There have been a great many questions surrounding the activity that took place in 2017 after President Trump took office and how politicians and officials coordinated an apparent ‘soft coup’ attempt to remove President Trump.
Questions around DAG Rod Rosenstein, Andrew McCabe, James Comey and the larger intelligence community (to include the Gang-of-Eight) surrounding the Trump administration. Many of those questions can be reconciled with a review of the predicate.
There are five phases in the evolution of ‘Spygate’ into the ‘Soft Coup’; to reconcile the latter, which extends to today, a full review provides the clarity.

♦ Phase One – December 2015 through April 2016:  The first phase leading into ‘Spygate’ is the period of time where opposition research of the republican candidate field was taking place.  It is in this period where Fusion-GPS hired CIA Open Source researcher Nellie Ohr, wife of DOJ-NSD official Bruce Ohr, to do research.
In the background of this time period the FBI and NSA database was being exploited by unknown FBI contractors; it is highly suspected that Nellie Ohr and/or Fusion-GPS was one of those contracted agencies with access to the massive electronic and metadata files.
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With about a week left before the second phase of U.S. tariffs is scheduled to hit Chinese imports both the U.S. and China trade delegations met today in an ongoing effort to hammer out details about enforcement mechanisms.   The tension is thick enough to cut with a knife…

Beijing’s Red Dragon team is focused on putting together a six step Memorandum of Understanding, the Panda MOU, they hope will convince President Trump to delay any tariff action.  This cunning procedural approach is China’s historic tactic when confronted about the reality within their trade behavior and economic duplicity.   However, USTR Robert Lighthizer is well aware and unwilling to follow the path of historic failure.
These talks are intense; it is difficult to appropriately frame how consequential these negotiation sessions are. Because the trillion dollar stakes are so high; and because China is unfamiliar negotiating with a government delegation they have not purchased; this is the type of hard-line negotiation that could never be attempted by any other administration other than President Donald Trump.  It is rather epic when you stand back and consider the larger landscape.
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January 5th, 2017, an Oval Office meeting with President Obama, VP Joe Biden, James Comey (FBI), Michael Rogers (NSA), John Brennan (CIA), James Clapper (ODNI), Sally Yates (DOJ) and Susan Rice.   At the conclusion of the briefing, President Obama asks Sally Yates and James Comey to remain.  Together with Susan Rice, this is where the “by the book” comment comes into play. As recounted by Rice:

“President Obama said he wants to be sure that, as we engage with the incoming team, we are mindful to ascertain if there is any reason that we cannot share information fully as it relates to Russia.”

Former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe is now highlighting how the FBI conducted a criminal and counterintelligence operation under the auspices that President Trump was possibly an agent of a foreign government.  Let’s look at the big picture…
FBI Director James Comey told congress (March 20th, 2017) the reason the intelligence community did not disclose their counterintelligence operation against candidate, president-elect and President Trump was “because of the sensitivity of the matter.”  As such the required congressional oversight notifications were bypassed.
We learn in hindsight the Trump Transition team was under electronic surveillance.  This surveillance also included the capture of all of their transition email accounts, the content was later given -without prior approval- to Robert Mueller by the GAO.  This is not disputed.
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The best thing for an examination of the 2016/2017 seditious effort is for former Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe to keep talking.
In this NBC interview McCabe attempts to cleverly obfuscate the original July 31, 2016, FBI counterintelligence investigation (Crossfire Hurricane/”Spygate”) with the second investigation he launched on May 10th, 2017.

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Worth noting is McCabe talks about briefing the IC congressional oversight group known as the ‘Gang of Eight’ in May 2017. [Paul Ryan, Nancy Pelosi, Devin Nunes, Adam Schiff, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Richard Burr and Mark Warner]
Here is where the actions of Paul Ryan and Adam Schiff to remove Devin Nunes from active engagement with the Russia probe in March 2017 comes into play.
Remember during the 2016 election Harry Reid was Senate Minority Leader and Gang of eight member. Also, Dianne Feinstein was vice-chair of the Senate Intel Committee and was part of the gang-of-eight; however after the 2016 election Feinstein abdicated her position and Harry Reid retired. In 2017 Harry Reid was replaced by Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein was replaced by Mark Warner.
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Fox News is reporting that Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein is anticipated to resign mid-March and be replaced by a hand-picked deputy by AG William Barr.  Initial reporting is that Jeffrey Rosen will be the replacement.

FOX – Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to leave his role at the Justice Department by mid-March, a senior DOJ official told Fox News on Monday. (read more)

This timeframe would align with prior reporting that Rosenstein would exit mid-March simultaneous to the completion of the Robert Mueller investigation.

NBC REPORT WASHINGTON — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who had been overseeing the special counsel investigation, plans to step down after Robert Mueller submits his report, according to administration officials familiar with his thinking.

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Influential radio host Rush Limbaugh appears on Fox News with Chris Wallace to discuss the necessity of President Trump’s border security declaration; the DOJ and FBI scheme to conduct a ‘soft coup’ against the president; and how the democrat party is positioning themselves for the 2020 election.
The first half of the interview discusses the national security declaration; then the subject shifts to former FBI Deputy Andrew McCabe, Rod Rosenstein and the ‘soft coup’; and then finishes with discussion over the Green New Deal and the likelihood of democrat success in the 2020 election.u

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House member Mark Meadows appears on Fox News to discuss the ramifications of President Trump using a national emergency declaration to secure the southern border:

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There’s a lot of news this week reflecting a great deal of oppositional alignment against the presidency of Donald Trump. CTH can get down in the weeds of each specific issue to discuss the motives and intents (we will, and do), but the big picture MUST remain at the forefront of understanding. If we lose track of the big picture, the weeds are overwhelming.

…“It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.”
~ Niccolò Machiavelli

♦POTUS Trump is disrupting the global order of things in order to protect and preserve the shrinking interests of the U.S. middle-class.  He is fighting, almost single-handed, at the threshold of the abyss. Our interests, our position, is zero-sum; if POTUS Trump fails, there will never be another available route to confront the Big Club.
President Trump’s aggregate opposition seeks to repel and retain the status-quo. They were on the cusp of full economic control over the U.S. just before candidate Trump snatched away their victory.  There are trillions at stake. They won’t make that mistake again.
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The White House has announced that President Trump will sign the Pelosi appropriations bill that includes limited funding for border security, and will simultaneously use a National Security Declaration to shift existing funds to build a structural barrier.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell met with the President and announced the plan from the senate floor before the chamber votes on the compromise bill.

.@senatemajldr: "I've just had an opportunity to speak with President Trump…he's prepared to sign the bill. He will also be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time." pic.twitter.com/iukGKjmoZ8

— CSPAN (@cspan) February 14, 2019

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders statement:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has stated she will review options to file legal challenges to stop the use of a national security declaration to build a border barrier.
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The usual suspects within the Decepticon Caucus (McConnell, Cornyn, Thune, Barasso, Crapo, Portman, Blunt, Gardner, Burr, Romney) and Richard Shelby held a press conference to announce the outcome of their DHS border security funding negotiations.
There are massive numbers of Republicans who view Senate Majority Mitch McConnell as a brilliant strategist and staunch supporter of President Trump.  Unfortunately, those voices once again have to reconcile McConnell’s comprehensive failure on a Trump priority.   Yes, McConnell and Shelby successfully negotiated for less border security funding than before the shutdown.

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Fortunately, POTUS Trump planned for the intentional failure of McConnell and his veto-proof construct. [Rest assured, thankfully, President Trump knows exactly who McConnell is.] President Trump had anticipated the result and dispatched Mulvaney to review the granular DHS, DoD and DoS programs throughout fiscal year 2019 appropriations to assemble secondary funding.
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