White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Kevin Hassett appears with Lou Dobbs to discuss the strength of the U.S. economy and the U.S-China trade negotiations.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will head to Beijing for talks that start on April 30:

(White House) At President Donald J. Trump’s direction, United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin will travel to Beijing for continued negotiations on the trade relationship between the United States and China. The talks will begin on April 30, 2019. Vice Premier Liu He will lead the talks for China. The Vice Premier will then lead a Chinese delegation to Washington for additional discussions starting on May 8, 2019. (link)

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When considering who were the FBI contractors, with special program access to the NSA database, conducting unauthorized searches and extracting results… there’s a specific type of contractor described by FISA Judge Rosemary Collyer.  One who was able to work around the security protocols: [Page 21] “systems …. that do not interface with NSA’s query audit system“.

In 2018 congressman Jim Jordan made mention of an issue where James Comey had a special employee on assignment ‘off-the-books’.  People started asking questions and Fox News Catherine Herridge detailed how Daniel Richman held special access privileges to the FBI, as an outcome of former FBI Director James Comey authorizing his friend as a “Special Government Employee” or SGE.

(VIA FOX) […] The professor, Daniel Richman, confirmed the special status in response to an inquiry from Fox News, while referring other questions, including on the scope of his work, to the FBI.
“I did indeed have SGE status with the Bureau (for no pay),” Richman wrote in an email.
Richman emerged last year as the former FBI director’s contact for leaking memos documenting his private discussions with President Trump – memos that are now the subject of an inspector general review over the presence of classified material. Sources familiar with Richman’s status at the FBI told Fox News that he was assigned to “special projects” by Comey, and had a security clearance as well as badge access to the building. Richman’s status was the subject of a Memorandum of Understanding. (read more)

Wait, let’s look at something here.
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Rush Limbaugh played golf with President Trump over the Easter holiday.  Today he appears on Fox News to discuss the Weissmann-Mueller report and the 2020 Democrat candidates.

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The U.S. manufacturing economy continues to expand and thrive amid President Trump policies targeted to benefit middle-class workers.  As an outcome of continued growth another report today shows historic growth in income and home ownership for American workers of Hispanic descent.  Additionally, with targeted trade and tariff policy focused on strengthening the U.S. auto sector the ancillary benefits are surfacing.
A strong and vibrant middle-class is the key to a balanced economy, and thanks to America-First policies the U.S. economy continues to expand.  An example of mid-sized expansion is in this latest article from Michigan where 400+ auto-sector jobs are gained.

MICHIGAN – A German auto supplier is expanding its operations in Michigan with a new manufacturing facility in Plymouth Township.

The Michigan Economic Development Corp.’s governing body approved Tuesday a $2.7 million performance-based grant to Webasto Roof Systems Inc., a subsidiary of the Webasto Group, a sunroof, convertible top and heating systems manufacturer.

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(Via White House) President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump accepted the invitation of Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to visit the United Kingdom from June 3 to 5, 2019. This state visit will reaffirm the steadfast and special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.

In addition to meeting the Queen, the President will participate in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May. While in the United Kingdom, the President and First Lady will attend a ceremony in Portsmouth to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, at one of the primary embarkation sites for the Allied operation that led to the liberation of Europe during World War II.
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Now that we have significant research files on the 2015 and 2016 political surveillance program; which includes the trail evident within the Weissmann/Mueller report; in combination with the Obama-era DOJ “secret research project” (their words, not mine); we are able to overlay the entire objective and gain a full understanding of how political surveillance was conducted over a period of approximately four to six years.
Working with a timeline, but also referencing origination material in 2015/2016 – CTH hopes to show how the program operated.  This explains an evolution from The IRS Files in 2010 to the FISA Files in 2016.

The FISA-702 database extraction process, and utilization of the protections within the smaller intelligence community, was the primary process.  We start by reviewing the established record from the 99-page FISC opinion rendered by Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer on April 26th, 2017; and explain the details within the FISC opinion.
I would strongly urge everyone to read the FISC report (full pdf below) because Judge Collyer outlines how the DOJ, which includes the FBI, had an “institutional lack of candor” in responses to the FISA court.  In essence, they were continually lying to the court about their activity, and the rate of fourth amendment violations for illegal searches and seizures of U.S. persons’ private information for multiple years.
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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 †

[…] “They’re going to launch strategically all over the country,” an operative with knowledge of Biden’s strategy said. “They’ll have people in place in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina and roll out endorsements from elected officials all over the country, so when they come out they can have this show of force.”  (read more)

Watch the launch. Remember, nothing about the DNC club plan is happenstance; nothing is organic; everything is astroturf; everything is planned.  Planning, strategy, coordination and conniving scheme to position optics and narratives is the expertise of the club. This is what they do; this is all they do.  Pelosi and Schumer are part of the operational plan.
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Donald Trump, not President Trump, representing his affiliated private business interests, has filed for a temporary restraining order (full pdf below) against House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings and his committee representatives and officers.
You might remember when Speaker Nancy Pelosi changed the House Rules earlier this year. Part of the rule changes were to modify the responsibilities of the House Government Affairs Oversight Committee.  Speaker Pelosi removed all other oversight responsibility and shifted the committee to a singular oversight role focused only on the White House.

Chairman Cummings is demanding the personal financial records of Donald Trump and all of his business interests around the Trump organization.  The demand includes all personal and private financial records including tax filings from individuals, officers and corporate entities within the Trump organization.  As a private, non-public corporation, this demand for financial records would encompass the entire Trump family.
In essence, Chairman Cummings is weaponizing his government office to target Donald Trump and all members of the Trump family.  This is not dissimilar to what President Obama and Elijah Cummings did when they weaponized the IRS to target their political opponents.  See: national heroine/patriot Catherine Engelbrecht.
When the IRS scheme was made public in 2011, the Obama plan shifted to use the intelligence operations of the U.S. Government to target their political opposition through the use of electronic surveillance and spy operations. Hence, this is one consistent continuum.  Chairman Cummings in 2019 is just a new iteration of the program.
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