Apparently, prior to the Washington Post revealing the DNC  and Clinton Campaign paid for the “Russian Dossier”, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (DNC) and John Podesta (campaign) testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee they knew nothing about who and how the Steele Dossier was financed…

…but wait, it gets better.
Sitting beside John Podesta when he gave his Senate testimony was, wait for it,..  attorney Marc Elias.  Yup, the campaign and DNC lawyer who actually wrote the checks to Fusion GPS to pay Christopher Steele.  Whoopsie.
(Via CNN) Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta and former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz both privately denied to congressional Russia investigators that they had any knowledge about an arrangement to pay for opposition research on President Donald Trump, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
The interviews happened before this week’s disclosure that the Clinton campaign and DNC paid for the research. Senate investigators may seek to further question the two top Democrats and dig deeper on the origins of the so-called Trump dossier, one of the sources briefed on the matter said.
(more…)

In the 48 hours since the Washington Post outlined the financial backing for the Christopher Steele “Russian Dossier” as the Hillary Clinton campaign and DNC, the Democrat apparatus writ large has been trying to obfuscate and distance themselves from it. Yesterday Clinton campaign Spokesman Brian Fallon denied his knowledge of the campaign financing Fusion GPS for the commissioned dossier contract.
Today, in the latest laughable attempt at dodge-ball Hillary Clinton is now stating she didn’t know her campaign was paying for it:

(NYT) […] Officials from the Clinton campaign and the D.N.C. have said they were unaware that Perkins Coie facilitated the research on their behalf, even though the law firm was using their money to pay for it.
Even Mrs. Clinton only found about Mr. Steele’s research after Buzzfeed published the dossier, according to two associates who discussed the matter with her. They said that she was disappointed that the research — as well as the fact that the F.B.I. was looking into connections between Mr. Trump’s associates and Russia — was not made public before Election Day. (read more – link)

The reason the financing of the dossier is ultimately so relevant is because it shreds the entire narrative that the Russians were trying to help candidate Donald Trump.
A strong, heck, even a moderate application of common sense would accept that the dossier was created to undermine candidate Trump, to the benefit of Hillary Clinton, and the publication of the generally refuted and debunked material post-election was only intended to undermine the presidency of Donald Trump.
(more…)

The ongoing IRS leadership issue(s) will be interesting to watch unfold in the future; especially for those who have followed the Treasury Dept. case against Robert Mercer, now a supporter of President Trump, and how the self-interest unfolded in the 2016 election.

President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Designate David Kautter to the Internal Revenue Service – David Kautter of Virginia to be the Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue. This designation will become effective on November 13, 2017. Mr. Kautter was confirmed on August 3, 2017, to be the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Tax Policy. (White House Link)

(Via Fox News) The White House has named a Treasury official to succeed John Koskinen at the helm of the IRS next month, while allowing the controversial commissioner to finish out his five-year term.
David Kautter will serve as acting IRS commissioner beginning Nov. 13, the last day of Koskinen’s term, the White House said.
“Assistant Secretary Kautter has had an illustrious 40-year career in tax policy, and I am confident that the IRS and the American people will benefit from his experience and insight,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement, noting the Senate would still have to confirm a permanent commissioner.
(more…)

President Trump is schedule to announce a public health emergency over the opioid crisis. This declaration of a public health emergency will allow grant money to be used for the opioid epidemic and ease certain laws and regulations to help deal with it. (This is different from declaring the opioid crisis a national emergency.)
UPDATE: Video Added

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump will declare the nation’s opioid crisis a public health emergency on Thursday in a bid to redirect federal resources and loosen regulations to combat widespread abuse, senior administration officials said.
(more…)

On Tuesday of this week the Senate voted, narrowly, to strike down a CFPB banking rule that was set to begin in 2019.  The CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau), is the watchdog financial agency created by Congress in the aftermath of the mortgage mess.
The CFPB rule, five years in the making, would have allowed individual and class action lawsuits against financial institutions by consumers and lawyers instead of arbitration to settle disputes.  The Democrats and those who supported the rule framed the arguments around protecting consumers from predatory banks. However, those against the rule pointed out the cost to smaller banks, community banks and credit unions.
Big banks and multinational financial enterprises (ie. The Big Club) can afford massive groups of lawyers to defend their interests; smaller community banks and credit unions cannot afford such litigious costs.  The K-Street lobbyists were against the regulatory rule as a natural outcome of their general disposition toward regulation.  However, K-Street was specifically ambivalent to the final senate vote because increased systemic regulation supports their competitive ability to dominate the U.S. financial system.

Richard Condray is the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and was appointed in 2012 to a five year term by President Obama.  Condray is anticipated to step down soon and run for Ohio governor.  President Trump will appoint his replacement and will likely appoint someone who is focused on protecting consumers but also understands the important need to expand capital investment into Main Street USA.

President Trump’s political opposition will frame any appointee as a person likely to remove regulation; thus will continue their political argument that POTUS Trump is removing all of the regulatory “progress” installed by President Obama. However, those who have followed the goals and objectives of President Trump and Secretary Mnuchin will note the administration regulatory goals are inherently different from all prior approaches.

(more…)

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 †

If any more concerning information was needed to add fuel to growing skepticism of the official Mandalay Bay Massacre narrative the latest information is exponentially concerning.
According to border crossing documents provided to Fox News Tucker Carlson, the Mandalay Bay employee, eyewitness and security guard (labeled hero), Jose’ Campos, fled to Mexico immediately after the Las Vegas shooting and resurfaced a week later driving back through the San Diego crossing.

.
Why officials would allow Campos to leave the country immediately after the shooting only leads to further speculation about the official story, his attachment to a manufactured narrative and his immigration status.
(more…)

Earlier tonight Fox Business News host Lou Dobbs aired an exclusive interview with President Trump.  The content of the interview is exceptionally broad and wide ranging on all the pertinent issues currently occupying headlines.  WATCH:

(more…)

Amid all the sketchiness of the Mandalay Bay Massacre, and the weird disappearance of anything related to the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, a new report outlines that Stephen Paddock’s hotel room laptop was missing the hard drive.
Additionally, the shooter’s brother, Bruce Paddock (59), was arrested early Wednesday for possession of child pornography, Los Angeles police said in a news release. He is being held on $60,000 bail.

(Via AP) A laptop computer recovered from the Las Vegas hotel room where Stephen Paddock launched the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history was missing its hard drive, depriving investigators of a potential key source of information on why he killed and maimed so many people, ABC News has learned.

Paddock is believed to have removed the hard drive before fatally shooting himself, and the missing device has not yet been recovered, sources told ABC News.

(more…)