President Trump, First-Lady Melania and 12-year-old son Barron had previously planned to spend 16 days at their Mar-a-Lago estate with friends and family for the holidays.  First-Lady Melania and Barron departed last week.  However, President Trump said Friday he would remain in the nation’s capital if Congress could not reach an agreement to avert a partial government shutdown.

“Due to the shutdown, President Trump will remain in Washington, D.C. and the First Lady will return from Florida so they can spend Christmas together.”
~ Press Secretary Sarah Sanders

There is an agenda behind these people that 97% of the electorate just don’t understand.  Nothing will change until Mitch McConnell is defeated. Nothing.

For those who have eyes to see –  REMEMBER !

• Backstory – 2013
• Backstory – 2014
• Backstory – 2016

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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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP

Sarah H Sanders Twitter @SHSanders45

One more week to make preparations! It is time to get our grocery shopping done. If you are like me, you try to get things done ahead of time, prep what things you can, maybe even do some of the cooking a day or two before Christmas.
I meant to do an earlier treat for appetizers, party foods, and treats but I forgot, so this is it. It would be great if some of you would share special treats you take to parties or make for gifts, as well as the best of the best dishes saved just for Christmas.  (more…)

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

Jobs, jobs, jobs.  Stunning jobs data provided today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) [see here] all 50 states had significant job gains through November 2018.  Not a single state had a negative job growth number.
Total 2018 growth in U.S. jobs through November is:  2,617,000 new jobs.
Eighteen states had significant jobless rate decreases from a year earlier; and with the national unemployment rate at 3.7 percent 32 states (and DC) had little or no change.

(Data Link)

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Brilliant.

Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and the DC Decepticons are concerned about the Kurdish groups in Syria as the President Trump withdraws U.S. forces.  The concern stems from a possibility of Turkey taking hostile action toward our Kurdish allies.  However, a new report from the region highlights Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is sending his forces to replace the U.S. troops.

SAUDI ARABIA – Saudi Arabia and the UAE have sent military forces to areas controlled by the Kurdish YPG group in north-east Syria, Turkey’s Yenisafak newspaper reported.

The paper said the forces will be stationed with US-led coalition troops and will support its tasks with huge military enforcements as well as heavy and light weapons.

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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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President Trump delivers remarks during the First Step Act Bill Signing.  The president talks about border security, the border wall and the likelihood of a government shutdown.
The FIRST STEP Act was championed by Jared Kushner, and passed through Congress with bipartisan support. President Trump saluted his allies in the White House and in Congress who fought for the bill, and added a personal thanks to the Senate and House Minority Leaders. “I want to thank Nancy and Chuck, as I say affectionately. I do. I want to thank everybody.”