The swamp fights back.  Predictable Flak and Countermeasures deployed, right on time, by the UniParty. You can almost set your watch to it.  Once you see the strings on the marionettes you can never go back to a time when you didn’t see them.
House Intelligence Committee member Trey Gowdy discusses Jared Kushner, the controversy with attorney general Jeff Sessions and the ongoing Trump-Russia probe. etc.

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When President Trump made his initial remarks reflecting disappointment in Attorney General Jeff Sessions it was initially unnerving.  The subsequent fallout from the public criticism has united the NeverTrump crowd, Cruzbots and professionally GOPe, to defend the honor of the much beloved former Senator.   The opportunity to bash Trump is simply an ancillary benefit.
Conversely, the MAGA community has largely portrayed the rift as if the Presidential critique was part of a larger strategy between the President and Attorney General. If we wait long enough some mysterious master plan is eventually to be discovered.
However, the subsequent POTUS tweets and comments do not indicate any joint strategy at all.  What they do actually show is a genuine disappointment and frustration with the focus of Jeff Sessions; and the cabinet member’s apparent unwillingness to confront the corruption within the DOJ and by extension the larger DC swamp.
It is not accidental the frustration and disappointment surface as the various opposition groups to the Trump presidency begin to target the entire Trump family.   Despite some opinion to the contrary, Donald Trump does have a nuclear trigger point; target his family and you’ll find it quick.  Just ask anyone who has known him for any substantive amount of time.
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The backstory to the Awan brothers is a story within congress where three Democrat staffers within various House committees, including the House Intelligence Committee, were suspected of a variety of unlawful actions including accessing highly classified information under suspicious circumstances. – More Here –

Yesterday FBI agents seized computer equipment from the home of the aide to congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz who was one of the parties employing the Awans.  And now last night Imran Awan was arrested by the FBI at Dulles airport.

(Via Daily Caller)  Florida GOP Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s right-hand information technology (IT) aide was arrested attempting to leave the country just a few hours after The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group revealed that he is the target of an FBI investigation.

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President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump together with friends are flying to Youngstown Ohio for a MAGA rally tonight at the Covelli Centre.
The start time for the rally is scheduled for 7:00pm EDT however, the pre-rally festivities will begin earlier.  It is also possible First Lady Melania may speak to the audience.
RSBN Livestream (ongoing)  – Alternate Livestream #1 – Alternate Livestream #2

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Moments ago President Trump and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri met in the Oval Office. Following their discussions President Trump and PM Hariri held a joint press conference in the Rose Garden.
President Trump focused his remarks on Syria, terrorism and the refugee crisis as he delivered a statement alongside Prime Minister Saad Hariri of Lebanon:

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During press questioning President Trump is also asked about his confidence in Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Again President Trump affirmed his confidence in Sessions’ ability, however he also noted frustration (“disappointment”) with Session’s reluctance to confront corruption within the DC swamp.
My hunch is that Sessions will tender his resignation within 48 hours; this will lead to a conversation with President Trump. If Trump doesn’t accept the resignation it will be because Sessions agrees to change approach and confront the corruption within DC including the corruption within the DOJ. (more on that later)
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The Senate votes on a motion to proceed, beginning debate on the legislation. However, unlike typical Senate procedure, many lawmakers are unclear on what the actual healthcare reform bill will be.
♦ Latest: 2:40pm Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins have voted against proceeding. All other republican senators have voted to proceed. (live stream link)
3:00pm Senator John McCain arrives to vote “aye”.  Senator Ron Johnson also votes ‘yes’. Senator Joe Manchin has voted “nay”.  All Democrats are voting along party line no defectors..
3:10pm With final vote to proceed tied at 50/50 Vice President Mike Pence casts the tie-breaking vote and the motion to proceed passes.

3:15pm Senator John McCain took to the floor to deliver a speech (video added below). McCain stated he voted to proceed with debate, but he will never vote for the Senate bill.  Instead McCain demands the entire process begin again; starting over in committee (time for more lobbyist $$).
McCain then delivers a 10 minute speech filled with virtue signaling, pearl clutching, and ‘reach-across-the-aisle’ “isms”; while demanding that all senators stop listening to the American people and return to the preferred way of indulging in their own Senatorial best interests.   McCain communicated to the chamber that the American electorate are too stupid to know what’s good for them, and the Senators should rule over the proles.
Despite his looming incapacity and terminal brain cancer, McCain refuses to resign.
Donald Trump was entirely right about John McCain.
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Amid a swirl of stories surrounding the White House, the larger administration, and ongoing healthcare reform efforts,  Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders appears on Fox and Friends this morning:

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Also, internal to the communications team, Asst. Press Secretary Michael Short has been released from his responsibilities. Short was another of Reince Priebus’s former RNC staffers who was brought to the White House by Priebus. He was also widely considered one of the leakers.
In the larger overview – CTH did not use the word “ugly” accidentally.  It was obvious the solutions to the DC issues were going to be very atypical, hence “big ugly”.
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The palace intrigue continues…

(WASHINGTON DC via Fox News) Multiple former Republican National Committee officials who followed Reince Preibus and Sean Spicer to the White House are “seriously concerned” about their jobs now that President Trump tapped Anthony Scaramucci as his new communications director, White House sources told Fox News.
The sources said Scaramucci’s influence has skyrocketed inside the West Wing. The Washington Post reported that “Scaramucci has moved into Trump’s inner sanctum and is now described by some colleagues as almost family to the president.”
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Until tonight we had not paid much attention to the national headline grabbing story of the ten dead illegal aliens killed from overheating and dehydration during a 100 person human trafficking/smuggling operation in Texas.  –Story Here– However, when reviewing the story and file video we immediately notice something that doesn’t appear to be discussed in the media anywhere.  Look:

That semi-trailer is a refrigerated unit.  That’s a Thermo King unit (circled above) on the front of the trailer.  That trailer can carry refrigerated and frozen product.  The refer unit has a fully adjustable commercial thermostat.  That specific type of trailer is built to haul anything from ice or ice-cream to milk, produce or other perishables that require cold transport; or it can be turned off and just carry any cargo like an ordinary (non refrigerated) trailer.
And yes, the Thermo King unit can, albeit as an unintended use, act just like air conditioning too.  It is a fully functional cargo cooling system, which can operate just like your own vehicles’ A/C system.  The thermostat on the unit is programmable to whatever temperature you wish to maintain in the trailer, however; it is still important to make sure you are fully covered from a company like Insurance Partnership just in case.
The trailer has its own gas tank (you can also see that in the screengrab), which allows the refrigerated trailer unit to operate independently of the tractor.  The motor for the Thermo King is not related to the operation of the tractor. The video for the screen-grab is 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

Sean Spicer Twitter @PressSec