There are multiple corrupt officials inside the U.S. Department of Justice.  This has never been in doubt since DOJ and FBI officials made direct admissions to the FISA court that they intentionally manipulated the court system for political purposes (April ’17 FISC pdf).
After the material admissions to the court; and against revelations from sunlight upon the activity showing the DOJ and FBI manipulated the FISC to gain surveillance authority to spy on Donald Trump campaign officials; the issue shifted toward disclosure of the activity, evidence of scale of abuse and ultimately, accountability.
Accountability for the weaponization of intelligence has been the ongoing goal of House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes.  Explaining what took place leads to Chairman Nunes creating the intelligence memo.  However, it is the underlying classified information behind the memo where evidence of ‘how’ the apparatus was weaponized will be found.

Current and former officials within the Department of Justice (national security division) and FBI (counterintelligence division) are at the heart of the malfeasance.  Those officials have a vested interest in trying to stop the public from seeing what took place.  They are aided by a political media apparatus who are attempting to shield the corrupt officials due to aligned political opposition against the current President.
The corrupt FBI officials -remaining inside the DOJ/FBI- know they can rely on their media allies to assist them in keeping what took place hidden from public review.  Today, those FBI entities attempt to cloud the Nunes memo and shape a narrative.  Their release:
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Six months ago Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-SC, CD4) accepted the Chairmanship of the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (aka. the Scheme and Graft committee), after former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, retired.  Today he announces his intent to retire from congress and enter the ‘justice department’.
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A Chartered Amtrak train carrying Republican congressmen headed to a GOP retreat collided with a dump truck blocking the tracks in Crozet Virginia just outside Charlottesville. One person on the truck was killed, a few of the lawmakers were injured.

(Via NBC) A chartered train carrying Republican lawmakers to a retreat collided with a trash truck in Virginia Wednesday morning and left at least one person dead. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said there was one confirmed fatality and one person seriously injured.
“There are no serious injuries among members of Congress or their staff,” she said in a statement. The victim’s identity was not immediately released.

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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 †

[Transcript] TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES: Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, the First Lady of the United States, and my fellow Americans:

Less than 1 year has passed since I first stood at this podium, in this majestic chamber, to speak on behalf of the American People — and to address their concerns, their hopes, and their dreams. That night, our new Administration had already taken swift action. A new tide of optimism was already sweeping across our land.
Each day since, we have gone forward with a clear vision and a righteous mission — to make America great again for all Americans.
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Tonight President Donald J Trump delivers one of the most widely covered speeches of the presidential year when he addresses a full congress during the State of The Union address.
The start time is 9:00pm, with speech remarks scheduled for 9:10pm EST. Every broadcast station and cable news outlet will be covering the speech.  There are multiple livestream options available.

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NAFTA renegotiation round six ended yesterday in Canada will no substantive progress on the most contentious trade issues.  One negotiation chapter on corruption was closed, but there was little to no agreement on much else.
Each of the primary Trade Representatives gave a closing statement at the conclusion of Round #6.  U.S.T.R. Lighthizer blasted Canada for attempting to inject schemes, fraud and deceptive dealing within the negotiations. Princess Rainbow Sparkles from Canada tried to pretend the Canadian proposal was realistic.  It was all awkward.  Hopefully President Trump will soon get us out of this nonsense. Lighthizer Transcript below video:

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Ambassador Lighthizer: It is a pleasure to be here in Quebec. Montreal is one of the great cities of the world, and I have not been back in many years, and I’ve missed it. I used to come here in the 70s and 80s with my wife and children to go to Mont-Tremblant and learn how to ski. We loved the French culture, we loved the excellent food, the wonderful skiing and as I recall, it was cold all the time. That hasn’t changed at least.
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Well, well, well… Snap.  This is an interesting development, potentially quite explosive, and, perhaps, stunningly affirmational.

According to Catherine Herridge, after Chairman Nunes personally took FBI Director Christopher Wray to view the “Intel Memo” on Sunday night, and prior to the House Intel Committee vote to release the memo Monday evening, FBI Director Christopher Wray sent a Main Justice official and a “counterintelligence official” to view the content.
According to her report, those officials: “could not point to any factual inaccuracies.”

Catherine Herridge – Two senior FBI officials have now reviewed a controversial Republican staff memo alleging abuses of government surveillance programs during the 2016 presidential campaign, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News – adding that the officials “could not point to any factual inaccuracies.”

The two officials – one from the bureau’s counterintelligence division and the other from the legal division – followed up after an initial review of the memo during a rare Sunday trip to Capitol Hill by FBI Director Christopher Wray.

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Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) initiated a massive anti-corruption operation last year.  Today, just as a Qatari delegation arrives in DC and concedes to the terms of the alliance, Reuters is reporting the resulting Saudi asset seizures total more than $106 billion.

RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s government has arranged to seize more than $100 billion through financial settlements with businessmen and officials detained in its crackdown on corruption, the attorney general said on Tuesday.
The announcement appeared to represent a political victory for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who launched the purge last November and predicted at the time that it would net about $100 billion in settlements.

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