Earlier this afternoon White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and Acting OMB  Director Russell Vought held a press conference to brief reporters on the president’s fiscal year 2020 budget and answer questions on current political events:

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[White House] FURTHERING OUR ECONOMIC PROSPERITY: President Donald J. Trump’s budget request will continue our economic resurgence while furthering his vision to reduce spending and invest in America.
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It is important to remember the DNC and RNC are private clubs. Their rules and processes have have no direct connection to the administration of government. They are completely private organizations with the ability to make their own rules, membership terms, conditions and agendas.  You’d be surprised how many people do not know that.
Because they are private clubs it is always laughable when politicians talk about “campaign finance reform”.  Quite simply if either club -or both- wanted to put limits or restrictions on the financial side of their club membership or activity, they could; easy peasy. Those rules have nothing to do with government; the clubs make the decisions not to do so.

In the latest CNN/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll of Iowa Democrats, Joe Biden leads the pack with 27%, followed closely by Bernie Sanders with 25%.  The rest of the field, or potential field, is in the single digits.
Now, let’s get down to business….
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On Thursday of last week Judicial Watch received a 300+ page release of Bruce and Nellie Ohr communication with government officials as the result of their 2017 FOIA submission. The following day, Friday, representative Doug Collins released the transcript of Bruce Ohr testifying about his activity and contacts with DOJ and FBI officials.
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton appears with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the revelations within both the testimony and FOIA release, saying Bruce Ohr’s testimony confirms how closely the Department of Justice and FBI were working with Clinton operative, Christopher Steele.

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National Security Adviser John Bolton appears with Maria Bartiromo to discuss recent reports that Kim Jong-un is moving toward more nuclear testing.
Obviously that discussion moves quickly into the influence of China and Chairman Xi Jinping.
The frustrating question no-one ever seems to ask is not “if” China controls the DPRK government, but rather “to what extent”?
It has become more obvious in the past few years that North Korea’s Chairman Kim Jong-un has much less control over officials and military leadership within his own government than previously thought.
Does Chairman Xi and Beijing structurally control everything around Kim? Is Kim a hostage; forced to ride a dragon he doesn’t control?  I think the answer is yes.

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Once people start to realize that China controls North Korea as a proxy province, then the discussion can evolve toward the true nature of the challenge, and the way President Trump is precariously negotiating a hostage release while refusing to pay the ransom.
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Beware of the Decepticons. Senator John Barrasso is one of Mitch McConnell’s key small council members, which includes: McConnell, Cornyn, Barrasso, Earnst, Young, Thune, Lee, Crapo and Gardner.  All the Decepticons make moves based on ulterior motives.  The Decepticons are the UniParty constants in an ever changing universe.

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Where’s the USMCA vote Mitch?…
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National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow appears on Fox News Sunday to discuss economic policy, budgets and taxes. Since the discussion is the economy, Wallace quickly puts on his doomsday hat.

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NBC News penned an article about the unorthodox release of DOJ official Bruce Ohr’s transcript.  Within the article NBC notes current DOJ officials responded to the congressional request for release by sending them an approved “redacted version”:

(NBC) […]  The transcripts of interviews with Ohr and other witnesses before the joint committee investigation were sent to the Justice Department last December to be vetted for public release at the request of the outgoing GOP chairmen, Bob Goodlatte from the Judiciary Committee and Trey Gowdy from the Oversight Committee.

The Justice Department returned the Ohr transcript to the committee this week with redactions. But Collins said he was releasing a copy without those edits because the changes sought by the department did not relate to classified information or sensitive personal data. By releasing the transcript on the House floor, Collins would be protected under what is known as the Speech and Debate Clause from any reprimand. (read more)

Having read the Ohr transcript (also provided below), there didn’t appear to be any national security interests, sources or methods, beyond investigative embarrassment for DOJ and FBI, simply because of the sham of it all.
What parts did the current DOJ redact, and what would have been their justification? What did the current DOJ attempt to hide? …Maybe Representative Doug Collins could provide the redacted version, so we can find out.  Curiouser, and curiouser…
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We discovered last year that Jeff Sessions had authorized U.S. Attorney John Huber to work with the Inspector General’s office, but we did not know exact dates and scope of the original Huber investigation.  Thanks to a FOIA request, some details now fill in.
A left-leaning watchdog group, American Oversight, filed a FOIA request in 2017 looking for any communication that might show former AG Jeff Sessions giving instructions to DOJ officials to target Hillary Clinton for investigations.
Ironically, and perhaps serendipitously, the American Oversight FOIA request was submitted on November 22nd, 2017, the exact date Sessions’ chief-of-staff Matt Whitaker was sending a letter to Utah U.S. Attorney John Huber.  Had they waited a day, what AO  were looking for would have surfaced. However, with the Sessions-Huber communication falling outside the FOIA request window, the DOJ response was delayed until yesterday.
The Sessions letter was an attachment to a email sent by Whitaker to Huber at 5:21pm on November 22nd, 2017.  The AG letter to Huber requests Huber to review issues raised by the House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, and return with advice. Here’s the letter:

CONTEXT – in 2017 House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte was conducting oversight and receiving testimony from witnesses concerning a possibility the DOJ and FBI had intentionally manipulated their investigations to protect Hillary Clinton.  Goodlatte wrote to AG Sessions about his concerns.
At the request of AG Jeff Sessions, Asst. AG Stephen Boyd sent a responsive letter back to belay Goodlatte’s concerns explaining what ongoing review processes were in place:
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The White House has announced that Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro will visit with President Trump on March 19th for bilateral discussions.  The media are framing the visit around the ongoing crisis within Venezuela; however, there’s also an important element as it relates to the panda dance.
President Donald Trump and President Jair Bolsonaro both have a strong nationalist perspective and share a common geopolitical outlook.
In fact, during the 2018 election many dubbed Bolsonaro the ‘Brazilian Trump‘.  President Bolsonaro also made headlines last year when he said he was open to a U.S. military base and alliance.
Yes, it’s true the turmoil in Venezuela is a likely top issue for discussion, but the U.S. and Brazil are now aligned with a commonality toward China…. and it just so happens the U.S. and Brazil are #1 and #2 in production of China’s number one import, soy beans.
China has an almost unquenchable thirst for soybeans, which are crushed to make cooking oil and used in the protein-rich animal feed ingredient soymeal.  The U.S. is the worlds largest producer of soybeans at 108 million metric tonnes. Brazil is the second largest producer with around 87 million metric tonnes.
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A recap of President Trump and First Lady Melania thanking rescue and recovery workers, and visiting families and communities devastated by recent tornadoes in the Southeast.
Tune out the noise, this is what matters:

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The local residents were intensely appreciative of the response from the Trump family.
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