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 †
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Things are again not what they seem, but you have to stand back to understand the right questions.
People have asked about the recent release of the declassified FBI documents (a partial release) and what they mean. Having spent years deep in the research, here’s my take.
At first blush people may say there’s nothing really there that we didn’t already know. I would differ on that perspective because the process is telling us something very loudly, and the absence of material is shouting even louder.
Simple question: This stuff was declassified by President Trump and released by the FBI, correct? If so, then why isn’t the release simply uploaded to the FBI.Gov website. Why release it to congress and then leak it to John Solomon?
Read the underline. First things first. Explain to me exactly how these were “obtained.” Where did Solomon get them?
[SOURCE]
If it’s all on the up-and-up, and if it is simply an outcome of declassified material, then why is sourcing for the documents clouded in some weird mystery. Shouldn’t we know the process? Those of you who remember the FISA application release, will know why this process issue is important.
Next, the information is given to the founding member of the “Tick Tock” club. John Solomon has singularly been responsible for more purposefully controlled information releases than any other ‘conservative’ media rep for the Intel Community. The Russiagate files coming from Solomon should be the first big “red flag” that causes pause.
Who game them to Solomon? And again, why not just upload them to a .gov website (DNI, FBI or even HPSCI).
I suspect the intention here, the motive of the process, is to focus on the politics of the release, NOT the illegal nature of the conduct that is contained within the evidence the release outlines. They want the public focused on the “politics” not the “illegal surveillance” and unlawful conduct that underpins Russiagate.
This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.
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 †
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President Trump holds a cabinet meeting and invites the press to attend and ask questions.
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In order to pass DC approvals for confirmation, Gabbard had to join the ‘FISA is awesome’ club. Now, she aligns her DNI silo with the foolishness of the Sean Hannity ‘tick-tock’ club. Sorry, but we’ve seen this performance so many times it is now blood boiling to watch them try and repeat it.
DNI Gabbard claims she is creating a new “transparency task force” to analyze information for potential declassification and public release. However, the task force will now have to “dig” until they have every document discovered, before they can release it, because releasing information as it is discovered is against the operational mission of the people who control the silo process. But she swears, if you wait for it, it will come. “Trust the plan.”
Oh, it’s so complicated.
Oh, it’s so big and hard to do.
Oh, the evidence is so hard to find.
This is the same nonsense story from Bill Barr, John Durham, Michael Horowitz and the other previous members of the Sean Hannity ‘tick-tock club,’ including John Solomon (controlled releases) and other “conservatively aligned” tradecraft media. Barr is now Bondi, Wray is now Kash, Durham is now Bongino, the audience is the same. It’s nonsense.
The rapid change in Ursula von der Leyen now starts to make sense. According to a press release [SEE HERE] from European Big Pharma, they recently had a meeting with the EU Komisar and threatened to leave Europe if the trade system is not renegotiated quickly.
President Trump is on the cusp of announcing a big change in tariffs against foreign pharmaceutical companies in an effort to get the manufacturing of medicines brought back to the USA. Details are soon to surface.
In a proactive move, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), went to the European Commission (EC) yesterday to hold talks with von der Leyen, calling for radical change and holding the threat of an exodus to the U.S. over the EC president’s head.
PRESS RELEASE – Today, CEOs of the research-based pharmaceutical industry issued a stark warning to President von der Leyen that unless Europe delivers rapid, radical policy change then pharmaceutical research, development and manufacturing is increasingly likely to be directed towards the US.
A survey of EFPIA member companies conducted last week – to which 18 international large and medium-sized innovative companies responded – identified as much as 85% of capital expenditure investments (approximately €50.6 billion) and as much as 50% of R&D expenditure (approximately €52.6 billion) potentially at risk. This is out of a current combined total of €164.8 billion in investments planned for the period 2025-2029 in the EU-27 territory. Over the next three months, companies that responded estimate that a total of €16.5 billion i.e. 10% of the total investment plans is at risk.
REMINDER: The de minimis loophole comes from back in the 1930s. The idea back then was, say you went on a vacation to Paris, you shouldn’t have to file customs paperwork or pay taxes if you decided to ship some little Eiffel Tower statues to your friends back home.
Congress in 2015 then raised the de minimis threshold from $200 to $800. However, the e-commerce world exploded, and Chinese companies began using the de minimis loophole to ship cheap goods (ex. Temu and Shein) into the USA direct to consumers without paying any customs duty.
On April 2nd, as part of the global trade reset and tariff structure, President Trump revoked authorization for Chinese goods to transfer to the USA using the de minimis rule. The de minimis exemption was cancelled for all products coming out of China. The rule change only targeted China and Chinese shippers. No one else. [XO HERE]
Yesterday, as part of the modification to Executive Order #14257, President Trump has increased the baseline tariff for product mailed from China [de minimis tariff] from 30 90 percent to 120%.
Mailed products from China now face a 120% tariff. Additionally, minimum tariff amounts increased from $75 to $100 effective May 1st, and from $150 to $2oo effective June 1st. [See Section #4]
Example: If you order a $20 shirt from China effective June 1st, you will pay $220. $20 for the shirt, and $200 minimum tariff.
There is no way Chinese E-Commerce can survive this level of tariff/duty fees.
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) releases the Consumer Price Index for February [DATA HERE], reflecting a drop in the year-over-year inflation rate to the lowest level in four years.
The rate of inflation dropped significantly due to lower gasoline (-6.3%) and fuel prices, which directly impacts every middle-class worker. The ripple effects (transportation, warehousing, etc.) from lowered gasoline prices is not yet embedded in the cost of goods, that should start to surface next month.
[…] Consumer prices were up 2.4% in March from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday, cooler than February’s gain of 2.8% and well below the 2.6% rise that economists expected.
Prices excluding food and energy categories—the so-called core measure economists watch in an effort to better capture inflation’s underlying trend—rose 2.8%, below forecasts for a 3% increase. That was the smallest increase in the core measure since March 2021. (read more)
For those who have travelled the MAGAnomic weeds with us, you will note this is the way overall lower inflation starts to surface under Trump policy. This is exactly what happened in 2017 and continued throughout late 2019 until COVID-19 hit. President Trump’s economic policies drop the rate of inflation, and eventually lower prices.
Komrade Ursula von der Leyen represents the European Commission command and control authority, regardless of whether the individual members within the containment zone agree with the HQ in Brussels.
Komisar von der Leyen informs the union members that she has decided to pause the retaliation tariffs against the USA, based on the 90-day pause announced by President Trump. However, in actuality there’s not much difference even within the pause as the German/EU autos are still tariffed (25%) and the steel and Aluminum tariffs’ (25%) still apply.
The only gain from yesterday’s modification in the global tariff regime for the EU was a switch from 20% EU tariff to a baseline 10% tariff during the pause.
The total EU relief is 10% for 90-days; but that was enough for Komrade Ursula to mount her high-horse and claim magnanimity status.
According to von der Leyen, “if negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in.”[SOURCE]
“I welcome President Trump’s announcement to pause reciprocal tariffs. It’s an important step towards stabilizing the global economy.
Clear, predictable conditions are essential for trade and supply chains to function.
Tariffs are taxes that only hurt businesses and consumers. That’s why I’ve consistently advocated for a zero-for-zero tariff agreement between the European Union and the United States.
The European Union remains committed to constructive negotiations with the United States, with the goal of achieving frictionless and mutually beneficial trade.