China is signaling they will drop the panda illusion and take a full frontal dragon approach toward Hong Kong. Chairman Xi Jinping is deploying, some say he has already deployed, the Ministry of State Security – China’s leading intelligence agency – into Hong Kong to begin formal control through national security laws.

The move appears to be a direct signal that communist Beijing will not longer accept or allow Hong Kong’s current autonomous status as a free democracy. Beijing signaling “enough is enough”, and Hong Kongers are rightly concerned.  If Xi follows through, we can expect to see even more protests and confrontations; and the possibility President Trump will remove the “special trade status” the U.S. gives to Hong Kong.

Right now Hong Kong is exempt from U.S. tariffs and other economic measures the U.S. has deployed against China.  If Beijing takes full control, that could quickly change.

(Reuters) – Beijing appears determined to stamp out any renewed rebellion against the Communist Party’s authority over the former British colony. China’s largely rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress, is preparing to circumvent the city’s lawmaking body, the Legislative Council, in drafting the new laws.

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Yesterday we noted a rather important, yet less discussed, motive for the strength of the DC Circuit Court position against Judge Emmet Sullivan.  I’ll expand after the video.

In this interview Gregg Jarrett talks with Flynn’s defense lawyer Sidney Powell about the rather unusual behavior of Judge Emmet Sullivan.  WATCH:

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A DC judge hiring a well connected DC lawyer to write his response to a DC circuit court appeals panel is the part that’s interesting.  There’s no guarantee the appeals court will accept such a response; but that’s also another issue.   Bottom line: Judge Sullivan is importing a lawyer to represent his interests.  Very unusual.

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It’s a question that has been asked several times: why is FBI Director Christopher Wray now starting an internal review of those within the FBI who were engaged with the events around Lt. General Michael Flynn.  Why did he wait so long?

In this interview Representative Andy Biggs discusses that question.  WATCH:

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The most likely answer is simply sunlight.  The corrupt FBI activity was clearly evident within the organization in 2018 and 2019.  However, the recent change is the public awareness of it with documented evidence.

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The defensive posture by those attempting to deflect attention from the political unmasking requests made by the Obama-era administration and embed career officials is to highlight the volume of unmasking requests made in 2017 and 2018.

This is presented in a good question received via Twitter:

“Sundance what is your take on this fact that’s getting thrown around about 16,000 unmaskings in 2018? Wallace makes sure to point that out, and that it is not a crime itself, but leaking it is a crime. Although if the unmasking isn’t for the purpose stated it should be a crime.”

The answer is really quite simple. Think about what the Special Counsel’s office [Mueller Team] previously explained about the SCO investigation… These requests flowed through a very facilitating DNI Dan Coats and explains the vast majority of “unmasking” requests:

Again, in order for the media to retain their resistance bona fides, and keep the flow of their cocktail party invites, they have to pretend not to know things.

Carry on.

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Apparently the Fox News crew doesn’t like the effective approach by White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany.  During the pearl clutching discussion the panelists are aghast at an administration spokesperson who articulately presents and defends the office of the president in a manner that doesn’t fit their approved norms.

Having dropped his conservative pretense behind the can of unused shaving cream in the non-mirrored bathroom cabinet, Jonah Goldberg, who has a long history of attacking strong and articulate conservative women who dare exit the kitchen, pontificates that McEnany is “grotesque” in her approach. Meanwhile Chris Wallace clutches his pearls and pretends not to know the press pool is fraught with Trump derangement resistance.

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Kayleigh McEnany is really good.  She effectively shows the American electorate the ridiculous hypocrisy of the beltway media at each event, by drawing attention to their non-coverage. McEnany does a better job in her position than any before her.

McEnany is smart, articulate, joyful and christian.  This puts a unique target on her back for those in opposition desperate to retain the DC fraud, two-party pretense and cocktail party invitations.

Infected with a toxic strain of metastasized TDS, his Trump-era irrelevance now painfully transforms his physical appearance into that of Canis Lupus.  Alas, methinks the Goldberg doth howl too much.

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Former Acting AG Matt Whitaker appears on Sunday Morning Futures to discuss the latest DOJ and FBI issues surfacing as a result of the Flynn case.  Additionally Matt Whitaker gives his perspective on Judge Emmet Sullivan’s latest efforts.

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The Washington Post headline reads (emphasis mine): “Federal judge hires high-powered D.C. attorney to defend his actions in Flynn case.” Which gives some insight into the framework and purpose of this event, and how it reached the WaPo narrative engineers.

The Washington Post is, as an institution, adverse to the interests of Michael Flynn.  So this story, specifically the events behind the story, are written in a posture to aid Judge Sullivan and oppose Flynn.  Keep that in mind (I’ll explain after).

Judge Sullivan has hired a high profile DC lawyer to assist him in responding to the inquires of the DC circuit:

WASHINGTON DC – […] In a rare step that adds to this criminal case’s already unusual path, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan has retained Beth Wilkinson to represent him in defending his decision to a federal appeals court in Washington, according to a person familiar with the hire who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

[…] Wilkinson, known for her top-notch legal skills and get-results style, is expected to file a notice with the court in the coming week about representing the judge. She declined to comment when reached Friday evening. Sullivan also declined to comment through his office.

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Long term CTH readers will not find this surprising, but it’s nice to see it starting to be said/admitted openly:

(Source)

State Dept. and Defense Dept. embeds primarily operate through CNN.  CIA embeds primarily operate through The Washington Post. FBI embeds primarily work through The New York Times; and Politico carries a blend.  Fox is the controlled opposition.

Researchers who travel the deep weeds of U.S. politics have noted this very predictable pattern has been very visible for well over two decades.

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Something 99% of American voters do not understand.  Congress doesn’t actually write legislation. The last item of legislation written by congress was sometime around the mid 1990’s. Modern legislation is sub-contracted to a segment of operations in DC known as K-Street.  That’s where the lobbyists reside.

Lobbyists write the laws; congress sells the laws; lobbyists then pay congress commissions for passing their laws. That’s the modern legislative business in DC.

CTH often describes the system with the phrase: “There are Trillions at Stake.” The process of creating legislation is behind that phrase. DC politics is not quite based on the ideas that frame most voter’s reference points.

With people taking notice of DC politics for the first time; and with people not as familiar with the purpose of DC politics; perhaps it is valuable to provide clarity.

Most people think when they vote for a federal politician -a House or Senate representative- they are voting for a person who will go to Washington DC and write or enact legislation. This is the old-fashioned “schoolhouse rock” perspective based on decades past. There is not a single person in congress writing legislation or laws.

In modern politics not a single member of the House of Representatives or Senator writes a law, or puts pen to paper to write out a legislative construct. This simply doesn’t happen.

Over the past several decades a system of constructing legislation has taken over Washington DC that more resembles a business operation than a legislative body. Here’s how it works right now.

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Yesterday the U.S. Dept of Justice filed a statement of interest supporting the position of a lawsuit filed by Illinois state representative Darren Bailey challenging actions of Governor J.B. Pritzker in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Even during times of crisis, executive actions undertaken in the name of public safety, must be lawful”…

U.S. Dept of Justice – […] In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Governor of Illinois has, over the past two months, sought to rely on authority under the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act to impose sweeping limitations on nearly all aspects of life for citizens of Illinois, significantly impairing in some instances their ability to maintain their economic livelihoods.

According to the lawsuit, the Governor’s actions are not authorized by state law, as they extend beyond the 30-day time period imposed by the Illinois legislature for the Governor’s exercise of emergency powers granted under the Act.

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