behalf of a Trump opponent (stopped April 2016).

We likely know, with great confidence, exactly who that 2016 originating Trump opponent was. Thanks to: the timing, the originating entities, the associations and the player networks behind the 2015 GOP road map splitter strategy.  I’ll get to that aspect later.
First it’s important to frame a correct baseline.  Fusion GPS was doing commissioned opposition research.  AFTER April 2016, the Clinton Campaign and DNC then began financing Fusion GPS to create the “Russian Dossier”.  Christopher Steele began in June 2016 – The “Russian dossier” did not start assembly until commissioned by Clinton and the DNC.  This distinction is important.

(Via WaPo) … [Marc E.] Elias and his law firm, Perkins Coie, retained the firm [GPS Fusion] in April 2016 on behalf of the Clinton campaign and the DNC. Before that agreement, Fusion GPS’s research into Trump was funded by a still unknown Republican client during the GOP primary.
The Clinton campaign and the DNC, through the law firm, continued to fund Fusion GPS’s research through the end of October 2016, days before Election Day.

It should be noted that the New York Times had this story (the DNC/Clinton’s funding the dossier) a year prior and did not report on it because the DNC attorney, Marc E. Elias, outright denied it.
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President Donald Trump holds an impromptu press conference with the WH pool as he departs the White House for Joint Base Andrews, en route to Dallas, TX. President Trump addresses the fake Russia dossier created by Hillary and the Democrats, Jeff Flake & more.  WATCH:
UPDATE VIDEO with better audio:

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After the President arrives in Dallas, TX, (3:10pm) he will receive a briefing on hurricane recovery efforts 3:30pm). The President will then participate in a roundtable with Republican National Committee (RNC) supporters (4:30pm). In the evening, the President will give remarks at a Dallas Trump victory reception (5:20pm). The President will then depart Dallas (6:25pm), TX for Washington D.C., en route to the White House (10pm).
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There’s a myriad of angles within this that must be reviewed prior to absorbing content.

First, do not think the Washington Post is ever going to frame a damaging article against the Clinton’s or DNC; it is beyond their inherent ideology to do so.  Therefore the motive of any media expose’ must be kept in mind.
Second, while the article itself states the Clinton Campaign and the DNC paid Fusion GPS to contract Christopher Steele, the researcher and dossier author, the article also tries to lend some credibility toward the content therein.  This is another possible angle.

Third, the judge in case of the congressional subpoena into Fusion GPS bank records -to discover the funding of the dossier- gave Fusion GPS until Friday of this week to work out an agreement with congress that would eliminate the need for a judicial decision.  It is entirely possible this WaPo article was advanced by a risk averse Fusion GPS in order to dilute the need for the bank record inquiry.  No doubt the bank records would contain far more information than just the Clinton Campaign and DNC.
Fourth, with #3 in mind, and considering this report is from within the Washington Post, there is a strong possibility the other finance mechanisms for the dossier might include the U.S. government (FBI and CIA).  Additionally likely – knowing the WaPo has a history of defending, and working on behalf of, the intelligence community.
Fifth, the sourcing within the Washington Post article is weak, vague and disingenuous with verbiage such as: “people familiar with the matter”, “according to those people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity”, “people involved in the matter“, etc.  Notice how the term “matter” repeats.  That familiar term is frequent throughout the article.
As to the substance:
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Today the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, son of King Salman, ally to U.S. President Trump, guardian of the Holy Mosques, delivered remarks during a conference on investment that stunned the regional geopolitical world.
Of course for most CTH readers, who understood the larger dynamic behind Trump and T-Rex’s sword dancing diplomacy, this doesn’t come as a surprise. However, for the larger U.S. electorate, perhaps they will begin to understand the positive consequences downstream from President Trump’s regional policy.
The scale of consequence was clearly evident in the expression of Maria Bartiromo.

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Five months ago we discussed the significance of the pageantry and scale of the royal reception for President Trump and the U.S. delegation.  Specifically how the structure of the trip was reflective of much more than a singular presidential visit to a nation and region of geo-strategic importance.
The word “reset” is frequent amid media reporting of the Saudi trip but few people have followed the recent regional history to thoroughly understand what exactly is being reset.
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More MAGA winning today as another senatorial blockage in the swamp is cleared. Senator Jeff Flake announces he will not seek reelection.

Toodles !

Senator Jeff Flake told The Arizona Republic ahead of his announcement that he has become convinced “there may not be a place for a Republican like me in the current Republican climate or the current Republican Party.” Gee, ya think?
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