Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren has previously sent smoke signals indicating her desire to run as a presidential candidate for 2020.  Today Ms. Liawatha announced her launching of a presidential exploratory committee:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Monday took the first major step toward launching a widely anticipated campaign for the presidency, hoping her reputation as a populist fighter can help her navigate a Democratic field that could include nearly two dozen candidates.
“No matter what our differences, most of us want the same thing,” the 69-year-old Massachusetts Democrat said in a video that highlights her family’s history in Oklahoma. “To be able to work hard, play by the same set of rules and take care of the people we love. That’s what I’m fighting for and that’s why today I’m launching an exploratory committee for president.”  (read more)

Incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has selected corrupt former DOJ career embed, Douglas N Letter, as Chief Legal Counsel for the House of Representatives.  Mr. Letter has agreed to come out of retirement to aid the House effort, and structure legal pathway to impeach President Trump.

San Francisco — Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi announced today that she will appoint Douglas N. Letter to be the new General Counsel of the House of Representatives.
Until February 2018, Letter served as the Director of the Civil Division Appellate Staff at the U.S. Department of Justice, retiring this year after 40 years of distinguished service at the agency. He is now a Senior Litigator at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he is also a Visiting Professor of Law. He is a recipient of many prestigious honors, including the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award.

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Almost everyone who has researched the substance behind Rosenstein and Mueller’s heavily promoted Russian indictments knows the underlying claims are centered on the thinnest of evidence.
Given the nature of the politicization behind the Mueller investigation, many people argue there is no actual evidence at all; it’s a manufactured ruse created only for purpose of advancing a necessary political narrative, an excuse for media column inches and pundit talks.
And there is a great deal of reason to believe the cynics are entirely accurate; particularly when you overlay the series of events that highlight the prosecution never thought anyone would actually show up in court and challenge their claims.

Greasy Bear hackers and Macedonian Bot Farms might sound like a good justification for a prosecution when pitched to an incurious media. However, when Greasy Bear and the accused Macedonians show up in court, well, the prosecutors might just have a problem.
That is the backdrop for a series of bizarre requests from the Special Prosecutor to seal the evidence against the accused, Concord Management, and the defendants response.
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CTH readers will know Brett McGurk; he is the departing U.S. state department envoy in-charge of the U.S./State Dept./Coalition de-ISIS campaign.  We have discussed his presentations at great length [See Here in 2017].

McGurk was scheduled to exit the State Department in less than two months (Feb ’19); as the 27-nation coalition “de-ISIS operation” is now complete, and has shifted into maintenance mode.  However, McGurk has announced he is resigning at the end of this year.  CBS takes this as an opportunity to present a political hit-job against President Trump’s decision to remove U.S. troops from Syria and allow regional allies to take over.

(Via CBS) […] Brett McGurk, special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, had been planning to exit his post in February 2019. But sources tell CBS News that he informed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that he will accelerate his departure due to a strong disagreement with President Trump’s snap decision to withdraw 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, effectively abandoning U.S. allies in the region.

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The FBI has responded to a request for declassification review of witness transcripts from the Joint House Committee headed by Chairman Bob Goodlatte.   The FBI is refusing to comply with the declassification review; and, entirely as expected, outlines the decision-maker for releasing any testimony is ultimately Robert Mueller.

(Link to letter)

…proving, yet again, the purpose of the special counsel probe is to control and mitigate the risks from any investigative inquiry.  This is how Robert Mueller protects the corrupt officials and corrupt institutions within government.
Despite their claims, don’t be tricked into thinking it’s about timing, and/or a workload, and/or the holidays.  How do we know this? Well, remember, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) Chaired by Devin Nunes, made a similar request for release of their transcripts on September 26th, 2018.  The ODNI, DOJ, FBI and Special Counsel have refused to comply for three months.
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It was curious to see Michael Cohen walk out of his sentencing hearing last week without having to report to jail/prison for the punishment therein.  Generally speaking when the final adjudication is presented the accused begins to serve his/her punishment. However, not in this case; and not with the construct of this pleading, this quid-pro-quo.
In the prosecutorial agreement within the Cohen case, there obviously remains the fulfillment of terms.  Michael Cohen doesn’t report to prison until March 6th, 2019.  Why the exceptional judicial delay and generosity?….  The incoming Chairman for the House Government and Oversight Committee, Elijah Cummings, explains:

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There it is; transparently obvious for any political observer who has a modicum of intellectual honesty. House committees will use testimony from Michael Cohen as the cornerstone for their well-structured political strategy to eliminate the existential threat to their ongoing DC livelihood, President Trump.
There should be no doubt this plan was conceived well before Special Counsel Robert Mueller passed the investigative torch to his compatriots in the Southern District of New York. This impeachment/removal approach is a synergy between multiple benefactors, and is entirely by design.
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President Donald Trump goes on offense with a video message on border security.  President Trump highlights the past statements by democrat leaders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for a border security wall.
President Trump knows his position on the border security wall is the majority view within the American electorate.  He is coaxing his political opposition into a corner.  Additionally, in an effort to prop-up their ideological allies, the corporate media will avoid this.

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According to DOJ filings: “Tallahassee, Florida City Commissioner Scott Charles Maddox, 50, and Tallahassee political consultant Janice Paige Carter-Smith, 53, both of Tallahassee, have been indicted in a 44-count indictment for conspiring to operate a racketeering enterprise that engaged in acts of bank fraud, extortion, honest services fraud and bribery.”  Both were arrested yesterday.

The issues around the three-year investigation surfaced in the Florida Governors race when Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum was running for governor.  Part of the sting operation discovered Mayor Gillum taking trips with lobbyists and accepting perks from undercover FBI agents.  Outgoing governor Rick Scott has suspended Maddox.

Scott Maddox and Paige Carter-Smith, once power players in Tallahassee’s political scene, shuffled into a federal courtroom on Wednesday, their legs in shackles, to answer charges they shook down city vendors for bribes and pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars.  – Read More

[DOJ Press Announcement Here] – [Story Via Orlando Sentinel Here]

Did you get your yellow vest yet?  The recently elected New York Attorney General, Letitia James, makes a public declaration that she intends to fully weaponize her office to target the Trump family.
On the bright side, democrats can no longer claim their preferred approach of weaponizing their offices for direct targeting of their political opposition as a “right-wing conspiracy theory”; they are specifically outlining their intent to do exactly that.

New York – New York Attorney Gen.-elect Letitia James says she plans to launch sweeping investigations into President Donald Trump, his family and “anyone” in his circle who may have violated the law once she settles into her new job next month.

“We will use every area of the law to investigate President Trump and his business transactions and that of his family as well,” James, a Democrat, told NBC News in her first extensive interview since she was elected last month.

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The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a 35-page sentencing memo (full pdf below) recommending a two-year prison term for busted Senate Intelligence Committee Director of Security, James Wolfe.   The DOJ is seeking a term of imprisonment above the guidelines for the plea of lying to federal investigators.

The DOJ sentencing recommendation outlines the events surrounding the FBI investigation of Wolfe, and provides a more fulsome picture of the issues faced when a top-tier staff member of the legislative branch is suspected of leaking classified intelligence.
The DOJ notes the challenge presented when the executive branch is investigating a critical internal office of the legislative branch.   While James Wolfe was never actually charged with leaking classified documents, the type of leaks he participated in and the resulting media reports which drew from his information network – certainly implies there was classified documentary evidence leaked; the DOJ claims they cannot prove it.
Given the direct evidence of corrupt and politically motivated conduct by officials within the DOJ and FBI the sentencing memo is an interesting read with multiple facets for consideration.
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