National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow holds an impromptu press conference today with media discussing the current state of the economy. Kudlow focuses attention to the economic gains amid the middle-class.
Global economics, and the way the financial media spin, can be funny at times. On one hand the pretentious global community scoffs at American Exceptionalism and claims the U.S. is only one country amid a international community of equals; on the other hand the reality of the U.S. being the leading economy in the world, and their need to retain access therein, slaps them in the face like a cold fish…
Investment capital flows to the location of highest return. Amid the U.S. MAGAnomic growth; global investment is inbound to the USA. The EU and Asia are in a period of low to stagnant growth… lots of high-brow teeth gnashing. To make matters worse, Trump is leveraging their weakness against them as he renegotiates reciprocal trade deals.
The G20 IMF and World Bank’s 2019 Annual Spring Meetings of finance ministers (fancy name to describe Mnuchin’s job) is taking place in Washington DC. The finance ministers are stomping their feet at horrible Trump hoarding all the economic growth.
(Reuters) […] Policymakers from the Group of 20 industrialized countries are worried that the weakness evident in key economies could spread, especially if elevated trade tensions, such as those between the United States and China, escalate further.
White House Council of Economic Advisors Chairman Kevin Hassett gives an interview to discuss the current state of the U.S. economy. After discussing President Trump’s Fed pick Herman Cain, Hassett outlines how inflation is non-existent; and also discussions around ongoing U.S-China trade discussions.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was forcibly removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in London today and taken to the Westminster Magistrates Court where he was charged with skipping bail. [Details Here] Assange will likely spend 12 months in British jail while pending extradition to the U.S. for crimes related to the Chelsea Manning classified information leak – also outlined in a U.S. indictment unsealed today (full pdf below)
In the U.S. Assange is charged with a conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for his role in assisting Manning. [DOJ Press Release Here] The simultaneous operation to remove Assange, charge and hold on the bail violation, and unseal the U.S. indictment, appears to be a coordinated effort by the U.S. and U.K. government. Holding Assange for the bail violation allows U.S. authorities the time needed for the criminal extradition process.
That said, the issues with Assange and how they related to British and American interests is a multi-layered story with various ramifications for both governments.
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Earlier today President Trump delivered remarks during an energy and infrastructure event in Crosby, Texas. [Video and Transcript]
Something is coming… something delicious. How can we tell? Well, whenever a bombshell is about to drop on the corrupt Intelligence Community, the New York Times does a quick narrative dump to get out ahead of the story.
All the way down, buried deep, in a NYT story about Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s FISA investigation and AG Barr’s review of DOJ and FBI activity… they drop the following two paragraphs (emphasis mine):
[…] The inspector general is also scrutinizing another early source of information for the Russia investigation, the people said: Mr. Horowitz’s investigators have been asking questions about the role of Stefan A. Halper, another F.B.I. informant, and his prior work for the bureau.
Agents involved in the Russia investigation asked Mr. Halper, an American academic who teaches in Britain, to gather information on Mr. Page and George Papadopoulos, another former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser. (read more)
Oh? NYT now saying FBI agents asked help from intelligence asset Stefan Halper to go gather information on Carter Page and George Papadopoulos?
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Attorney General William Barr was questioned today by republican lawmaker Robert Aderholt about potentially fraudulent DOJ and FBI submissions to the FISA court – to gain a Title-One surveillance warrant against U.S. Person Carter Page.
In a deliberate response AG Barr stated: “The Office of the Inspector General has a pending investigation of the FISA process in the Russia investigation. I expect that will be complete in probably May or June, I am told. More generally, I am reviewing the conduct of the investigation and trying to get my arms around all the aspects of the counterintelligence investigation that was conducted during the summer of 2016.”
UPDATE: Bloomberg Reports: Attorney General William Barr has assembled a team to review controversial counterintelligence decisions made by Justice Department and FBI officials, including actions taken during the probe of the Trump campaign in the summer of 2016, according to a person familiar with the matter.
There’s a term called “zeroing” at the heart of this World Trade Organization decision that supports President Trump, Secretary Ross and USTR Lighthizer.
When an industry product like Canadian softwood lumber is shipped into the U.S. for sale at a lower price than exists in Canada, the U.S. Commerce department calls that “dumping“. If the Canadian product is the same or higher in the U.S. as it is in Canada there is no dumping. No dumping is a “zero” or normal price differential; hence “zeroing”.
The Canadian government is subsidizing their lumber industry by allowing tree removal from federal land at discounted rates so long as the lumber is exported. This made softwood lumber cheaper in the U.S. than in Canada and set up the dumping issue.
[NOTE: This is the same issue with Steel and Aluminum from China]
U.S. lumber mills were going out of business because Canada was dumping subsidized product into the U.S. market at a discounted rate. As a consequence, in 2017 Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross instituted a 20% tariff on Canadian lumber to protect the U.S. lumber industry. The tariff is a countervailing duty to offset the Canadian subsidy. ie. “zeroing”.
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A late day submission to DC Circuit Court in a FOIA case previously discussed, reveals the content of Mueller’s probe & use of multiple, previously unknown, James Comey memos. Additionally, within the filing we discover how Comey documented multiple events, meetings and information surrounding the FBI investigation of Donald Trump.
The documents surface as part of the FOIA case [Backstory Here] where DC Court Judge James E. Boasberg -an Obama appointee and also a FISA judge- asked the FBI to file an opinion about the release of Comey memos to the public. There are two issues: (1) can the memos be released? and (2) can prior sealed FBI filings, arguing to keep the memos hidden, be released?
In a very revealing filing last night (full pdf below) the lead FBI investigator for the Mueller special counsel, David W. Archey, informs the court that with the ending of the special counsel some of the memo material can be released, such as their existence; however, Archey also states much of the memo content and sealed background material from the FBI must continue to remain sealed and redacted.
The FBI will file a further declaration on or before April 15, 2019, to explain why the remaining redactions to the Third Archey Declaration continue to be necessary. (page 2)
Within the filing we discover the lead FBI agent was David W. Archey (background here). Archey was selected by Robert Mueller when the special counsel took over the counterintelligence investigation from Special Agent Peter Strzok. According to ABC: “Agent David Archey is described by colleagues as a utility man of sorts within the FBI”. However, until now his exact role was not known.
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Put this into the geopolitical file labeled: “Things that make other things make sense”… You only need to watch the first minute and fifteen-seconds of this announcement to see the bigger BIG picture. WATCH:
[Transcript Snippet] … “This is the first time that the United States has designated a part of another government as an FTO. We’re doing because the Iranian regime’s use of terrorism as a tool of statecraft makes it fundamentally different from any other government. This historic step will deprive the world’s leading state sponsor of terror the financial means to spread misery and death around the world.”