Category Blogger C0nservative Tree House

Jul 30 2025

Zelenskyy on Ropes – Ukranian Regime Grabs More Authoritarian Power Then Backtracks When Protests Erupt


Posted originally on CTH on July 29, 2025 | Sundance

The terms Ukraine and government corruption are synonymous regardless of who is funding the schemes.  After Volodymyr Zelenskyy grabbed more power by stripping two key anti-corruption agencies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP), of their independence, protests erupted.

European leaders immediately noticed the intent of the power move and threatened Zelenskyy with a withdrawal of support. The current dictatorship of Zelensky and his small team then quickly reversed course.  However, the damage is done, and once again Ukranian corruption is center stage.

It doesn’t matter how much western intelligence agencies and pro-Ukraine western govt officials try to hide the nature of the duck represented by Zelenskyy by calling him a swan, eventually the quacking returns – the mask drops.

UKRAINE – […] Some also cautioned that the agitation could spark a popular uprising like the one that toppled then-President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. “We are now in the face of the most dangerous development in all the years since Maidan,” wrote Sevgil Musayeva, editor-in-chief of the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper. And like others, she hazarded that Zelenskyy’s powerful Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak was behind the move, amid signs that NABU is preparing cases against presidential insiders.

Eventually, with public uproar mounting, Ukraine’s president bowed to the pressure and agreed to restore the independence of the agencies — a new law turning back the clock is meant to be voted on Thursday.

Among the insiders currently under investigation are former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov and former Deputy Head of the Office of the President Rostyslav Shurma. Shurma was dismissed last year, after it emerged his brother was receiving green subsidies from the Ukrainian government for solar plants operating in Russian-occupied Donbas. Coincidentally, Shurma’s Munich home was raided by NABU investigators and German police in mid-July.

“It is critical not to lose the unity. To listen to people, to have dialogue, and so on,” Zelenskyy told reporters at a press briefing on Friday, explaining his about-face and consequent decision to restore the independence of the agencies in question.

QUACK!

[…] some civil society leaders think targeting the agencies is a sign that Zelenskyy and his clan-like group of aides are starting to panic about his poor polling numbers. As it stands, his chances of winning the next election, when it is eventually held, appear remote, with former armed forces commander General Valery Zaluzhny, who Zelenskyy fired after clashing over war strategy, seen as most likely to get elected.

[…] The street protests in Ukraine have put Zelenskyy on notice, and they’re an indication that patience is wearing thin. (read more)

Everywhere you travel in Europe the one constant amid the ordinary working-class is their knowledge that Ukraine is a bastion of political corruption. The summer coastline of Europe is full of Ukrainian govt officials and very wealthy Ukranian businessmen spending money, a lot of money, that everyone knows is coming from USA and European subsidy.

Visible Ukraine corruption is a joke amid those who cannot afford pretending and those in the service industries in the vacation resorts all along the European coast.

Making it all worse, is the in-your-face aspect of it very visible from the Ukrainians staying in luxury hotels, villas and opulent residences while sneering through their designer sunglasses. “Meh, or she, is Ukrainian,” is the simple response to the rudeness when noted.

There may be no love for Vladimir Putin within the muscle memory of some older populations within some former Soviet states.  However, amid the working-class and the portion of the younger generation self-inoculated from western propaganda, opinion of Zelenskyy is even lower.

Eastern European support for the Zelenskyy regime is akin to U.S. support during the Biden regime. The pretending exists in media and government officials’ proclamations only.

Don’t kid yourself, the politicians know it.

Jul 30 2025

Canadian Officials Continue Wondering Why Trump Administration Projects Ambivalence Toward U.S-Canada Trade Deal


Posted originally on CTH on July 29, 2025 | Sundance

The reality of the U.S-Canada economic relationship and the position of President Donald Trump is not that difficult to understand if you take all the disparate datapoints and quotes from Trump and put them into context.

During a White House meeting with Mark Carney, President Trump essentially told the Canadian Prime Minister why he was in no hurry to get to a deal with Canada.

The 35% tariffs on non-USMCA goods are going to trigger on August 1st, because the main priority of Trump -looking toward Canada- is to dissolve the USMCA.

During the May 6th oval office meeting with Carney, President Trump was discussing the USMCA and said:  “As you know it terminates fairly shortly. It gets renegotiated fairly shortly.” … “This was a transitional deal, and we’ll see what happens, we’re going to start renegotiating that” … “I don’t know if it serves a purpose anymore.”  …. “And the biggest purpose it served was, we got rid of NAFTA.”

To understand why President Trump wants to dissolve the USMCA {SEE HERE}.  To understand the technical value of dissolving the USMCA {SEE HERE}.  It’s not a complicated economic analysis; it’s common sense.

Currently, approximately 60% of the traded goods and services between the U.S. and Canada are covered by the USMCA; the remaining 40% will be hit by tariffs on August 1st at a 35% rate.

When the USMCA is renegotiated, predictably dissolved in favor of two bilateral trade agreements – one for Mexico and one for Canada, all of the U.S-Canada trade sectors will be part of the enlarged free trade negotiation.  As a result, there is absolutely no motive to engage in trade discussions now.

♦ President Trump’s position is essentially to talk about the details when the USMCA is dissolved; hence, the ambivalence.

Politico is noting the Canadian trade team simply doesn’t understand this. “[D]espite months of back and forth, the terms for a deal have not yet been set, a senior government source said, with the White House informing the Canadian side that Trump is more focused on securing deals with other partners like India.”

(Politico cont..) […] Earlier this month, Canada conceded that any deal with Trump is likely to include tariffs.

Carney’s government wants stability around the tariffs Trump invoked using Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act.

They are crushing Canada’s auto, steel, aluminum and forestry industries. Trump also plans to hit imported copper with 50 percent tariffs starting Aug. 1 — with semiconductor and pharmaceutical imports likely to follow.

Canada ultimately wants the tariffs eliminated or lowered to a fixed level that doesn’t fluctuate, the senior government official said. “If we know what world we’re going into, then we can have better plans and policies to attract investment.”

Canada’s premiers say the unpredictability is punishing the economy.

“Private investment is not growing because everybody’s on pause,” Quebec Premier François Legault told reporters last week. “They are waiting to see what will happen. I’ve been in business — it’s about the worst thing you can have is uncertainty.” (read more)

The certainty the Canadians are looking for can be found easily if they stop pretending.

(1) U.S. tariffs against non-USMCA products from Canada will go into effect on August 1st.  (2) As soon as the USMCA is reopened, it will be dissolved.  (3) After the USMCA dissolution, a bilateral free trade agreement between the USA and Canada will be negotiated.

Every current effort by Canada to change the nature of the trade system, between now and the reopening of the USMCA (to dissolve it), is futile.

Again, I’m not exactly sure why this reality is so challenging for the Canadian govt to understand.

“So, you’re saying there’s a chance.”

Jul 30 2025

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Discusses U.S-EU Trade Deal


Posted originally on CTH on July 29, 2025 | Sundance

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick describes some of the details within the new U.S-European trade agreement.

As noted, the $600 billion in regular trade products exported by the EU to the USA market will be subject to a 15% reciprocal tariff.  This approach effectively ends the Marshall Plan, sets the trade terms to balance and should generate approximately $90 billion in revenue to the U.S. treasury.

U.S. tariffs on cars and auto parts are being reduced to the baseline 15 percent — a level that matches the deal notched earlier this month by Japanese automakers. In exchange, the EU has agreed to lower its car tariffs from 10 percent to zero, trade spokesperson Olof Gill said.  The German companies are angry though, because the 25% tariff still applies to Mexico. So, German autos manufactured in Mexico (massive prior investment) will come to the USA with a 25% tariff.

In addition to the EU agreement to open their markets to U.S. products, private companies within the EU have committed to $600 billion in direct investment within the USA.  Additionally, the EU will purchase $750 billion in U.S. energy products and with the NATO commitments previously agreed significant military purchases are anticipated. That is a major purchase agreement of $250 billion each year for the next three years.

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Jul 30 2025

President Trump Cuts Ribbon on Second Course in Aberdeen Scotland


Posted originally on CTH on July 29, 2025 | Sundance

President Trump cuts the ribbon for the second course in Aberdeen, Scotland.

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Jul 29 2025

Middle Eastern Male, Reportedly Shouting “Free Palestine,” Opens Fire in Downtown New York


Posted originally on CTH on July 28, 2025

Information is generally sketchy, however it is being widely reported about a mass shooting in downtown New York that has killed a NYPD police officer working security at a Midtown skyscraper – at least two other civilians were shot.

NEW YORK – A police officer was shot and killed when a crazed gunman wearing a bulletproof vest stormed a swanky Midtown skyscraper Monday, injuring at least two other people — before turning the gun on himself, sources said.

The man entered the 44-story building — which houses Blackstone and the NFL headquarters — armed with a rifle and opened fire at around 6:30 p.m., law enforcement sources told The Post.

At least one police officer was shot at the scene and is in critical condition. Two civilians were also struck by gunfire — one of which is also in critical condition, sources said.

The suspect barricaded himself inside and was found dead from a gun-inflicted gunshot wound on the 33rd floor, sources said. (read more)

Jul 29 2025

Classified Durham Annex Holds Information About Foreign Source Telling U.S. Intelligence About FBI Plan to Assist Clinton With False Trump-Russia Narrative


Posted originally on CTH on July 28, 2025 | Sundance

This is interesting because the possibilities of the “credible foreign source” are quite extensive.

According to information just surfacing from leaks inside the IC to Fox News [Article Here], a foreign source told U.S. intelligence the FBI was going to work with Hillary Clinton to promote a bogus Trump-Russia claim.

Taking the pertinent excerpt from the article: “U.S. intelligence had credible foreign sources indicating that the FBI would play a role in spreading the salacious Trump-Russia collusion narrative—before the bureau ever launched its controversial Crossfire Hurricane probe, sources familiar with the intel told Fox News Digital.”

“[…] A source familiar with the contents of the classified annex told Fox News Digital that while it may not have been exactly clear in the moment what the intelligence collection meant, with the benefit of hindsight, it predicted the FBI’s next move “with alarming specificity.”

“Ultimately, the release of the classified annex will lend more credibility to the assertion that there was a coordinated plan inside the U.S. government to help the Clinton campaign stir up controversy connecting Trump to Russia,” the source, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters that have not yet been made public, told Fox News Digital.

“Mere days after this intelligence was collected, the FBI launched Crossfire Hurricane,” the source said. “It’s really hard to see how Brennan, Clapper and Comey are going to be able to explain this away.” (link)

Expanding to read between the lines.

The information coming to “U.S. Intelligence” from the “foreign sources” almost certainly indicates the receiving intelligence agency was the CIA.  Put into context with the other information, the likely Occam’s Razor of this information is that THIS INTELLIGENCE underpinned former CIA Director John Brennan’s need to brief President Obama.

Essentially, a credible foreign intelligence source was telling the CIA in the summer of 2016, the FBI was going to work in coordination with the Clinton campaign to smear candidate Donald Trump.

That “credible foreign intelligence source” could have been from the U.K, Australia, Italy, Israel or even Russia itself.

However, we must consider that John Durham traveled to Italy as part of his investigation; although everyone (at the time) thought Durham was looking for Professor Joseph Mifsud.  Durham told congress he never found Mifsud, so that leaves multiple possibilities remaining.

If Director Ratcliffe declassifies the name of this source (big ‘if), that means the govt of the source being described is okay with it; or the source is dead, and we don’t care about the issue.  If Ratcliffe only describes the source (without name), that likely means the asset is still active.

Who could it be?  Just about any one of the names we have discussed, or it could be someone we don’t know.

Heck, it could be Chris Steele himself (UK), Alexander Downer (Australia), Or…. My best guess would be the credible foreign source is a little reported Russian Deputy Attorney General named Saak Albertovich Karapetyan – who was working as a double agent for the CIA and Kremlin.

Why would it be him?  Well, Karapetyan was directing the foreign operations of Natalia Veselnitskaya, and Glenn Simpson was organizing her inside the U.S as part of his Trump-Russia creation.

Glenn Simpson managed Veselnitskaya through the 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Donald Trump Jr. However, once the CIA/Fusion GPS operation using Veselnitskaya started to unravel with public reporting, back in Russia Deputy AG Karapetyan died in a helicopter crash.

It would make sense that Karapetyan was telling the CIA what was happening with the Clinton campaign, Fusion GPS and Glenn Simpson, Nellie Ohr’s boss.  It is also likely (based on the relationship) that Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson would tell Karapetyan about his work with Chris Steele on the dossier against Trump, and that encompasses the FBI connection.

Saak Albertovich Karapetyan would be my guess for who the “credible foreign source” would be to tip-off the CIA about what Clinton and the FBI were doing.   That tip then leads Brennan to brief Obama.  It all just makes sense.

Regardless, we could soon find out who that was.

In the final analysis, this is a very explosive issue.  If the “credible source” (Karapetyan) was telling “U.S Intelligence” (CIA) that the FBI was working in coordination with the Clinton campaign on the Trump-Russia smear, and then the exact behaviors of the prediction come true, then John Brennan has no excuse for his willfully blind assertions to everyone.

A very interesting development.

Jul 29 2025

President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer Hold a Press Availability in Scotland


Posted originally on CTH on July 28, 2025 | Sundance

President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer hold a press availability from President Trump’s Turnberry golf course and estate.   Prime Minister Starmer is very focused on support for Palestinians in Gaza as the Israeli-Hamas conflict continues.

Both leaders took media questions on a variety of topics from immigration and Scotland’s independence movement to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. WATCH:

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Jul 29 2025

President Trump Welcomes British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Turnberry, Scotland


Posted originally on CTH on July 28, 2025 | Sundance 

Earlier this morning President Donald Trump welcomed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Turnberry, Scotland where the two leaders will hold bilateral discussions on trade and foreign affairs.

The video is prompted to 16:20. The bagpipes stop eventually in the video at 19:30. President Trump and Prime Minister Starmer take questions from the assembled press pool. President Trump calls out the British government for rampant illegal immigration, as Starmer tries to say his govt is deporting illegal migrants back to their home country.

Questions centered heavily around the Israeli conflict with Hamas in Gaza. The plight of the Palestinians is a key focus point for the British people; an outcome of the mass Islamic migration that has taken place for the past two-decades in Great Britain. The population of Islamists in the U.K now drives the political priorities.

Toward the end of the video 28:00, President Trump notes the Russia/Ukraine conflict has led to a “disappointment in Vladimir Putin,” and a possibility that President Trump will reduce the 50-day deadline he gave to Russia. WATCH: 

The majority of politicians within Great Britain want to expand the conflict with Russia as much as possible and bring the full NATO contingent into the war against Russia.  President Trump has been reluctant to support expanded war as requested by the British, French and German group who formed a “coalition of the willing.”

In addition to London being the Jihad capital of the region, Great Britain is also the home of the Fabian Socialists.

Jul 28 2025

Devin Nunes Discusses the Recent Declassification and Puts Context on the Mar-a-Lago Raid


Posted originally on CTH on July 27, 2025 | Sundance 

Former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes appears on Fox News to discuss the latest declassified reports from DNI Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

As noted in the previous interview {GO DEEP}, Nunes draws a strong reference to the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago and asks the question, “what were they looking for?”  The Occam’s Razor answer is the FBI was trying to recapture evidence of the Trump-Russia collusion hoax that was in President Trump’s possession post administration.  WATCH:

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♦ Former CIA Director John Brennan admitted Peter Strzok helped write the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) which outlines the Russia narrative; and it was also Peter Strzok who authored the July 31st, 2016, “Electronic Communication” from the CIA to the FBI that originated FBI operation “Crossfire Hurricane.”  Strzok immediately used that EC to travel to London to debrief intelligence officials around Australian Ambassador to the U.K. Alexander Downer.

In short, Peter Strzok was a profoundly overzealous James Bond wannabe who acted as a bridge between the CIA and the FBI. The perfect type of FBI career agent for 2016’s CIA Director John Brennan to utilize.

Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson hired CIA Open-Source analyst Nellie Ohr toward the end of 2015, at appropriately the same time as “FBI Contractors” were identified exploiting the NSA database and extracting information on a specific set of U.S. persons.  One, if not the primary extractors, has now been identified as Rodney Joffe at Neustar.   “The campaign plot was outlined by Durham in a 27-page indictment charging former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann with making a false report to the FBI.  The plot was also outlined in the finished Durham report.  Eight individuals who allegedly conspired with Sussmann but does not identify them by name. The sources familiar with the probe confirmed that the leader of the team of contractors was Rodney L. Joffe.” {Go Deep}

It was also Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson who was domestically tasked with a Russian lobbyist named Natalia Veselnitskaya. A little reported Russian Deputy Attorney General named Saak Albertovich Karapetyan was working as a double agent for the CIA and Kremlin. Karapetyan was directing the foreign operations of Natalia Veselnitskaya, and Glenn Simpson was organizing her inside the U.S as part of his Trump-Russia creation.

Glenn Simpson managed Veselnitskaya through the 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Donald Trump Jr. However, once the CIA/Fusion GPS operation using Veselnitskaya started to unravel with public reporting, back in Russia Deputy AG Karapetyan died in a helicopter crash.

Simultaneously timed in late 2015 through mid 2016, there was a domestic FBI operation using a young Russian named Maria Butina tasked to run up against Republican presidential candidates. According to Patrick Byrne, Butina’s handler, was FBI agent Peter Strzok who was giving Byrne the instructions on where to send her. {Go Deep}

All of this context outlines the extent to which the FBI/CIA was openly involved in constructing a political operation that settled upon anyone in candidate Donald Trump’s orbit.  A large international operation directed by the FBI/CIA and domestic operations seemingly directed by Peter Strzok operating with a foot in both agencies. [Strzok gets CIA service coin]  Durham eviscerated the predicate for all of this in his report, yet stayed away from the part that leads to Robert Mueller in 2017.

Recap: ♦Mifsud tasked against Papadopoulos (CIA). ♦Halper tasked against Flynn (CIA), Page (CIA) and Papadopoulos (CIA). ♦Azra Turk, pretending to be Halper asst, tasked against Papadopoulos (FBI). ♦Veselnitskaya tasked against Donald Trump Jr. (CIA, Fusion GPS). ♦Butina tasked against Trump and Donald Trump Jr (FBI).

Additionally, Christopher Steele was a British intelligence officer hired by Fusion GPS to assemble and launder fraudulent intelligence information within his dossier. And we cannot forget Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch, who was recruited by Asst. FBI Director Andrew McCabe to participate in running an operation against the Trump campaign and create the impression of Russian involvement. Deripaska refused to participate.

All of this engagement directly controlled by U.S. intelligence, and all of this intended to give a specific Russia impression. This predicate was what John Durham was reviewing in November of 2019 and then released in his final report.

Jul 28 2025

CIA Director John Ratcliffe Preparing to Release John Durham Classified Report Annex and Interview Transcripts


Posted originally on CTH on July 27, 2025 | Sundance

CIA Director John Ratcliffe appears on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the recent releases from his office and from the office of DNI Tulsi Gabbard.

Within the interview Director Ratcliffe references the special counsel John Durham investigation, subsequent 306-page report, and then notes the 48-page classified appendix to the report.  According to Ratcliffe he is in the process of declassifying and releasing the 48-page annex.  Additionally, there are witness transcripts from Hillary Clinton, John Brennan, James Clapper and possibly Andrew McCabe that could be released.

Remember, James Comey refused to be interviewed by John Durham; however, Andrew McCabe gave under oath testimony to the OIG about Comey and that transcript fingering James Comey is cited on footnote #1207 of page 199 of the Durham report.  WATCH:

Special Counsel John Durham clearly showed in his 306-page report with a 48-page classified appendix, that Russia did nothing to interfere in the 2016 election.  The entire Russian Interference operation was a Clinton fabrication, later enhanced by a Federal Bureau of Investigation who used the fabrication as a cover-up justification to hide their surveillance of the Trump campaign.

There were no Russian diplomats involved; there was no Russian election interference; there was no Russian hacking of the DNC; it was all a fraud created by the intelligence community (IC), FBI and Main Justice to support Hillary Clinton’s lies and then cover their own targeting tracks.

I have wanted to read that 2019 transcript of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s testimony about James Comey for six years.   All indications from John Durham were that McCabe spilled details about Comey’s involvement.

By now, people are familiar with the construct of CIA operations involving Joseph Mifsud, a Maltese professor generally identified as a western intelligence operative who was tasked by the FBI/CIA to run an operation against Trump campaign official George Papadopoulos in both Italy (Rome) and London. {Go Deep}  John Durham ignored him.

In a similar fashion, the FBI tasked U.S. intelligence asset Stefan Halper to target another Trump campaign official, Carter Page. Under the auspices of being a Cambridge Professor, Stefan Halper also targeted General Michael Flynn. Additionally, using assistance from a female FBI agent, under the false name Azra Turk, Halper also targeted Papadopoulos.  Again, John Durham ignored it.

The initial operations to target Flynn, Papadopoulos and Page were all based overseas. This seemingly makes the CIA exploitation of the assets and the targets legal and much easier.  If Durham went into this intelligence rabbit hole, there would be a paper trail that leads back to Robert Mueller.  Durham didn’t go there.