The more I see how much attention was exhausted focusuing on the Chinese balloon, the more I am inclined to believe the attention was manufactured by internal deep state operatives.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken cancelled his trip to China over the spy balloon issue, and beyond the general cancellation, he also cancelled a rare meeting with Chairman Xi.   Xi never almost never meets with foreign ministers, only Presidents and Prime Ministers.  So, what gives?  Did the intelligence community expose the balloon crossing to stop the Xi/Blinken meeting?  I don’t know, but something is fishy.

Former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe gives his .02 cents.   Ratcliffe takes the position that it was an intended spy and surveillance operation by China, and it was successful. WATCH:

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House Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) appears on Meet the Press to discuss his perspective on the motive of China to send a massive surveillance balloon over key U.S. military facilities.

According to Chairman Turner, it appears (a) the balloon was designed to capture some intelligence that satellites cannot; and (b) the flight path of the surveillance balloon was steered to cover areas housing key the strategic military bases and missile defenses. WATCH (Transcript Below):

CHUCK TODD: Joining me now is the Republican Chair of the House Intel Committee, Mike Turner of Ohio. Chairman Turner, welcome back to Meet the Press.

REP. MIKE TURNER: Good morning, Chuck.

CHUCK TODD: All right. Let me start with what you know here. So the decision to take this down – what more have you learned? And you’re part of the so-called Gang of Eight. I don’t think you guys have gotten a personal briefing, but I know staff has. What more can you tell us about the take-down operation?

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Interesting video capture appears to show the moment the U.S. military hit the Chinese surveillance balloon with some type of detonation.

3:15 P.M. EST – THE PRESIDENT:  On Wednesday, when I was briefed on the balloon, I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down, on Wednesday, as soon as possible.  They decided — without doing damage to anyone on — on the ground.  They decided that the best time to do that was as it got over water, outside — within our — within the 12-mile limit.

They successfully took it down.  And I want to compliment our aviators who did it.  And we’ll have more to report on this a little later. 

Thank you.

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According to the Associated Press, Joe Biden is planning to shoot down the Chinese ‘surveillance’ balloon possibly later today when it reaches the eastern shore of the Atlantic Ocean.

The mumbling mumbler who mumbles said, “We’re going to take care of it”, when asked about the ongoing issue earlier today.  WATCH:

(Via Associated Press) – WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is considering a plan to shoot down a large Chinese balloon suspected of conducting surveillance on the U.S. military, by bringing it down once it is above the Atlantic Ocean where the remnants could potentially be recovered, according to four U.S. officials.

Two of the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive operation, said President Joe Biden had given the go-ahead. In a brief remark Saturday in response to a reporter’s question about the balloon, Biden said: “We’re going to take care of it.”

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The newly formed House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government has to narrow the focus and make a decision on which of the myriad of examples will best highlight the weaponization issue for the American people.

The U.S. government weaponization of the FBI is clear from the influence operations in elections, to the hiding of the Hunter Biden laptop, to the targeting of parents at school board meetings, to the entirety of what is evident in the Twitter files, domestic social media operations and even the FBI activity in the J6 events.

The FBI issues are widespread and clearly visible. However, only those who have followed the weaponization of the FBI realize the scale.  To the larger U.S. electorate, the FBI targeting remains unknown because the mainstream media has buried it.  Should the FBI weaponization be the primary target of sunlight?

This sets up the context for a monologue and interview by Fox News host Jason Chaffetz and members of the House Committee.  Two segments, first with Michael Shellenberger, then the segment with Harriet Hageman, Mike Johnson and Dan Bishop.  {Direct Rumble Link}  WATCH:

The next segment is with House representatives and committee members Harriet Hageman, Mike Johnson and Dan Bishop {Direct Rumble Link}

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This is not yet in the House Judiciary Committee website [SEE HERE]; however, according to a press release [SEE HERE], House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has made appointments to the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government [pdf here].

Including the subcommittee Chairman, Jim Jordan (which is a surprise), it looks like the committee will contain a total of 12 republican representatives.

Darrell ISSA (CA), Thomas Massie (KY), Chris Stewart (UT), Elise Stefanik (NY), Mike Johnson (LA), Chip Roy (TX), Kelly Armstrong (ND), Greg Steube (FL), Dan Bishop (NC), Kat Cammack (FL) and Harriet Hageman (WY).  Overall, a pretty solid group with good legal outlooks.

[Source, House Speaker website]

I am surprised that McCarthy is making Judiciary Chairman, Jim Jordan, also the subcommittee chairman.  However, against the backdrop of McCarthy worrying the subcommittee is going to face massive scrutiny, having Jordan at the helm of it does make sense.  Also, with the Chair of the Judiciary able to trigger subpoenas, having Jordan as Chair of the subcommittee makes the subpoena aspect more expeditious. Oh, and hi guys.

There are likely to be five Democrats also assigned [per prior subcommittee authorization rules].

Dan Bishop and Mike Johnson are both strong judicial and courtroom litigators. Chris Stewart a little less so, more formal, but on contracts etc, still good.  Darryl Issa knows the narrow curves of the swamp from his former role as House Oversight Committee Chair, so that could be helpful.    Thomas Massie, a contrarian constitutionalist, and Elise Stefanik a solid strategist. Chip Roy, Kelly Armstrong and Greg Steube  are good street fighters. Harriet Hageman and Kat Cammack, newer but strong in their own right.  This is a pretty solid team.

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There is A LOT going on inside this story, and the pair of indictments only scratch the surface.

[WaPo – New York Times – ABC News]

According to the DOJ, “A former Special Agent in Charge of the FBI New York Counterintelligence Division [Charles F. McGonigal, 54, of New York City] and a former Soviet and Russian diplomat [Sergey Shestakov, 69, of Morris, Connecticut] were arrested Saturday on criminal charges related to their alleged violating and conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and conspiring to commit money laundering and money laundering.

Interestingly, there are two sets of indictments.  The first is in New York related to the U.S. sanctions against Russia, specifically Oleg Deripaska  [SEE HERE].  The second is in DC related to money laundering, payments from Deripaska [SEE HERE].  The New York case is related to post retirement activity in 2021.  The DC case is related to activity when Charles F McGonigal was taking money from Russians, and apparently others, while simultaneously investigating Donald Trump, “from August 2017 and continuing through and beyond his retirement from the FBI in September 2018.”

It would appear, Main Justice in DC is concerned about the timeline and are structuring the money laundering prosecution to keep tight control in Washington DC, for the period when McGonical was a special agent in charge.   However, given the backstory of the players involved, and known 2021 FARA filings that hit on the organizations involved, the FBI and DOJ have known about this issue for quite some time, at least 18 months prior to the indictments today.

These indictments are a rabbit hole that runs sideways from the Trump-Russia collusion nonsense and includes the use of “contractors” in 2021 that McGonigal had to know from his time in the FBI counterintelligence operations.

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Journalist Matt Taibbi appears on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo to discuss his findings within the ongoing review of the Twitter communication files.

As Taibbi notes, the FBI was asking for the unmasking of several thousand accounts to include usernames, use identity, ip addresses, geolocation of the account holders and other personal identification data that would normally require a search warrant.  The Dept of Homeland Security (DHS), the FBI and in some cases the CIA would submit these requests and Twitter was fulfilling, albeit sometimes uncomfortable in the compliance demand.  WATCH:

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If you have followed the research behind “Jack’s Magic Coffee Shop,” none of this is likely surprising.  However, the ramifications and blatant violations of the fourth amendment are quite stark.   It was not that long ago when you would have been accused of being a conspiracy theorist for making these now provable claims.

Mr Taibbi continues to provide the most pertinent takeaways from his reviews.  And to his credit, Taibbi always notes there is a pre-filter applied to the information he is receiving; so, it’s highly likely the intelligence state is still controlling the scope of public awareness behind the justification of “national security”.

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Former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes appears on Fox News to discuss the release of Twitter File #14 which was centered around the legislative branch attempting to censor his “Nunes Memo.” {Direct Rumble Link Here}

The essence of Twitter File #14 was how the Senate Intelligence Committee, senators Feinstein (D-CA) and Warner (D-VA) along with House Intel Committee Adam Schiff (D-CA) pressured Twitter to remove content that supported the assertions of HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes.  WATCH:

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You know things are squirrely when you find yourself listening to a rather unorthodox presentation of political events and agreeing with Russell Brand.

Someone shared this with me asking for my opinion.  The presentation is a little over-the-top, but the message conveyed is ultimately accurate; remarkably so.  WATCH:

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