Sunday Talks, Incoming Republican Oversight Chair Promises Investigations of Biden Laptop, Twitter Files, China, Energy Policy and More


Posted originally on the CTH on December 4, 2022 | Sundance

Incoming House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (U-DC) appears with Maria Bartiromo to promise House investigations of the Biden Laptop and Twitter Files from Elon Musk.

Kentucky’s best and brightest DC republican, and formidable letter writer, becomes the 5th Republican Chairman in the past ten years on the Oversight Committee to promise investigations and accountability based on demonstrable corruption. Chairman Comer is very concerned about the possibility of corruption.  Additionally, Comer is very excited to get into the details of the Elon Musk “Twitter Files” and explore all the investigative possibilities they provide.

Finally, on an issue close to the personal interest of Mr. Comer, he states his desire to investigate the Joe Biden energy policy. WATCH:

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Hidden camera video provided by the Kentucky republican delegation gives us a preview of James Comer in full attack mode. WATCH:

Secret Twitter Files on Censorship of Hunter Biden Story


Glenn Greenwald Published originally on Rumble on December 2, 2022

Glenn Greenwald goes live to discuss the newly released internal twitter files on the censorship of the Hunter Biden Story

If You Wonder What’s Wrong With Georgia – The Republican Lt Governor Appears on CNN to Tell Georgia Republicans Not to Vote for Hershel Walker


Posted originally on the CTH on December 1, 2022 | Sundance

People around the country are looking at the Georgia Senate runoff between Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Hershel Walker.  Lots of people wondering what is going on.  Well, last night the Republican Party of Georgia gave an excellent example of what it means to be Republican in Georgia.

Republican Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan appeared on CNN to share his opinion of Republican candidate Hershel Walker.  As Republican Duncan outlined during the interview, he stood in line for an hour, took a ballot at the polling location, and then decided he could just not vote for a Republican in Georgia, so he turned around and walked back out without voting.

Republican Geoff Duncan had no issue pushing this on CNN much to the smiles of the CNN producers, Democrats and the Warnock campaign.  This is what it means to be a Republican in Georgia.  WATCH (01:08 prompted 30 seconds)

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The 2022 goal of the Republican Party of Georgia is in alignment with the 2022 Republican National Committee.   The goal of Mr. Duncan and others is to remove the populist movement within the RNC by destroying the Make America Great Again grassroots movement.

Was Duncan censured? No.  Was Duncan criticized by fellow Republicans? Again, no.   Was Duncan ostracized for promoting an election position against the interests of the Republican Party? Yet again, no.  Did RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel rebuke the effort to undermine Walker as carried out by Republican Geoff Duncan?  Rhetorical at this point, I know.

In the bigger or big pictures, Republican Lt Governor Geoff Duncan is doing what professional Republicans do.  He also knows there’s nothing to fear from it because he is operating on behalf of the majority Club interests who support his agenda.  However, somehow this will be President Trump’s fault.

President Trump Special Master Appointment Overturned by Appeals Court – If Secret Search Warrant is Valid, All Seizure Valid – But You are Not Allowed to See Search Warrant, Because National Security


Posted originally on CTH on December 1, 2022 | Sundance 

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals having previously ruled the special master cannot review classified documents, also ruled today against the special master having any involvement in the filtering of seized documents from Mar-a-Lago.  [Ruling Here]

Previously, the lower court appointed a special master to review the seized documents and ensure no privileged material was exploited by the DOJ.  However, the appellate court determined the DOJ can independently define a national security interest and classify documents with no legal basis for challenge, therefore the special master cannot filter classified documents.

Today the appeals court essentially said if the search warrant was legally predicated and legally valid, and if the search warrant was used legally, then all the seized documents are valid for the investigative purposes of the DOJ – regardless of their content.  The only way to fight the authority of the DOJ seizure is to challenge the legality of the search warrant.  However, here’s where things get weird.

President Trump’s lawyers have been: (1) blocked from receiving a non-redacted search warrant; (2) denied access to the underlying probable cause affidavit used to predicate the search warrant, and (3) denied the full contents of the documents that were seized as part of the warrant (they are not allowed to see).  Yet somewhere in this convoluted mess, we are supposed to believe a 4th amendment violation doesn’t exist.

Florida – […]  The ruling by the three-judge panel, including two Trump appointees, goes into effect in seven days, absent intervention by the full circuit court or the Supreme Court.

“The law is clear,” the judges found. “We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant. Nor can we write a rule that allows only former presidents to do so.”

The order effectively eliminates what federal authorities had described as a major obstacle in their ongoing criminal investigation into whether Trump illegally retained highly classified records after leaving the presidency and obstructed efforts by the government to recover them. He denies wrongdoing.

The appellate judges had signaled in a hearing last week that they were likely to order an end to the special master’s review. They repeatedly expressed concern that the appointment of third-party judge Raymond Dearie by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida lacked any clear precedent. (read more)

As it stands right now, President Trump has not been permitted to see the documents that support the search warrant, nor the scope of the search warrant as issued (the DOJ is claiming national security interests).  The appeals court today is saying as long as the hidden search warrant is valid, all seized documents are valid.

How is President Trump supposed to challenge the legality of the seizure if the DOJ isn’t required to produce the legal basis for the warrant?

The legal challenge against the underlying warrant is the key issue.

In a recent court filing [Document Here], President Trump through his legal counsel has requested Judge Cannon to unredact and unseal the search warrant affidavit used as the predicate for the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago.  Apparently, the DOJ have yet to provide President Trump with the constitutionally required predicate documents to support their search.

While asking the court to provide the affidavit to the defense team, the lawyers for President Trump are noting the fourth amendment protects everyone against warrantless searches and seizures, and that same protection also guarantees the target the right to receive and review the claimed justification for the warrant.

The unredacted affidavit is obligated to be supplied so that it can be determined if the search warrant was legally valid and predicated.  General search warrants are not legally permitted.  The warrant must specify what is being searched and why.  The DOJ is fighting against this affidavit release.  The Trump lawyers are asking the judge to make a decision.

Mike Lindell Discusses More Details and Proposals for His RNC Chairman Bid


Posted originally on the CTH on December 1, 2022 | sundance

Having previously announced his intention to run for Chair of the Republican National Committee, Mike Lindell appears on a podcast with Jenna Ellis to discuss his specific proposals to reform the RNC and create a more effective election organization. {Direct Rumble Link}

In this interview Mr. Lindell discusses what he would do differently and the shakeup that he sees needed in order to realign the priority of the RNC. WATCH:

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Rupert Murdoch Pays Ron DeSantis Undisclosed Sum with Book Deal Ahead of 2024 Announcement…


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on November 30, 2022 | Sundance

Previously billionaire Rupert Murdoch paid Megyn Kelly, through advances on her book deal, $10 million for her political efforts in 2015 and 2016.  Rupert Murdoch owns Harper Collins book publishing.

Book publishing, as done by politicians in both parties, is the way money is laundered to candidates and various campaign finance rules are subverted.  Nikki Haley, Kristi Noem, Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo and Tim Scott have all released books in the past two months in advance of their 2024 presidential bids.

As noted recently by The Guardian, “Lachlan Murdoch, the heir apparent and eldest son, who co-chairs News Corp and runs the parent company of Fox News, has reportedly told DeSantis that the group would back him if he ran in the next election. “Lachlan has been keen on Ron for some time. He’s viewed within the organization as a sanitized version of Donald.”

Candidates are personally financed by the book publication laundry system through advances, typically several million, and then again indirectly by supporting organizations through mass purchasing.  It is not uncommon to find hundreds-of-thousands of books in various warehouses purchased by groups as indirect contributions to boost the candidate of their choice.   The purchases determine the “best seller” rankings.

It is unknown how much billionaire Rupert Murdoch has paid Ron DeSantis for the 2024 campaign but considering the stakes for this election cycle it’s likely in the $20 million range.

(Via Fox News) – Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida will chronicle his life in public service in a new book that will publish in late February in what will be seen by political pundits as another step by the conservative champion toward a possible 2024 presidential run.

The autobiography by DeSantis, who was overwhelmingly re-elected three weeks ago to a second four-year term steering the increasingly red Sunshine State, is titled “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival.”

Word of the book, scheduled to be published Feb. 28 by Broadside, the conservative arm of HarperCollins Publishing, was shared first with Fox News Wednesday. (more)

As we have chronicled since July, the decision for Ron DeSantis to enter the 2024 contest was made before the spring of 2022, everything thereafter has been a grand game of position and pretense.  The seeds for the effort were laid even earlier in February when the DeSantis team reached out to “conservative influencers” to form the alignment for the August ’22 shift and branding campaign.

According to the most visible and predictable roadmap, DeSantis will likely be held back from an official announcement until later in 2023.

The problem for DeSantis handlers is that when the announcement is made all pretenses will be dropped and many people will review the landscape in hindsight and see the roadmap.

A combination of pretending, deflection and obfuscation is the management team’s #1 priority right now to avoid the Florida voter anger about being duped on DeSantis intention.  However, they do have to follow the timeline of the script if they want to try and maintain the campaign momentum.

By design, Governor Ron DeSantis will almost certainly be the last candidate to enter the 2024 race, sometime late summer.  The entry will depend on their success in keeping him in the spotlight and headlines without ‘officially’ looking like they are trying to keep him in the spotlight and headlines.  Fox News will play a key role in keeping DeSantis spotlighted.

Everything is being carefully managed; however, when you know the script, and know where the tripwires are located, it’s very easy to see it playing out.

A Common Misconception in Elections, The RNC and DNC Do Not Represent “Voters”, They Represent the Interests of Their Private Corporations


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on November 30, 2022 | Sundance

When it comes to the private corporations in American politics known as the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Democrat National Committee (DNC), there is a common misconception that the corporations represent the voters, they do not.

The RNC and DNC corporations represent their interests, which are not necessarily in alignment with the interests of the unpaid voluntary participants, the voters.  As a consequence, when a lawyer is hired by the RNC they are not representing the candidate or voter, they are representing the interests of the corporation. A big difference.

[SOURCE]

The RNC is the client, the candidate is a secondary consideration, the voter is ancillary to the primary interest.  In the example above, the RNC lawyer has been paid $892,550 through the end of September 2022, to represent the interests of the corporation.

It is entirely possible for the RNC contracted lawyer to succeed in fulfillment of the client goal, yet the candidate and voters lose.  Remember, the corporation is paying to have their interests represented.  If the interests of the corporation are not in alignment with the interests of the candidate/voter, the client interest supersedes.

Legal success is found in representing the interest of the RNC, not the candidate.  Once, that success is achieved, the legal team move to the next objective as instructed by the corporation.

There are two private corporations representing Republicans and Democrats; they are most commonly referred to as political parties. There is no basis for the existence of private political parties in the United States constitution.  Both parties’ function from a position as private interests outside the framework of government.

What we commonly refer to as ‘politicians’ are selected representatives to the government from each of the corporations.  What we commonly refer to as ‘primary elections’ are suggestions to each of the corporations from citizens expressing their preference for the representative.   The corporation can individually choose to accept or decline the suggestion from the voters, and the only thing that binds the corporation to follow the suggestion are the corporate rules.

The corporation of the RNC and DNC exist to serve their own interests.

Politics is the RNC and DNC business; however, the income stream -the financial aspects to the business- is what holds influence over the corporate priority.  Ideology is part of the equation, but control of the business and generating revenue is the main function of the corporation. Unfortunately, in the reality of the business model, election outcomes are downstream from those two priorities.

It is with this corporate baseline in mind that all ‘election’ political analysis should take place.

The economics of the thing is what Republican officers in the RNC emphasize.

Without money, the corporate mission doesn’t operate.  Without money the RNC members -essentially board members- do not function, hold meetings, assemble, or participate in the organization.  Therefore, from the standpoint of the corporation, the business of politics (corporate donor inputs) drives the activity, not election results (outputs).

This facet to U.S. politics is rarely discussed because the corporations and the people who run them do not want this process emphasized.  However, if voters do not comprehend this dynamic, they can fall victim to the fallacy of false representative choice.

The corporation is made up of members.  The members make the rules.  The members have preferences and ideological outlooks about the objective of the corporation as part of their position within it.  Inside this dynamic is where you see the changing of rules to benefit the preferences of the members; ultimately influencing outcomes.

Unlike most political sites, CTH watches this inside club dynamic closely, because ultimately it explains a lot of ‘consequences’ that we see later discussed.  It is easier to just sit back and discuss the consequences than it is to watch the officials inside the club make rule changes proactively.  However, it is by watching the rule changes that we can see the roadmaps of influence within game as played by both RNC and DNC corporations.

Any political commentary that does not take this private club dynamic into consideration, and/or explain the consequences from decisions within the club, is not serving the interests of the American electorate.

Some RNC members support MAGA, some do not.  Some RNC members support the Wall Street alignment, some do not.  Some members support the populist movement, others do not.  Some RNC members support a big tent approach to a working-class coalition, other RNC members regard the working-class as beneath their representative interests. The key point is that it’s a private club making these decisions.

The majority decision from within the club membership vote will determine each outcome(s).  Donald Trump may have earned 100 million voters and supporters, but only 168 unelected members and party officials will determine what that means to their corporate agenda.

There is no guarantee the America First agenda of Donald Trump is in alignment with the 2022, 2023 priorities of the club.

Factually, all recent suggestions from the club control officers, the billionaire Wall Street donors like Ken Griffin, all suggest the removal of Trump and the MAGA agenda from association with the RNC Club should be the priority of the assembly.  The dynamic of financial influence, income to the corporation, changes the entire mechanism of the outcome.

An ideological alignment of individual people, institutions and organizations working in concert toward a common goal is not a conspiracy.

...”He wants to improve the diversity of the GOP and blunt the vein of populism that has complicated the party’s relationship with the corporate world — two things he’s consulted with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy about.”… (link)

I am going to continue outlining the 2023 and 2024 political club landscape. Much of the continued exposing will be on a granular, cited and difficult to accept level. Yet it becomes necessary because we need to see the strings on these GOPe marionettes if we are going to avoid the “illusion of choice” that each component element, RNC, GOP, RGA, RCCC, is constructing for us.

Normally, I would avoid such a “tripwire” outline before the 2023 RNC Winter Meeting this upcoming Jan.  However, I have also vowed to deconstruct the pretending with brutal -and yes, difficult to accept- honesty; so, firstly the timing is not of my choosing.  Secondly, CTH will once again be assembling the humint resources to extract the political conversations that GOPe leadership inside those meetings do not wish to see exposed.

(SOURCE PIC)

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Nov 16 (Reuters) – Blackstone Inc (BX.N) Chief Executive Stephen Schwarzman [pictured left], who has been one of Wall Street’s biggest donors to Donald Trump’s election campaigns, said on Wednesday he will not back the former president in 2024.

Trump announced he would run in the 2024 U.S. presidential election on Tuesday, launching an early bid to become the Republican nominee in an effort to pre-empt potential rivals.

Schwarzman said it was time for new party leadership and that he would back a different Republican in the presidential contest. “It is time for the Republican Party to turn to a new generation of leaders and I intend to support one of them in the presidential primaries,” he said in a statement, which was first reported by Axios.

Schwarzman, 75, is a prominent Republican donor. He spent $35.5 million to support Republicans ahead of last week’s midterm election. Republicans are still one seat short of capturing control of the U.S. House of Representatives and have failed to take over the U.S. Senate. (more)

NEW YORK – Rupert Murdoch has reportedly warned Donald Trump his media empire will not back any attempt to return to the White House, as former supporters turn to the youthful Florida governor Ron DeSantis.

After the Republican party’s disappointing performance in the US midterm elections, in particular the poor showing by candidates backed by Trump, Murdoch’s rightwing media empire appears to be seeking a clean break from the former president’s damaged reputation and perceived waning political power.

[…] “We have been clear with Donald. There have been conversations between them during which Rupert made it clear to Donald that we cannot back another run for the White House.”

[…] Lachlan Murdoch, the heir apparent and eldest son, who co-chairs News Corp and runs the parent company of Fox News, has reportedly told DeSantis that the group would back him if he ran in the next election. “Lachlan has been keen on Ron for some time,” said the i’s source. “He’s viewed within the organization as a sanitized version of Donald.” (read more)

Once you see the strings on the corporate marionettes, it’s impossible to return to that moment in the political performance when you did not see them.