This would appear to be one of the few positive indicators that AG Bill Barr and U.S. Attorney John Durham are indeed doing more than bondo.  The New York Times is reporting the Durham “review” has now officially moved into a full “criminal investigation”.  [All emphasis mine]

WASHINGTON — For more than two years, President Trump has repeatedly attacked the Russia investigation, portraying it as a hoax and illegal even months after the special counsel closed it. Now, Mr. Trump’s own Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into how it all began.

Justice Department officials have shifted an administrative review of the Russia investigation closely overseen by Attorney General William P. Barr to a criminal inquiry, according to two people familiar with the matter. The move gives the prosecutor running it, John H. Durham, the power to subpoena for witness testimony and documents, to impanel a grand jury and to file criminal charges.

(more…)

A letter from DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz provides both good news and bad news.   The goods news is Horowitz letter says likely no need for a “classified version” which means AG Bill Barr likely declassifying a lot of it.
However, the bad news is on page #2 where Horowitz says the final draft assembly is still ongoing, and the “review phase” has not yet begun.  Which means the report is not likely to be made public before Thanksgiving.
(more…)

Senator Lindsey Graham held a press conference to introduce a Senate Resolution condemning the House of Representatives’ closed-door impeachment investigation.

.
There are currently 46 Republican Senators supporting the Graham-McConnell resolution: 1.Graham 2.McConnell 3.Grassley 4.Thune 5.Blunt 6.Shelby 7.Inhofe 8.Roberts 9.Crapo 10.Cornyn 11.Burr 12.Barrasso 13.Wicker 14.Risch 15.Boozman 16.Moran 17.Toomey 18.Rubio 19.Paul 20.Hoeven 21.Lee 22.Johnson 23.Scott (SC) 24.Fischer 25.Cruz 26.Capito 27.Cassidy 28.Lankford 29.Cotton 30.Daines 31.Perdue 32.Ernst 33.Tillis 34.Rounds 35.Sasse 36.Young 37.Kennedy 38.Hyde-Smith 39.Blackburn 40.Cramer 41.McSally 42.Braun 43.Hawley 44.Scott (FL) 45.Portman and 46.Sullivan.
While the resolution [Text Available Here] is easily blocked by any democrat senator; what is important is to get senators on-the-record. This is an indicator of who will vote to impeach the President should articles ever reach the Senate.
There are 53 Republican Senators and 47 Democrats.  If your senator is not on the list supporting the Graham-McConnell resolution, it might be a good idea to STAND and demand to know why?
(more…)

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff is now calling current and former White House National Security Council (NSC) staff to appear before his committee to provide evidence for impeachment.  The purpose of the requests is to gather testimony from all those who disagree with President Trump’s foreign policy.
The arc of the current impeachment plan is to remove President Trump from office because he is not permitting the Bush, Clinton-Clinton, Bush-Bush, Obama-Obama foreign policy to continue.   All career bureaucrats who have advised and constructed U.S. foreign policy for maximum influence & financial gain are now fuel for impeachment.

White House Trade and Manufacturing Advisor Peter Navarro appears on Fox Business to discuss the purpose and intent of the USMCA and the ongoing China trade discussions.
What Navarro skims upon is the heart of the economic purpose behind the USMCA as requested by President Trump and constructed by USTR Lighthizer. The USMCA establishes an internal North American manufacturing system; this provides the alternative for Asian manufacturing of goods for the U.S. market.
This manufacturing system is why Mexico is “all-in” to support the USMCA. Additionally, the economic benefits within the system as constructed is exactly why Mexican President Lopez-Obrador is willing to pressure House democrats to ratify and also back-up President Trump on other geopolitical issues (immigration controls etc).

.
On the Stock Market dynamic. Currently there is a great deal of investment capital waiting to see where the money should be placed. Investment in China has dropped dramatically; investment in Southeast Asia shifted, but new investment is pending this outcome. Multinationals are calculating the TCP (Total Cost of Production), and if the new USMCA is passed there will be a triggering effect of North American investment because the uncertainty will be eliminated.
(more…)

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley sent a forboding tweet a few days ago outlining the possibility of the FISA investigation would result in a “deep six” cover-up.

Grassley has a unique perspective on a very specific element to the construct of the FISA application, and the political use therein, that most have forgotten.  Back in 2018 when Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Grassley was hot on the trail of a very specific individual that has had almost no attention since. The election clock ran out on Grassley; the mid-terms took place; and Grassley was never able to get to his target.
The background to this tweet needs a little context {GO DEEP} and surrounds two individuals who have NOT been identified as being questioned by either IG Michael Horowitz or U.S. Attorney John Durham.
Those two individuals are: Daniel Jones, former lead staffer for former SSCI Vice-Chair Dianne Feinstein; and a lawyer for Christopher Steele named Adam Waldman.
(more…)

Earlier today thirty republican members of the House of Representatives stood up and said they’ve had enough of the ridiculous schemes behind the Pelosi, Schiff and Lawfare plan to conduct an impeachment inquiry without transparency and sunlight.
With House democrats shredding the rules, procedures and historic norms in a transparent political scheme, apparently the GOP is finally starting to fight back.  Some righteous indignation was expressed during a press conference. WATCH:

(more…)

Finally….

(more…)

Today President Trump has traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to deliver remarks at the 9th annual Shale Insight conference.  Anticipated start time 3:40pm EDT.
UPDATE: Video Added

(more…)

Earlier today President Trump delivered remarks departing the White House.  [Video and Transcript below]

.
[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. We’re going to Pennsylvania, on an energy meeting and speech, and look forward to it.

I hope you saw what I had to say about the safe zone in Syria, and — are dealing with Turkey. It’s been very successful. We’ll see what happens. It’s a very volatile part of the world, but, so far, it’s been pretty amazing what’s gone on. We’ve lost no soldiers. We didn’t have a soldier hurt. We didn’t have a finger broken. It’s pretty unusual.

(more…)