Secretary of State Rex Tillerson gave an interview to CNN discussing some of the current foreign policy challenges facing the U.S., such as North Korea etc.  Of course, CNN can’t make it half-way through the interview without wanting to discuss the gossip book currently in the headlines.
Throughout all prior administrations CNN has been the media mouthpiece for the U.S. State Department. CNN and CNNi have a history of shaping coverage, molding narratives and gaining friendly access to DoS bureaucrats – and the best cocktail parties. However, since the Trump administration took office, CNN’s relationship with the state department’s political agenda is gone. They hate that.

This outline is the story of how the FBI Counterintelligence Division and DOJ National Security Division were weaponized. This outline is the full story of what House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes is currently working to expose.  This outline exposes the biggest political scandal in U.S. history.  This outline is also the story of how one man’s action likely saved our constitutional republic.
His name is Admiral Mike Rogers.
I’m calling the back-story to the 2016 FISA 702(16)(17) political corruption by the Obama administration “Operation Condor”.  Those of you familiar with the film “Three Days of The Condor” will note how the real life storyline almost mirrors the Hollywood film. For the real life version, NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers plays the role of “Condor”.

“SCIF” – a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility. To understand the larger FISA 702(16)(17) issues in 2016 it is important to focus on the word “compartmented”.
Intelligence information is housed by compartments within the larger intelligence community network. Each intelligence unit holds intelligence unique to that compartment and task. The FBI Counterintelligence unit would hold the intelligence information specific to their task or assignment; the DOJ National Security Division would hold their own compartmented intelligence; again, specific to their task and objectives. So too would the DOJ, DoD (Pentagon), State Dept., or CIA.
This compartmented structure is what led to the creation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, ODNI. The 911 commission recommended the office to serve as a hub able to ensure intelligence sharing; that is – to ensure intelligence was not intentionally withheld from other compartments when needed.
In 2016 the ODNI for President Obama was James Clapper.
It is doubtful the 911 commission ever gave thought to what might happen when intelligence is weaponized as a political tool. The DNI is a political appointment, a cabinet member, of the President.  If the executive branch, the President, wanted to weaponize intelligence as a political tool, he/she would have control over such weaponization as an outcome of their political appointees within the: FBI (Comey, McCabe), DOJ (Lynch/Yates), CIA (Brennan), DNI (Clapper), or DoD (Ash Carter), etc.
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…”Ever watch those nature documentaries on the cable?”  Yeah.  “See the one about lions?”…

Yup, the walls are closing in.
In a brilliant move of strategery, Senate Judiciary Chairman, Chuck Grassley, and Senate Judiciary member, Lindsey Graham, send a criminal referral of Christopher Steele to the DOJ for investigation.   But things are not what they seem…
Today Senators Grassley and Graham sent a letter of criminal referral to the Department of Justice, based on information -provided by the FBI- their investigation has uncovered.
However, the actual motive for the criminal referral is not exactly what it appears.

Highlighting two pertinent passages (emphasis mine) from the New York Times article will explain what’s really going on:

[…] Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a senior committee member, told the Justice Department they had reason to believe that a former British spy, Christopher Steele, lied to federal authorities about his contacts with reporters regarding information in the dossier, and they urged the department to investigate. The committee is running one of three congressional investigations into Russian election meddling, and its inquiry has come to focus, in part, on Mr. Steele’s explosive dossier that purported to detail Russia’s interference and the Trump campaign’s complicity.

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Several stories broke yesterday:
♦Senator Ron Johnson gains copies of the manipulated/edited FBI small group “talking points” that exonerated Hillary Clinton despite overwhelming evidence.  Johnson is a Senate Judiciary Committee member and remains focused on those specifics.
♦Senator Chuck Grassley has identified that former FBI Director James Comey leaked classified FBI information to the media to gain political leverage.  Additional questions are now raised by the Senate Judiciary Chairman.

♦The FBI has begun a new review of the Clinton Foundation pay-to-play network during Hillary Clinton’s tenure at the State Dept.  Investigators are questioning the people within the Clinton foundation about actions taken as a result of donations to the foundation.
♦A federal judge has ruled that Fusion GPS must turn over it’s bank records to the House Intelligence Committee.  Including records of financial payments to journalists and media outlets to push the Christopher Steele “Dossier” story.
♦House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes will be receiving all remaining DOJ documents, without redaction, that pertain to the 2016 DOJ/FBI FISA court application.  In addition eight key members of the FBI “small group” will be questioned by the committee.
♦The Dept. of Justice it reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email use; and how both Clinton and her aide Huma Abedin used, shared and stored classified documents on their personal servers and devices.
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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

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 †

…”Ever watch those nature documentaries on the cable?”  Yeah.  “See the one about lions?”…

Today we get details about the DOJ deal with Chairman Devin Nunes. Included in the report from Catherine Herridge there is some really good news:

According to the letter, committee investigators also will get access to eight key witnesses this month including FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who exchanged anti-Trump text messages during an affair and previously worked on the special counsel’s Russia probe; FBI general counsel James Baker, who was reassigned; FBI head of counterintelligence Bill Priestap, whom ex-FBI boss James Comey testified made the decision not to brief Congress about the Russia case during last year’s election; and Bruce Ohr, a DOJ official reassigned after concealing meetings with figures involved in the dossier.

That’s right. For the first time the ‘one who shall not be named‘ is going to have to face questioning from congress. Bill Priestap is the FBI head of counterintelligence who has been conspicuously absent from all previous conversations. All research, including prior testimony from FBI Director James Comey (March 20th, 2017), indicates Priestap is at the epicenter of the 2016 counterintelligence operation against the Trump campaign.
Here’s the full report:
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U.S. District Judge Richard J Leon ruled today that Fusion-GPS must turn over their banking records as required under the existing congressional subpoena.
Fusion GPS had sought an injunction from the federal court blocking the U.S. House Intelligence Committee from forcing them to provide banking records related to their 2016 opposition research work on Russia related matters.

In a 26-page-ruling (full pdf below) Judge Leon rebuked each of the Fusion GPS reasons for the injunction and ruled the subpoena from the congressional committee was appropriate, proper and lawful.
This is critical and presents a joint approach toward the entire scheme.  At the same time the Judicial Committees are focusing on the DOJ and FBI and how they used the FISA court, the House Intel Committee is focusing on the underlying documents, research and evidence behind the manipulated FISA warrant.  Splendid.
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According to ADP payroll reports the U.S. economy added a whopping 250,000 jobs in December exceeding the earlier forecast of 190k. The DOW jumps over 25,000.

This jobs report bolsters confidence in the MAGAnomic prediction shared two years ago. So long as current economic trends continue, the explosion in private sector wage rates, middle-class wages, will begin around Q2 of this year (April – June). Once the eight year Obama-labor-lag is fully absorbed, a tighter job market will put upward pressure on real wages.

The Main Street economic engine, the “real economy”, is now positioned to overtake the Wall Street engine, the “paper economy”. Meaning actual profits and losses, real economic GDP growth, will drive company earnings and valuations in 2018.
There is an economic policy synergy now taking place.  The tax package that was passed shows how President Trump’s economic policy drivers (Ross, Cohen, Mnuchin) have structured Main Street businesses to willingly afford the wage rate increases.
The MAGAnomic dynamic is two-fold. The tax rates for the middle-class have dropped; simultaneous to this tax change increasing take home pay, the business sectors will have room to drive actual hourly wage rates higher. Lower rates and higher wages has a compounding impact on the amount of money in workers paychecks/pockets. See how that works?
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