The Office of Senator Mitch McConnell has released a picture and statement intended to answer questions about the status of the Kentucky senator.   However, many are questioning the content.

Personally, the accompanying image doesn’t really matter much – it is reported to be AI enhanced, but who can tell.  However, the message that accompanies the picture?  Well, that text is total BS and did not come from McConnell.

You can tell McConnell did not write it by the way it is written (particularly paragraph #2), and more importantly, there is no mention of condolence following Senator Lindsey Graham’s death.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the following note to constituents regarding his hospitalization and recovery:

“To my fellow Kentuckians –

“When you elected me to a seventh term and made me our Commonwealth’s longest serving Senator, you did so trusting that I’d keep showing up to fight for you every day. And over the past several weeks, Elaine and I have appreciated both your well wishes and your honest questions about what was keeping me away from the Senate.

“You all know how folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older. Even in the public eye, I feel that same instinct – I can’t help it.

(more…)

Many people have specific citations for the impact of Senator Lindsey Graham. Several people have noted his importance in releasing information associated with the fraudulent “spygate’ and “Russiagate” operations. However, to me, the most interesting release from Senator Lindsey Graham was the release he could never again mention.

Senator Graham released a highly compartmented letter [STILL ACTIVE LINK] that proved the depth of the fraud targeting President Trump. The letter formally outlined a complete governmental fraud using all three branches of government, and as a consequence it could never be discussed in public.

In/around April 2020 (the letter is technically undated) the Senate Judiciary Committee (Graham and Feinstein) along with the Senate Intelligence Committee (Burr and Warner) received a copy of a letter previously transmitted secretly by the Mueller-led Dept of Justice to the FISA Court in July 2018.

BACKGROUND: The Mueller led DOJ (Rosenstein compliant, Sessions recused) had previously sent a notification to the FISA Court, July 12, 2018, saying despite the Office of the IG investigation showing clear manipulation of Carter Page FISA application process, there was still “sufficient predication” to believe the FISA warrant was appropriate.

The Mueller team were covering their ass, and racing against the clock while hiding information from the public. The letter clearly establishes in July 2018 the Mueller team were lying to the FISC.

After the December 2019 OIG Horowitz report that exposed how the Mueller probe, DOJ and FBI having clearly manipulated information to continue using the FISA warrant, despite information showing the warrant was obtained using fraudulent information, the FISA Court demanded the DOJ, now under Bill Barr, inform the Legislative Branch (Judiciary Committee) of the July 12, 2018, lie told to them by the Mueller team.

The DOJ had to comply and send the secret letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee. That’s how Graham received a copy of it in early 2020, which he then made public.

Until that moment in 2020, no one knew the Mueller team was saying one thing to the FISA Court, and another thing entirely to the media and public.

The FISC was angered, but the only oversight mechanism they had was to force the DOJ to give a copy of the letter to the Judiciary Committee.

The Judicial Branch (Judge Collyer) demanded the Executive Branch (AG Bill Barr) send the Mueller team letter to the Legislative Branch (Judiciary Committee).

Unfortunately, no one (except Graham) ever brought this up in the subsequent hearings on the matter, and when John Durham testified about his review, he was not questioned about it.

The Mueller team (Weissmann and McCord) successfully used the silo process to hide the deception, and John Durham was instructed by AG Bill Barr NEVER to investigate internal DC actors within the Legislative or Executive branches for their conduct, participation or role in the Trump targeting effort.

Bill Barr was trying to protect corrupt institutions, specifically the DOJ and FBI – and by extension the Mueller team, against sunlight upon their corrupt activity.

The lengthy letters remains -to this day- sitting in the Judiciary Committee data library (link below), as a permanent physical record of a direct lies told to the FISC by a corrupt DOJ, and to this day no one has been held to account.

The 2020 cover letter itself is undated, because Bill Barr was trying to coverup what had taken place.

READ FOR YOURSELF.

(more…)

President Trump calls-in to NBC Meet the Press to give his thoughts on the unexpected death of Senator Lindsey Graham.

According to President Trump he held a phone call with Senator Graham at approximately 7:00pm last night, and Graham noted he just returned from a trip to Ukraine and was a little tired.  Moments later Graham apparently suffered a medical event and President Trump was informed of his death at around 1:00am ET.  WATCH:

.

(more…)

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.

(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 †

.

(more…)

Generally speaking, CTH is against the Dept of Justice filing warrants and subpoenas against journalists.  However, in this case the actions are warranted.   If this was the Obama or Biden DOJ taking action against journalists, yes, CTH would support the govt side – on this specific point.

The issue surrounds four journalists for The New York Times who filed a public report that President Trump’s new Airforce One airplane did not have anti-missile defense systems at the time it was used in the trip to the 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey.

Beyond the issue of the reported leak to the media, the FBI requested the NYT not to publish their article as it would compromise the presidential security detail in a designated hostile environment.  The NYT refused to withhold their reporting and did so specifically with the intent on compromising the security of a United States President.  There is no circumstance where that type of journalistic motive is okay; regardless of who is President.

From the Times perspective, their report reflected an opportunity to cast snark at President Trump’s decision to convert a gifted Airforce One from Qatar.  Additionally, the New York Times knew their report would put the lives of those aboard the airplane at risk.  The journalists went forward specifically knowing the report could lead to a severe security compromise.

NEW YORK TIMES – The Trump administration issued subpoenas on Friday to several journalists for The New York Times, after the news outlet reported this week on security concerns involving President Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One.

The subpoenas — which seek to force the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan on Wednesday — were an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations.

In some cases, the subpoenas were delivered by federal agents who showed up at reporters’ homes.

(more…)

Personally, I believe Turkish President Recep Erdogan knew exactly what would happen when he gave all the NATO leaders a “Magnum” .357 handgun at the 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey.  What happened next is exactly the reason he did it.

President Trump brings Erdogan’s gift back to the White House, with a casual ‘cool gun’ nonchalant approach.  Meanwhile, back in Europe, the apoplectic recipients, administrators’, various office bureaucracies and support staff that surround each NATO politician are physically and mentally stuck, not knowing what to do.

I have read many of the media reports, and they are incredibly funny -and sad- but mostly funny {SEE HERE}.

The general response is that President Erdogan has just handed the NATO leaders something akin to an unstable, portable nuclear device.  Most of the European’s won’t even touch the custom case that accompanies the handgun, let alone actually touch the alarmingly scary pistol itself.

THE MESSAGE – AGAINST THE BACKDROP: How is NATO going to “defend itself” if they cannot even receive, handle or carry a firearm?  A poignant and not-s0-subtle message that is more than a little funny; in a typically Turkish manner of irony.

The main NATO request in Turkey was for U.S. patriot missiles. {CITATION} Ursula von der Leyen, the European Union commission president, thanked Erdogan for the gift, which will be decommissioned and donated to a military museum, her spokesperson said. […] “It struck me that ⁠my gift of maple syrup kind of undermatched,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters, adding that the firearm was now in police possession. “I would like to reassure Canadians, they keep guns away from me.” {CITATION}

Sometimes life makes you feel like you are sitting alone, looking at the geopolitical world – and no one can see the absurdity of it all.  We need advanced weapons to protect ourselves against the horrible Russians, NATO proclaimed.

(more…)

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.

(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 †

.

(more…)

The European auto industry is a case study on how short-sighted trade policy goals, results in consequences.

Previously, German auto companies like Volkswagen entered into trade agreements with China and began manufacturing their vehicles with immediate financial success in the market.  However, it did not take long for Chinese auto companies to reverse the engineering and begin to deliver the same quality vehicles at much lower prices.

The Chinese then stop purchasing the Volkswagen vehicles and purchase the cheaper version, while simultaneously begin exporting those same vehicles into the home market from where the technology originated.

Today, with a double-digit decline in production, Volkswagen announces they will cut almost half of their models due to diminished sales.

BLOOMBERG – BERLIN — Volkswagen reported weak sales numbers on Friday, a day after the giant German automaker announced plans to slash the number of models by nearly half as sales plunged, particularly in China.

The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company said group sales fell 8.6 per cent in the second quarter to just under 2.1 million vehicles, with sales in China alone plummeted by more than one-third.

(more…)