USTR Robert Lighthizer is attending the World Trade Organization (WTO) summit in Argentina.

[…] Ahead of the meeting, the United States blocked efforts to draft a joint statement emphasizing the “centrality” of the global trade system and the need to aid development. Its opposition has raised concerns that the WTO will not be able to accomplish even modest goals, such as addressing fishing and agricultural subsidies, at the conference. (Reuters)

The Ambassador’s opening remarks to the conference are below and include Lighthizer rightly informing the WTO that the Trump administration believes they have strayed far away from trade issues and are now, essentially, uni-focused on litigation.  He’s right.

[Transcript] “I would like to start by thanking the government of Argentina for hosting MC11, and Minister Malcorra, Director General Azevedo, and their staffs for their excellent work. We appreciate all the effort over many months that go into creating a conference of this magnitude.
In the brief time I have, I would like to make a few basic points.
First, the WTO is obviously an important institution. It does an enormous amount of good, and provides a helpful negotiating forum for Contracting Parties.  But, in our opinion, serious challenges exist.
Second, many are concerned that the WTO is losing its essential focus on negotiation and becoming a litigation-centered organization. Too often members seem to believe they can gain concessions through lawsuits that they could never get at the negotiating table. We have to ask ourselves whether this is good for the institution and whether the current litigation structure makes sense.
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Sometimes a ‘Conspiracy Theory’ is not just a theory…

Department of Justice Assoc. Deputy Attorney General Bruce G Ohr was demoted because he had working relationships with dossier author Christopher Steele and Fusion GPS; and -more importantly or perhaps ‘conveniently’- according to James Rosen, Bruce Ohr did not reveal his October 2016 contacts with MI6 agent Steele or Glenn Simpson (Fusion-GPS) to DOJ leadership. (LINK)

(L-R) Nellie H. Ohr (Fusion GPS) and Bruce G Ohr (DOJ)

However, the ongoing Dossier story gets far more intriguing as it is now discovered that Bruce G Ohr’s wife, Nellie H. Ohr, actually worked for Fusion GPS and likely helped guide/script the Russian Dossier. (Link)

Contacted by Fox News, investigators for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) confirmed that Nellie H. Ohr, wife of the demoted official, Bruce G. Ohr, worked for the opposition research firm last year. The precise nature of Mrs. Ohr’s duties – including whether she worked on the dossier – remains unclear but a review of her published works available online reveals Mrs. Ohr has written extensively on Russia-related subjects. HPSCI staff confirmed to Fox News that she was paid by Fusion GPS through the summer and fall of 2016.

But wait, it doesn’t stop there… Mrs. Nellie Ohr was not only a Fusion GPS contracted employee, but she was also part of the CIA’s Open Source Works, in Washington DC (link)
Both Mr. and Mrs Ohr worked on a collaborative group project surrounding International Organized Crime. (pdf here) Page #30 Screen Shot Below
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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 †

In an otherwise well-buried interview between former interim CIA Director Mike Morell, (the temp director following Petraeus ouster used during initial Benghazi cover), there’s an admission by Morell about the politicized Deep State Intelligence leadership targeting candidate Donald Trump.
What this interview tells CTH is that the Intelligence Community, writ large, is on the precipice of massive institutional change -perhaps high level firings of remaining mid level operators and management- and those who participated in the historic politicization are now attempting to shape an explanation.

[Via Politico] QUESTION: Was that a mistake?
Mike  Morell: So, I don’t think it was a mistake. I think there were downsides to it that I didn’t think about at the time. I was concerned about what is the impact it would have on the agency, right? Very concerned about that, thought that through. But I don’t think I fully thought through the implications.
And one of the ways I’ve thought about that, Susan, is—okay, how did Donald Trump see this? Right? And from—it’s very important—one of the things we do as intelligence analysts is make sure that our guy—the president—understands the other guy. Right?

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Things are beyond brutally obvious in this entire ‘muh Russian conspiracy’ narrative.  Last week it was revealed DOJ Assoc. Deputy Attorney General Bruce G Ohr was demoted because he had working relationships with dossier author Christopher Steele and Fusion GPS, and did not reveal his October 2016 contacts with current officials.
Today, the ongoing saga gets more sketchy as it is revealed Bruce G Ohr’s wife, Nellie H. Ohr, actually worked for Fusion GPS and likely helped guide/script the Russian Dossier.

JAMES ROSEN – A senior Justice Department official demoted last week for concealing his meetings with the men behind the anti-Trump “dossier” had even closer ties to Fusion GPS, the firm responsible for the incendiary document, than have been disclosed, Fox News has confirmed: The official’s wife worked for Fusion GPS during the 2016 election.

Contacted by Fox News, investigators for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) confirmed that Nellie H. Ohr, wife of the demoted official, Bruce G. Ohr, worked for the opposition research firm last year. The precise nature of Mrs. Ohr’s duties – including whether she worked on the dossier – remains unclear but a review of her published works available online reveals Mrs. Ohr has written extensively on Russia-related subjects. HPSCI staff confirmed to Fox News that she was paid by Fusion GPS through the summer and fall of 2016.

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Fox News is back in action with the single most ridiculous, psy-op engineered, agenda polls in the last several years…. and coming from a CTH community that has reviewed hundreds of media polls in the past 5 years, that’s quite a statement.  Consider:

(Emerson Poll Link)  -vs-  (Fox News Poll Link)

Both of these cannot be correct.  The margin of error claimed is +/- 2.5%.  There is a NINETEEN point difference between both Alabama Polls.  However, only ONE is a media driven agenda poll.  Can you guess which one?
Yes, once again, the Rupert Murdoch clan are up to their media-polling tricks utilizing Daron Shaw.  Shaw and Associates, is more appropriately identified as a political action committee of the GOPe, and have been used by Fox News, exhaustively and exclusively, for years to engineer narratives on behalf of the republican establishment.   This time the narrative is so obvious Fox News deserves public humiliation.
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Earlier today President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence held an event at the White House to renew a space policy for NASA’s continuing U.S. mission directives.

[Transcript] 2:58 P.M. EST – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Vice President Pence, for helping — where’s our Vice President — great job, great job — to restore American leadership in space. So important.
Cabinet members, General Selva, Deputy Secretary Shanahan, Acting Administrator Lightfoot, members of Congress, and the National Space Council, thank you all for being here. And especially, Mike, as I said, I want to thank you. I know how active you’ve been and how important this is to you. So we appreciate it. Thank you very much.
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Known Details: •Police were called to an explosion at 7:20 a.m. ET in a below-ground walkway that connects two NYC subway lines at 42nd Street. •Responding units found an injured 27-year-old male, identified him as Akayed Ullah. •Terrorist is of Bangladeshi descent and lives in Brooklyn. •Terrorist was wearing an improvised “low-tech” explosive device attached to his body. •Three additional people in the immediate area sustained minor injuries.

•Terrorist Akayed Ullah told police he made the device at his workplace. •Terrorist is a lawful permanent resident from Bangladesh, who arrived in 2011 on an F43 family immigrant visa in 2011, according to DHS spokesperson Tyler Houlton

“DHS can confirm that the suspect was admitted to the United States after presenting a passport displaying an F43 family immigrant visa in 2011. The suspect is a Lawful Permanent Resident from Bangladesh who benefited from extended family chain migration.”

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders stated President Trump’s plan to end chain migration would have kept the suspect in the New York City attack out of the country.
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