Don’t forget the batting order. Last Friday Senator Chuck Grassley sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray formally demanding a Mandatory Declassification Review of the classified criminal referral Chairman Lindsey Graham and Chairman Grassley sent to the FBI and Justice Department regarding Christopher Steele’s potential violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1001.  The response date is tomorrow, February 6th, 2018.

WASHINGTON – The Federal Bureau of Investigation signed off on an unclassified version of the criminal referral by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee Chairman Lindsey Graham only after the White House declassified a House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI) Majority memo largely based on the same underlying documents. Grassley is now calling on the FBI to update the classification of the referral to allow complete disclosure of important context from the documents on which it is based.

“Seeking transparency and cooperation should not be this challenging. The government should not be blotting out information that it admits isn’t secret, and it should not take dramatic steps by Congress and the White House to get answers that the American people are demanding. There are still many questions that can only be answered by complete transparency. That means declassifying as much of the underlying documents as possible,” Grassley said.

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In 2013 Carter Page was working as an “under-cover employee” (UCE) of the FBI, helping them to build a case against “Evgeny Buryakov”.  In March 2016 Carter Page remained their informant pre-trial leading to a pleading of guilty from Buryakov.
[Note – Pay close attention to dates, names in descriptions amid all citations]
Sources:  ♦ In 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice, Southern District of New York, announced an indictment against a Russian Operative Evgeny Buryakov.  LINK HERE In March of 2016 Buryakov pleaded GUILTY:

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and John P. Carlin, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, announced that EVGENY BURYAKOV, a/k/a “Zhenya,” pled guilty today to conspiring to act in the United States as an agent of the Russian Federation, without providing prior notice to the Attorney General.
[…]  The FBI obtained the recordings after Sporyshev attempted to recruit an FBI undercover employee (“UCE-1”), who was posing as an analyst from a New York-based energy company. In response to requests from Sporyshev, UCE-1 provided Sporyshev with binders containing purported industry analysis written by UCE-1 and supporting documentation relating to UCE-1’s reports, as well as covertly placed recording devices.(more)

♦ In 2016 Reuters published an article, based on the ongoing court case, going into detail about court records and how the FBI built their case.  Reuters also describes the FBI UCE-1 (Under-Cover Employee) with strong detail.  LINK HERE
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Speaking to an audience in Ohio moments ago, President Trump delivered off-the-cuff remarks about the ongoing House and Senate committee investigations into the collusion between the Clinton campaign and the upper-level DOJ and FBI officials. Source Link.

President Trump: We Caught ‘Em!
“Did we catch them in the act or what? You know what I’m talking about. Oh did we catch them in the act! They are very embarrassed. They never thought they were going to be caught. We caught ’em… It’s so much fun. We’re like the great sleuth.” pic.twitter.com/KhF1uvXZMr

— TrumpSoldier (@DaveNYviii) February 5, 2018

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

President Trump: “We Caught ‘Em! “Did we catch them in the act or what? You know what I’m talking about. Oh did we catch them in the act! They are very embarrassed. They never thought they were going to be caught. We caught ’em… It’s so much fun. We’re like the great sleuth.”

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Earlier today House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes appeared on Fox and Friends to discuss the ongoing criticism from Democrats and the media as the HPSCI continues investigating how DOJ and FBI officials corrupted their offices. WATCH:

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The NAFTA sell-off is underway.  Relax.  No big deal.  The “NAFTA Reality Correction” is approximately 5 to 7%.  Multinationals hold greatest exposure. Everything is temporary.

(LINK To Story)

Twists and turns as Wall Street paper economy shifts toward ultimate equilibrium with Main Street real economy.  Real company P&L results (MAGA) will eventually replace speculative stock valuations.  Volatility is the norm while navigating the space between.

President Trump and First-Lady Melania Trump travel together to Ohio today.  Melania will be visiting Cincinnati Children’s Hospital while the president will be delivering remarks on tax reform.  Anticipated start time 2:30pm EST
UPDATE: Video Added

President Trump will pull the U.S. out of NAFTA and direct the U.S. Trade Representative to engage in bilateral trade deals with Canada and Mexico individually.   There is no other possible alternative and here’s why.

First, the essential problem with NAFTA was an evolution over time.  In its current form NAFTA became an exploited doorway into the coveted U.S. market.  Asian economic interests, large multinational corporations, invested in Mexico and Canada as a way to work around any direct trade deals with the U.S.
By shipping parts to Mexico and/or Canada; and by deploying satellite manufacturing and assembly facilities in Canada and/or Mexico; China, Asia and to a lesser extent EU corporations exploited a loophole.  Through a process of building, assembling or manufacturing their products in Mexico/Canada those foreign corporations can skirt U.S. trade tariffs and direct U.S. trade agreements.  The finished foreign products entered the U.S. under NAFTA rules.
Why deal with the U.S. when you can just deal with Mexico, and use NAFTA rules to ship your product directly into the U.S. market?
This exploitative approach, a backdoor to the U.S. market, was the primary reason for massive foreign investment in Canada and Mexico; it was also the primary reason why candidate Donald Trump, now President Donald Trump, wanted to shut down that loophole and renegotiate NAFTA.
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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 †

Congratulations to all Philadelphia Eagles fans and supporters on their first ever Superbowl win.  MVP Nick Foles.  Exceptional character all around. Congratulations.