Powell on Bank Acquisitions


Armstrong Economics Blog/Banking Crisis Re-Posted May 9, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

After the FOMC decision, Jerome Powell stated during his Q&A that the Federal Reserve does not have a plan to consolidate banks. “I personally felt that having small, medium, and large were a great part of our banking system,” Powell stated, noting that they all serve different customers. Powell said it could have been a good outcome had one of the regional banks bought failed First Republic instead of JPMorgan Chase. However, the chairman noted that the FDIC mandates that banks be acquired using the least costly resolution option.

The FDIC says it does not give preference to bidders. How can a bank qualify? According to the FDIC website: “Bid lists are created for each acquisition opportunity based on potential acquirer’s qualifications and interests and characteristics of the failing bank such as capital ratios, regulatory ratings, assets and core deposits as reported on the most recent Call Report and geographic location of the bank. Each bid list is developed using several criteria sets to identify approved potential bidders for an acquisition opportunity, while considering factors that match likely approved bidders to an acquisition opportunity.”

Due to the recent banking failures, the FDIC has also created guidelines specifically for failed bank acquisitions:

“The FDIC markets troubled institutions to healthy insured depository institutions. The FDIC is statutorily required to resolve failed institutions using the least costly resolution option minimizing losses to the Deposit Insurance Fund. The FDIC's primary objective is to maintain financial system stability and public confidence. Returning assets to the private sector in an orderly manner at the best price is another key objective. The FDIC also tries to reduce the impact on the community.

Recapitalization before failure is the preferred method to resolve open troubled financial institutions. FDIC markets institutions in case a failing institution is not able to resolve its issues on its own. If an insured depository institution is unable to resolve its issues, the FDIC will implement its resolution process by which qualified bidders may seek to acquire the assets and assume the liabilities of the failing institution.”

Obviously, smaller banks will not have the ability to compete. All banks are struggling with liquidity issues, and mid-sized institutions will likely be unable to offer the “least costly resolution option.” Ideally, they want failing banks to be attained prior to failure, and only large institutions can provide that cushion. Nothing in the FDIC guidelines at the time of this writing currently limits what a large institution could acquire. The computer states that we will see more banking failures across the globe. Based on these guidelines in the US, it is reasonable to assume that large banks like JPMorgan Chase will benefit from future acquisitions and continue to grow. It is unclear whether banking monopolies are permitted under the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, but it remains to be seen what alternatives the system will have as more banks go under.

Former Navy Seal Team 6 Member: “China is Going to Destroy Us”


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted May 5, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The US military has been struggling with recruitment efforts in recent years. Only 13% of 18 to 29-year-olds are “highly willing” to enlist. Prioritizing the woke agenda has alienated the once-core conservative, traditional members. The current Commander in Chief is not patriotic and does not inspire young men to join the military. We abandoned operations in Afghanistan chaotically when we should never have been there anyhow, forced service members to undergo vaccinations, and continued to heighten tensions with foreign nations to a level where another world war is inevitable. Every branch has failed to meet their recruitment numbers despite the military lowering the standards to join. The latest desperate attempt to recruit members is the opposite of the image of a tough soldier.

The US Navy invited an active-duty drag queen to be its latest digital ambassador. Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, who identifies as non-binary, is creating videos cosplaying as a woman “to explore the digital environment to reach a wide range of potential candidates,” a Navy spokesperson stated. Yeoman, or Harpy Daniels as they call themself “on stage,” is sharing his experience of going back and forth between genders to represent “queer sailors.” Let’s remember, regular gay folks recently fought to repeal the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” bill to permit people to serve while openly gay. How on earth could the military think this is a good idea?

Former US Navy SEAL Team Six member Robert J. O’Neill was part of the special operation to kill Osama bin Laden, one of the best and bravest our country has to offer. Alright. The US Navy is now using an enlisted sailor Drag Queen as a recruiter. I’m done. China is going to destroy us. YOU GOT THIS NAVY. I can’t believe I fought for this bulls-t,” O’Neill wrote. “Not this Navy veteran. I’m ashamed of the Navy,” wrote another veteran. “It’s an insult to every veteran. The army kept making me go to trans EO-type classes before I retired. Nope. Didn’t go.”

Who the hell are they trying to recruit? Are these people even mentally fit to serve? It’s almost like they’re begging for a future draft of “all persons,” because the military knows better. The Airforce saw an uptick in recruitment after Tom Cruise released his film “Top Gun” portraying a fearless fighter pilot. You are not “fearless” for dressing up as the opposite sex. This effort will fail and it is a slap in the face to our veterans who do not want to be portrayed in this light.

How Corrupt Is Our Current Situation? It’s Worse Than Most Can Fathom…


Posted originally on the CTH on May 4, 2023 | Sundance 

The football spiking by AG Merrick Garland today deserves some context, and I am going to take you through a story that will highlight just how bad the situation really is.

Everything that preceded the 2020 federal election was a complex system of control by a network of ideologues, federal agencies, allies in the private sector, financial stakeholders and corrupt interests all working toward a common goal.  There’s no need to go through the background of how the election was manipulated and how the government and private sector, specifically social media, worked to influence the 2020 outcome because you have all seen it.

Whether it was local election officials working to control outcomes, federal agencies working to support them (CISA, FBI, DHS), financial interests working to fund them (Zuckerberg et al), or social media platforms controlling the visible content and discussion (Twitter Files, Google, Facebook etc.), the objective was all the same.  It was a massive one-sided operation against the freewill of the American voter.

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, those same system operators, govt officials, corporate media, private sector groups and social media platforms then circled the wagons to scatter the evidence of their conduct.  If you questioned anything you were a threat.  That’s the context to the dynamic that unfolded.

Lawfare operatives joined forces with Democrat staffers, and allies in social media platforms all worked in concert to target the voices of anyone who would rise in opposition to the corruption that was stunningly clear in the outcome of the election process.  Corporate media then labeled, isolated, ridiculed and marginalized anyone who dared to point out the obvious.

When AG Merrick Garland says this of January 6, 2021: […] “the Justice Department has conducted one of the largest, most complex, and most resource-intensive investigations in our history. We have worked to analyze massive amounts of physical and digital data. We have recovered devices, decrypted electronic messages, triangulated phones, and pored through tens of thousands of hours of video. We have also benefited from tens of thousands of tips we received from the public. Following these digital and physical footprints, we were able to identify hundreds of people.” {link} The targeting operation needs context.

Do you remember on April 27th when DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz recently said, “more than 3.4 million search queries into the NSA database took place between Dec. 1st, 2020 and Nov. 30th, 2021, by government officials and/or contractors working on behalf of the federal government.”  The result was “more than 1 million searches of private documents and communication of Americans that were illegal and non-compliant,” and over “10,000 federal employees have access to that database.” {OIG Testimony}.

Put the statement from Garland together with the statement from Horowitz, and you get an understanding of what was done.

Hundreds of stakeholders in the Lawfare network joined forces with hundreds of people who became staff researchers for a weaponized Congress.  Hundreds more social media background agents then poured thousands of hours into feeding private information to the DOJ, FBI, J6 Committee and all of their hired staff working on the project.

How do I know?

I was one of their targets.

Before telling the rest of the story, some background is needed.

I am well versed in the ways of the administrative state and the corrupt systems, institutions and silos that make up our weaponized government. I can (a) see them; (b) predict their activity; and (c) know where their traps and operations are located.

Traveling the deep investigative weeds of the administrative state eventually gives you a set of skills.  When people ask how the outlines on this website can seem so far ahead of the sunlight that eventually falls upon the outlined corruption, this is essentially why.  When you take these skills on the road, you learn to be a free-range scout, and after a long while you learn how to track the activity.

When I was outlining how the Fourth Branch of Government works and/or Jack’s Magic Coffee Shop and the DHS system operating inside it, I wasn’t shooting from the hip. However, people will always seek to dismiss the uncomfortable truth.

Sometimes you just have to wait for the evidence you know exists to surface, or for a situation to unfold that is driven by a self-fulfilling prophecy. The bizarre CTH predictions turn out to be the truth of the issue because they are based on the factual evidence of the issue.

That level of how the system works came in very handy when I received this subpoena from Chairman Bennie Thompson and the J6 Committee.  Warning, things are about to get very uncomfortable if you don’t accept the scale of corruption that exists.

Pay attention to the red box on the page shown. This is essentially the probable cause that justifies the subpoena itself.  I have redacted a name in the box for reasons you will see that follow.

I was never in Washington DC on January 6, 2021, nor did I work with or communicate with anyone who was involved in any of the activities that are subject to the J6 committee investigative authority.

I’m going to skip a lot of background noise, irrelevant legal stuff, jurisdictional issues, discoveries from discussions with lawyers and the experience gained in association with this ridiculous subpoena.  I am going to focus on the biggest story within it.

Sticking to the information in the Red Box above, notice how the J6 committee has evidence, “public-source information and documents on file”, showing my participation, communication, and contact with people and technology that are material interests to the committee.

Here’s the kicker…. I had no clue what the hell they were talking about.  There’s not a single aspect of their outline that I had any knowledge or connection of.

I had no idea what Zello was. I had no idea who 1% watchdog might be. I had never heard of “Stop the Steal J6” or associated “channel.”  I had never heard of the person redacted, and I had never communicated with any Oath Keeper, any communication system, or platform, or anyone or anything – nothing – that is outlined in that subpoena.

Those points of evidence outlined in the subpoena had no connection to me at all.

The subpoena might as well have been asking me to appear in Michigan because my Red Ferrari was involved in a hit and run accident, during my trip to Detroit.  I don’t own a Ferrari; I have never been to Michigan; I certainly never had an accident; I wasn’t on a trip and have never visited Detroit.  The entire construct of their probable cause for the subpoena was silly. Complete and utter nonsense.

That said, how could there be “public records” and “documentary” evidence of something that never happened?

At first, I thought this was some silly case of mistaken identity and they just sent a subpoena to the wrong person.  However, the investigators were adamant the evidence existed, and the need for testimony was required.

After taking advice from several smart people, and after discovering the costs associated with just the reply to the committee and/or representation therein; suddenly I realized there might be more value for me in this subpoena than the committee.  After all, how can there be public-records and documents that I own a red Ferrari and went to Michigan when I don’t and never did.

After several back and forths I discovered, through their admissions of their own research, and through documents they extracted as an outcome of their tasks to prove the merit of their claims, that someone *inside* Twitter had created a fictitious identity of me associated with the networks and communications as the investigators described them.

Think about what was discovered here.

Someone inside the Twitter platform, an employee of Twitter, had made a decision to target me. As a result: (a) they had been doing this for a long time with a specific goal in mind; and (b) they created an elaborate trail of background activity and identity that was entirely fabricated.

Eventually, my assigned investigative unit admitted this.

Once, the federal investigators realized what took place they wanted to get rid of me -and my snark filled curiosity- with great urgency.

They also had an ‘oh shit’ moment, when they contemplated everything, including what they had revealed to me from the outset of my contact, now several months prior.

What I discovered in this experience was that DHS, and by extension DOJ/FBI and the January 6 investigators, had direct administrative level backdoors into all social media platforms.

Overlay the Twitter files now, and then expand your thinking….

In their quest to prove that I owned a Red Ferrari, traveled to Michigan and had a hit-and-run accident, these investigators outlined to me how the United States Government, through their DHS authority, has employees, agents and contractors with open portals into all social media platforms.

Yes, the federal government is inside the mechanics of the systems (Twitter, Facebook, Meta, Instagram, Google, YouTube, WhatsApp, Zello, etc) and they have administrative access in real time to monitor, review, extract and evaluate everything, soup-to-nuts.

It was only because the investigators and forensic data knuckleheads have these portals, that they were able to locate the source of the fabricated evidence they were originally attributing to me.  This was an investigative process and research discovery being conducted in the data processing systems of Twitter in real time as they questioned me.

Once they realized what had taken place, and as soon as I started asking how they were making these admissions (now carrying an apologetic certainty), suddenly the investigators wanted no further contact or communication with me.  You’re good, whoopsie daisy, our bad, sorry.

Now, take some time to fully digest and absorb what I have just shared.

The U.S. government is worried about TikTok, because U.S. citizen data might be extracted?

Meanwhile, the U.S. government, at a fully unrestricted administrative level, is inside Twitter, Facebook, Meta, Insta, YouTube etc., running amok and extracting anything – including private messages… and they’re somehow worried about protecting us from TikTok data collection.  Think about it.

Provide your thoughts in the comments and I will try to fill in any blanks or questions you might carry.  In the interim, live your best life.

Ears of an elephant, eyes of a mouse.

The California Contagion – PacWest Teters on Becoming the Next Regional Bank to Collapse as Regional Banking Stocks Continue Severe Drops


Posted originally on the CTH on May 4, 2023 | Sundance 

According to those who relish the Cloward-Piven strategy, things are proceeding swimmingly.

…”As long as the decisionmakers continue doing the things that are creating the crisis, the crisis will continue.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said yesterday the “U.S banking system is sound and resilient,” insert uncomfortable snicker here.  However, uncertainty is continuing to pummel the banking industry, despite assurances from the Fed, Treasury, FDIC financial regulators and bankers such as Jamie Dimon who are all saying there is no crisis in the banking industry.

If you want to know the big picture source of the uncertainty, it’s the great pretending.  The average person can sense something is wrong, and the person who pays attention has the experience of institutional lying over the past several years.  The last ten years of lying and pretending has created the biggest collapse in institutional trust in U.S. history.

Russians interfered with the election – trust us. Stick this needle in your arm, it’s safe – trust us.  The FBI are the good guys – trust us. Biden won more votes – trust us. This inflation is merely transitory – trust us.

See the problem?

So, when the same voices shout, “the banking industry is sound, trust us,” well,… yeah, that suspicious cat sense that’s on high alert isn’t buying the chorus.

Reasonably intelligent people who accept things as they are, not as they would have us pretend them to be, can see the core connection to the World Economic Forum, Central Banks, and western globalist policy to change the entire dynamic of economics and finance around the “Climate Change” agenda, or Build Back Better, or Green New Deal.

Overlay that commonsense and pragmatic outlook with the logical consequences of the activity, and this banking collapse issue is a self-fulfilling prophecy.  As long as the decision makers continue doing the things that are creating the crisis, the crisis will continue.

(Via Wall Street Journal) – Regional-bank stocks tumbled Thursday despite assurances from the Federal Reserve that the banking system is on solid footing.

PacWest Bancorp PACW -47.04%decrease; red down pointing triangle, which has been hit hard since the collapses of several banks, dropped by about 40%. The stock started falling in after-hours trading Wednesday evening, after a report that it was considering selling itself.

PacWest said in a statement after midnight Eastern Time Thursday that its core customer deposits were up since the end of the first quarter, and that it hadn’t experienced any unusual deposit flows since the collapse of First Republic.

[…] Investors have been wondering how much further the problems in regional-banking could spread, and whether they will spill over to the broader economy. Some analysts said the decline in PacWest and others reflected the market’s tendency to view news as categorically good or bad, rather than worries about PacWest specifically. Western Alliance, another bank whose stock has been hit hard, fell by about 35%.

[…] Regional banks, as major lenders to businesses and families across the U.S., also tend to fall when investors are expecting a recession. The 10-year Treasury yield slipped this week, and Brent crude hit a 52-week low on Wednesday.

[…] On Wednesday afternoon, the Fed said the U.S. banking system “is sound and resilient,” echoing language from its March statement. Fed Chair Jerome Powell added then that deposit flows at banks had eased and that this week’s seizure and sale of First Republic should further stabilize the industry.

[…] PacWest shares were recently trading around $3.70, putting them on track for their lowest close on record. The stock has now lost some 85% of its value since March 8, the day that SVB spooked bank investors by announcing a loss and a planned capital raise.

Many of PacWest’s customers are tied to technology startups—a tightknit clientele that pulled from high-balance accounts en masse at Silicon Valley Bank before it failed. (more)

American Cops Resigning En Masse


Armstrong Economics Blog/Crime Re-Posted May 4, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Being a police officer in America has to be one of the least appealing jobs in today’s day and age. After 2020 and the rise of the BLM movement, there were countless calls to defund police agencies. Officers in blue cities must sit idly and watch their hometowns burn because those in charge are light on crime, and no one wants to become the next target of a police brutality campaign. The people in power who they protect know this and are worried.

As civil unrest rises into 2024, US cops will be in the middle of a brewing civil war. A number of active police also serve in the military reserves, and I know of a few young men personally who have been called to serve overseas in lands surrounding Ukraine. As for those who remain on the force, the government will not allow them to have personal privacy.

New Jersey implemented a new law requiring all officers to disclose their social media accounts to the government by 2024. They will also be required to disclose any organizations they are affiliated with, including religious groups. This will spread to other states as well because the government knows their cities will fall if the police side with the people who WILL protest and cause upheaval in the time leading up to the election.

Cops are resigning at a rapid pace. The NYPD, once a proud force, saw 3,701 cops leave the force in 2022. That marks the highest number of officers leaving the force since the 9/11 attacks. Philadelphia’s police force fell from 6,590 officers in 2019 to only 5,983 by 2022. The city of Philadelphia believes there will be less than 5,200 cops in the city by 2025The Chicago Police Department lost 1,000 officers in 2022 and hundreds more are threatening to resign. This is happening across the US. Police Executive Research Forum, an independent think tank, reported that resignations rose 43% and retirements increased 24% from 2019 to 2022, and that number is growing.

Cops in NJ and elsewhere must also undergo a psychiatric evaluation, which seems reasonable. But why is the same not required for our government officials, especially the one with the nuke codes who is mentally incapacitated in all of his speaking engagements? Revolutions succeed when the police turn their backs on the government and side with the people. Governments then call in the military, but it is too late because they too will section off based on who they believe needs to be protected.

Biden’s Let’s Finish the Job


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Apr 27, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Biden’s announcement that he is running was crafted like a Twitter post – not live and posted at 6AM. His message is highly questionable for all he is saying is that the Republicans are radicals and therefore vote for him and he will maintain the status quo. There is a void of any new proposal and there is undoubtedly no message about the economy or inflation that is running away and reducing the livelihood of the average American. Quite frankly, this is the most controversial campaign that naturally the media will never even discuss. How do you “finish the job” without knowing what has been accomplished and what remains “finished” in a second term? The total absence of any claim that he accomplished anything from COVID to having 7 aids that are LGBTQ leaves a huge void.

The Republicans, on the other hand, are simply rolling out the same agenda of restraining the debt ceiling which will only work to undermine the entire socialist agenda and that is way too late. The warmongers in the Republican Party would rather spend money throwing it into the Ukrainian Black Hole where we are paying the entire salaries and pensions of Ukrainian government officials with no restraint on their salaries whatsoever. So we are to cut the benefits of Americans but keep funding Ukraine? Sorry, that is not an agenda I would be voting for.

Then there is the Abortion issue so they are fighting well-organized propaganda where even Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg said when she got to the Supreme for Roe v Wade, that it was all about population control and eugenics – not women’s rights.

The defense of Roe v Wade is actually hypocritical for the Democrats. The main support comes from Gates and Rockefeller Foundations and it is covertly supported by the United Nations. This is all about the Planned Parenthood agenda to provide abortions to minorities to reduce their population. Now you may think I am being a conspiracy theorist. However, back in 2009, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg bluntly told the truth, when she was for equal rights for women.

The Democrats successfully won the abortion argument and the Republicans never understood the issue. It is like asking a witness when was the last time you beat your wife. He will then try to defend himself saying never, and even say ask his wife if he ever beat her. She will say no, and then you argue of course she will deny being beaten out of fear you will beat her again when you get home. You created a no-win argument and changed the entire agenda and nobody understands how you manipulated the entire argument.

Ginsberg made it clear: “Frankly, I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of.” She spoke bluntly in an interview published in the New York Times Magazine which was an article on women on the court. So it was not simply a woman’s rights agenda. That was the cover story to hide the real agenda which has always existed – eugenics and to reduce the population of minorities.

The Republicans have been diverted to argue over religion and never noticed that the Democrats flipped Eugenics into Women’s Rights. This claim it is my body so it is my choice, was entirely ignored by the Biden Administration when it came to COVID Vaccines. Suddenly nobody cared if it was your body, you were being told to take the vaccine or lose your job.

The Republicans are too caught up in their old rhetoric to notice that they have been played like a fiddle and they are the monkey dancing to the organ-grinder’s tune. I fail to see any Republican charging in on a white horse to save the day. They are too distracted to even understand what day it is.

So when Biden says let’s finish the job, he refuses to even say what the job is.

Only One Question Remains as Susan Rice, Biden’s Shadow President, Leaves the White House


Posted originally on the CTH on April 24, 2023 | Sundance 

In the game of test-match cricket, a game that can last three days at peak professional level, you have to ‘get out‘ to ‘get in‘.   You have to ‘get out‘ of the clubhouse in order to ‘get in‘ to the game.  The same is true for this story about Domestic Policy Advisor, Susan Rice, leaving the Biden administration.   Rice has to get out of the administration in order to get in to the 2024 game.

Readers here will likely remember all previous discussion about the likely Democrat field for 2024.  Susan Rice and Gavin Newsom are both key players in the DNC big club game.  There is only one question at the core of the dynamic you need to ask, how will they off-ramp Joe Biden?

First, the White House announcement: […] “As the only person to serve as both National Security Advisor and Domestic Policy Advisor, Susan’s record of public service makes history. But what sets her apart as a leader and colleague is the seriousness with which she takes her role and the urgency and tenacity she brings, her bias towards action and results, and the integrity, humility and humor with which she does this work. I thank Susan for her service, her counsel and her friendship. I will miss her.” (link)

Susan Rice is the pliable foot soldier, the protege’ of the Lightbringer, Chicago Jesus.  Rice is the female version of the entire apparatus of the Obama team.  Susan Rice is Barack Obama in female form, and as Ric Grenell said eloquently, Susan Rice is “the shadow president.”

A Newsom/Rice or Rice/Newsom ticket is a no brainer.  Both are foot soldiers for the Lightbringer movement’s fundamental change agenda, although Rice is the apex player and Newsom is the ideological, intellectual and cognitive equivalent of John Fetterman with better style.  Most people still do not understand that Barack Obama is not just a person, he is a complete political construct -a movement in a box- consisting of multiple component groups all working in synergy.

The focus of the Obama movement is domestic and ideological.  The “fundamental change“, as outlined previously by the front man for the group, is domestic – exclusively domestic.  The Lightbringer doesn’t care about foreign policy stuff; all of that angle is sold to the multinationals and highest bidders.

Foreign policy is not a thing for Teh One true bringer of enlightenment; their focus is USA domestically centered. In her capacity as Domestic Policy Advisor, Susan Rice was the guiding hand behind every element of Biden domestic policy.

The microphone from the Obama basement does not transmit into the earpiece of Biden; it communicates into the two-way radio of Rice.

If Susan Rice is departing, the question becomes how the club removes Biden from the 2024 race?  There are a multitude of approaches and leverages available for the Lightbringer’s team, which includes Deputy AG Lisa Monaco at Main Justice.

The criminal activity of Hunter Biden, and the potential for outcomes – or lack therein, can be leveraged.  The direct connection to the action of the principal, “the big guy” Joe Biden, could be leveraged.

The Biden administration’s interference in any number of related investigations can be leveraged, and… keep in mind…. it is not coincidental the evidence of the interference is manifest by the same team that would remove the principal.  Yeah, think about that for a moment.

Put aside the 2024 contest participants for a moment (ie. the shiny things), and instead focus on what peripheral risks exist to Joe Biden that could be deployed at any moment to push him to a graceful off ramp.

There are many club-installed insurance policies, political landmines all around Joe Biden.  Which one will they show him?

New York Judge Tells Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg His Office Must Testify to Congress


Posted originally on the CTH on April 20, 2023 | Sundance

Political DA Alvin Bragg was smacked down pretty hard by a New York judge Wednesday, telling his office there is no legal mechanism to avoid accountability and testimony before congress.

The DA office took federal funds to prosecute Donald Trump, the DA office is interfering in a federal election, the DA office has openly stated their intentions are politically motivated, and therefore the DA office has no standing to try and avoid federal legislative scrutiny.

As Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil clarified to Bragg’s team, she has no standing to block a legislatively authorized congressional subpoena.

New York – […] “The sole question before the Court at this time is whether Bragg has a legal basis to quash a congressional subpoena that was issued with a valid legislative purpose.  He does not,” Vyskocil wrote in her decision Wednesday.

Bragg, a Democrat, has accused Jordan of pursuing the subpoena to score political points while supporting Trump, a Republican. Vyskocil said the dispute appeared political, but said that did not impact her decision.

“In our federalist system, elected state and federal actors sometimes engage in political dogfights,” Vyskocil wrote in her order, noting that Bragg is an elected official. “Bragg complains of political interference in the local DANY case, but Bragg does not operate outside of the political arena.”

“Jordan, in turn, has initiated a political response to what he and some of his constituents view as a manifest abuse of power and nakedly political prosecution, funded (in part) with federal money, that has the potential to interfere with the exercise of presidential duties and with an upcoming federal election,” Vyskocil wrote.  “The Court does not endorse either side’s agenda.”

The subpoena to Pomerantz demands his appearance before the Judiciary Committee on Thursday. It is unclear if he will appear. A spokesperson for Bragg said Wednesday, “We respectfully disagree with the District Court’s decision and are seeking a stay pending appeal.”

Vyskocil denied Bragg’s request for a stay Wednesday night. (read more)

Two-Tiered Justice, IRS Supervisor Says Political Intervention Taking Place to Protect Hunter Biden – Requests Whistleblower Protection


Posted originally on the CTH on April 19, 2023 | Sundance 

An IRS supervisory special agent with information about intervention, mishandling and ‘political interference’ in the ongoing criminal probe into Hunter Biden is seeking whistleblower protections to share the information with Congress. Apparently, the deep state “theys” are protecting Hunter Biden and the IRS agent has had enough.

WALL STREET JOURNAL – WASHINGTON—An IRS supervisor has told lawmakers he has information that suggests the Biden administration is improperly handling the criminal investigation into President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and is seeking whistleblower protections, according to people familiar with the matter.

A letter sent to Congress on Tuesday says a career Internal Revenue Service criminal supervisory special agent has information that would contradict sworn testimony by a “senior political appointee.” The supervisor also has information about a “failure to mitigate clear conflicts of interest in the ultimate disposition of the case,” according to the letter.

The supervisor has details that show “preferential treatment and politics improperly infecting decisions and protocols that would normally be followed by career law enforcement professionals in similar circumstances if the subject were not politically connected,” according to the letter. 

The letter says the supervisor has been overseeing an “ongoing and sensitive investigation of a high-profile, controversial subject since early 2020,” which it doesn’t name. The investigation at issue is into the younger Mr. Biden, the people familiar with the matter said.  (read more)