Tucker Carlson Interviews Ron DeSantis After the Florida Governor Suspends Activist Prosecutor


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 4, 2022 | Sundance

August 4, 2022 | Sundance | 112 Comments

Tucker Carlson used his opening monologue tonight to discuss George Soros and the efforts of the Soros foundation to fund activist state prosecutors who will not enforce laws. The Soros agenda is an end-run around the U.S. constitution that empowers We The People to enact laws and rules of society through legislative representation.

By selecting prosecutors who will not enforce laws against criminal behavior, the Soros initiative subverts the voice of the people.  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is the first governor to use his state constitutional authority to remove an activist prosecutor.  Tucker Carlson interviewed him immediately after the monologue. {Direct Rumble LinkWATCH:

The monologue that preceded the interview is below.

.

AP Calls Arizona Governor Republican Primary for Kari Lake


Post originally on the conservative tree house on August 4, 2022 | Sundance

With ballots continuing to be counted in various counties around Arizona, specifically including the corrupt county of Maricopa, Republican candidate Kari Lake has extended her lead beyond the ability of Arizona election officials to remove it.  The Associated Press calls the race for Kari Lake.

PHOENIX (AP) — Kari Lake, a former news anchor who walked away from her journalism career and was embraced by Donald Trump and his staunch supporters, won the Republican primary for Arizona governor on Thursday.

Lake’s victory was a blow to the GOP establishment that lined up behind lawyer and businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson in an attempt to push their party past the chaotic Trump era. Lake said she would not have certified President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory and put false claims of election fraud at the center of her campaign.

“The MAGA movement rose up like their lives depended on it,” Lake said as she declared victory prematurely on Wednesday afternoon, a day before the race was called, using an acronym for Trump’s Make America Great Again movement. “And it proved that you can’t buy an election, at least not in Arizona. We the people rose up and spoke.”

Robson, who is married to one of Arizona’s richest men, largely self-funded her campaign. She called the 2020 election “unfair” but stopped short of calling it fraudulent and pushed for the GOP to look toward the future.

[…] Former Vice President Mike Pence, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie all campaigned for Robson in the days before the election. (read more)

Coordination Between J6 Committee and Politically Motivated DOJ is Intended to Break Attorney-Client Firewalls in Trump Targeting Effort


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 4, 2022 | Sundance 

The long-term motives and plans of the J6 committee and their coordination with the DOJ are starting to come into increased clarity as the mid-term elections draw near.

A key indicator of the strategy from within the J6/DOJ effort surfaced when the quasi-constitutional “committee” sent a subpoena to former President Trump legal counsel Pat Cipollone, then leaked the subpoena, then leaked the testimony, then shaped, edited and broadcast the testimony during their prime-time broadcast.   After the J6 broadcast, attorney Cipollene was then subpoenaed by the DOJ and recent reports indicate he is being called to testify before a grand jury.

The legal strategy, hereafter called by what it is, a Lawfare strategy, is now clear.

The legislative branch, specifically the J6 committee, is attempting to use their self-created legislative legal authorities, to fracture long established attorney-client privileges, and then send the results to the DOJ for use against the client of the attorney.  This explains the importance of former White House attorney Lisa Monaco taking up her position as Deputy Asst Attorney General.

The DOJ would be shut down by any ordinary court of jurisdiction, even in the heavily political Washington DC system, if they attempted to get a lawyer to give testimony about his legal advice to a client.  It is one of the most basic tenets and legal privileges in our system.

Attorneys cannot be compelled to give testimony against their clients, it is a standard long accepted in our legal system.  Any attorney who would break the confidence of the attorney-client privilege would lose their license.

Additionally, as the president, other privileges exist for President Trump, specifically the executive privilege to receive counsel or advice -from any person- on any issue that would pertain toward the administration of the executive office.  The president needs to be able to receive information in confidence, and the people giving advice and counsel need to be able to speak freely without fear the content of the conversation would later be used by another entity not involved in the issue at hand.

By compelling testimony to a non-court of manufactured quasi-legal jurisdiction, such as the J6 committee demanding testimony from Cipollone, it now appears the resulting information is being transferred to the DOJ for use against Cipollone’s client, President Trump.

This is an example of lawfare at its worst.

The J6 committee demands testimony and asserts the testimony must be offered without conflict because the J6 committee itself has no criminal authority.

As the issue is argued, the witness cannot be criminally charged by the committee, therefore no criminal liabilities exist for the witness, therefore the testimony can be compelled by the committee (the legislative branch).  However, what we are seeing is the committee being used as a legal shield and enforcement tool by/for the DOJ who could never -on their own- force the same testimony.

The result is President Trump legal counsel Pat Cipollone being compelled to testify before a criminal grand jury, and within that questioning he will be asked about about his prior testimony before the J6 committee.  Essentially, this is one big Lawfare workaround; and likely a legal and constitutional issue that will end up at an appellate court level or higher.

Political elements within the legislative branch (J6) are colluding with political elements within the executive branch (DOJ), to fracture the constitutional protections that exist not only for presidents’ (exec privilege), but also for all Americans (attorney/client privilege).

In ordinary times, this approach would be a jaw-dropping controversy that would come under rebuke from everyone involved in the media and justice system.

What is being described, well, actually what is happening, is what happens in third-world banana republics when presidents of various political regimes take office and then target their opposition using the state police or military.  What is being done under the auspices of the J6 committee and DOJ is an identical scenario using a longer approach that works around the foundation of the U.S. political and legal system.

More alarmingly, there is no one doing anything or saying anything to stop this process.  The republican politicians in Washington DC are as willfully blind to the unconstitutional lawfare scheme as they are to the victims of the J6 FBI and DOJ targeting operation who are languishing in DC prisons.

No doubt former President Obama and his crew are laughing as they watch this play out, while the media cheer.  After all, these are all former Obama officials who are carrying out the targeting operation. [ SEE WHY HERE ]  The Republicans and Democrats created the Fourth Branch of Government as a political targeting mechanism.  Both parties are now protecting themselves from discovery of its intent.

Support CTH Here ~

DC Dick Begs Wyoming Voters to Support DC Liz


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 4, 2022 | Sundance

Despite the overwhelming support of mainstream corporate media, Wyoming DeceptiCon Liz Cheney is likely to be crushed in the republican primary race on August 16.

In addition to voting to impeach President Trump and being removed from her congressional leadership position, DC Liz was one of only two republican votes to support the formation of the J6 Committee (the other was Adam Kinzinger).  DC Liz has been begging Wyoming Democrats to vote for her in the republican primary contest so she can save her seat.

In an embarrassing and genuinely pathetic last-ditch effort, her father, DC Dick, recorded a campaign commercial begging the people in Wyoming to support his daughter.

Another Former Governor of Puerto Rico, Wanda Vázquez, Indicted for Bribery, Corruption and Wire Fraud


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 4, 2022 | Sundance 

Keeping with historic trends in Puerto Rico, another corrupt governor has been arrested and indicted on corruption, bribery and fraud charges.  Wanda Vazquez Garced replaced Ricardo Rosselló after he was accused of racism and having a homophobic cabinet.

During her term in office, millions of dollars’ worth of Hurricane Maria aid was discovered being stored and sold on the black market from various warehouses. [Go Deep]

The hurricane supplies provided by U.S. taxpayers were never given to citizens and were instead being used by government officials and sold to retailers. The Housing Secretary (Fernando Gil), the Department of Family Secretary (Glorimar Andújar) and the director of Puerto Rico’s emergency management agency were all fired as part of the scandal.

Governor Wanda Vazquez lost her primary reelection bid in August 2020, and today was indicted for corruption, bribery and wire fraud.

(Via DOJ) -A former governor of Puerto Rico was arrested today on bribery charges related to the financing of her 2020 campaign.

Relatedly, a political consultant for the former governor and the president of the international bank have also pleaded guilty to participating in the bribery scheme.

“The alleged bribery scheme rose to the highest levels of the Puerto Rican government, threatening public trust in our electoral processes and institutions of governance,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  “The Department of Justice is committed to holding accountable those who wrongly believe there is one rule of law for the powerful and another for the powerless.  No one is above the rule of law.”

According to the indictment, from December 2019 through June 2020, then-Governor of Puerto Rico Wanda Vazquez Garced, 62, of San Juan, allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme with various individuals, including Julio Martin Herrera Velutini, Frances Diaz, Mark Rossini, and John Blakeman to finance Vazquez Garced’s 2020 gubernatorial election campaign. (read more)

Puerto Rico has a long history of public corruption and abuse of federal funds.  Back in 2015 ten government officials in Puerto Rico were arrested for corruption, bribery, honest services wire fraud, extortion and various schemes related to giving payments to friends and family via federal contracts. [LINK]  This is the typical corruption PR is known for.

In June 2019, the FBI, Public Corruption Unit, posted a notification of an ongoing corruption probe and provided a tip-line for leads related to bribery and/or corruption of public officials. [LINK] This probe is connected to the billions of dollars U.S. taxpayers have provided to Puerto Rico for recovery after hurricane Maria (2017).

So much money was poured into the island after hurricane Maria that hundreds of local and regional officials seized the opportunity to indulge their friends and family with funds from recovery accounts.  This is the widespread corruption President Trump previously drew attention to.

This open corruption was also why Nancy Pelosi took the entire Democrat caucus to Puerto Rico in January 2019 for a vacation with her favorite lobbyists.  Everyone in/around PR knows this level of corruption is the norm, not the exception.

Later that same year, six more officials were indicted under new federal charges, including two government officials: Julia Keleher, who served as Puerto Rico’s education secretary until April; and Ángela Ávila-Marrero, who was the executive director of the Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration. They were all variously charged with wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy, according to the 32-count indictment.

President Trump was exactly right when he both informed and warned voters of what would happen with money dumped into Puerto Rico.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Suspends Activist Tampa Area State Prosecutor Who Refused to Enforce State Laws


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 4, 2022 | Sundance 

Under the Florida constitution the Governor has the authority to suspend state officials for reasons of misfeasance, malfeasance, neglect of duty, drunkenness, incompetence, permanent inability to perform official duties, or commission of a felony. The Governor has further authority to fill that office by appointing a replacement for the duration of the suspension.  Today, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suspended Hillsborough County state prosecutor Andrew Warren for failing to enforce the laws of Florida.

Specifically, Andrew Warren had announced he would not enforce laws created by the Florida legislature that were as against his personal political outlooks. Warren publicly stated he would not enforce laws restricting abortion, anti-riot laws, and any law that sought to protect children from adult predators.  “We don’t elect people in one part of the state to have veto power over what the entire state decides on these important issues,” Governor DeSantis said.

Governor Ron DeSantis made the announcement of the suspension and replacement in Tampa, with a group of law enforcement and sheriffs from across the state. WATCH:

This was/is a bold move and Ron DeSantis is well supported in Florida for doing it.

TAMPA, Fla. Today, Governor Ron DeSantis suspended State Attorney Andrew Warren of the 13th Judicial Circuit due to neglect of duty. The Governor has the authority to suspend a state officer under Article IV, Section 7 of the Constitution of the State of Florida.

The Governor has appointed Susan Lopez to serve as State Attorney for the period of suspension. She has most recently been serving as a Judge on the Hillsborough County Court. To view the order suspending Andrew Warren and appointing Susan Lopez, click here.

“State Attorneys have a duty to prosecute crimes as defined in Florida law, not to pick and choose which laws to enforce based on his personal agenda,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “It is my duty to hold Florida’s elected officials to the highest standards for the people of Florida. I have the utmost trust that Judge Susan Lopez will lead the office through this transition and faithfully uphold the rule of law.”

“I have the utmost respect for our state laws and I understand the important role that the State Attorney plays in ensuring the safety of our community and the enforcement of our laws,” said Susan Lopez, State Attorney of the 13th Judicial Circuit. “I want to thank the Governor for placing his trust in me, and I promise that I will faithfully execute the duties of this office.”

The Governor has the authority under the Florida Constitution to suspend state officials for reasons of misfeasance, malfeasance, neglect of duty, drunkenness, incompetence, permanent inability to perform official duties, or commission of a felony. The Governor has further authority to fill that office by appointment for the duration of the suspension.

Susan Lopez was appointed by Governor DeSantis to serve as a judge on the Hillsborough County Court in 2021. She previously served as Assistant State Attorney of the 13th Judicial Circuit for more than 15 years and as Staff Attorney of the Second District Court of Appeal. She received her bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and her law degree from Suffolk University. She is a long-time resident of Tampa and has been involved in the Hillsborough community through a variety of organizations for many years. (read more)

When Will the Baby Formula Shortage End?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Gov’t Incompetence Re-Posted Aug 4, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

It has been about a month since Abbott Laboratories reopened its formula plant in Michigan, but the US is still in desperate need of baby formula. The plant ceased operations in February after certain formulas were recalled for containing bacteria after infants became sick. Abbott had a huge 40% stake in the formula market within the US. The production plant was supposed to resume operations in June but this was pushed back a month due to flooding in the area. Certain states saw out-of-stock rates near 60% in July, but the national average currently sits at 30%.

The White House secured 17 Operation Fly Formula missions and imported enough powder to make 61 million bottles. The Defense Production Act was revoked to remove some tariffs, but this was a temporary fix. US consumers need enough formula for 65 million bottles per week. Experts now believe that the shortage will last into the fall months.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) failed to act in a prompt manner. Some of the red tape and regulations are to blame. FDA Commissioner Robert Califf testified in July, displacing blame from the FDA, and saying that they simply did not know. “No law requires manufacturers of these products to notify FDA when they become aware of a circumstance that could lead to a shortage of these products. Without this information, the Agency may have little or no insight as to when a major shortage may occur, preventing us from taking potential mitigation efforts until a crisis becomes apparent,” Califf said. He believed that formula availability to normalize in up to eight weeks.

An investigation shows that the FDA was first notified of formula contamination in December 2021. In fact, 128 complaints were filed between December 2021 and March 2022. The FDA certainly was aware of the contamination before they took action. The White House also took too long to respond as Biden did not invoke the Defense Production Act until May 2022, when 40% of formula was unavailable. This issue should have been solved months ago but persists due to government incompetence.

Arizona Enters Day Three Still Counting Ballots


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 4, 2022 | sundance 

According to election officials in Maricopa County, Arizona, they will provide further updates on their ballot counting efforts on Thursday after 7pm.  The election was Tuesday.   Apparently, in Arizona it takes several days to count election ballots or something, and we are not supposed to think this is odd. [LINK]

As of the latest update from Arizona in the Republican primary for Governor: Kari Lake has 303,860 votes (46.25%), and Karrin Taylor-Robson has 291,843 votes (44.42%).

[LINK] Kari Lake is leading by 12,017 votes.

[Source Link]

According to Maricopa County election officials they have counted 715,941 ballots

According to the Arizona Secretary of State office, they are reporting 698,981 votes for governor were cast in Maricopa County [402,023(R), 296,958(D)]

There are 16,968 more ballots reported from Maricopa County than votes cast for governor as reported by the Secretary of State.

Did 16,968 voters in Maricopa County cast ballots without voting for governor?

It all seems odd.

[Data Source]

402,023(R) + 296,958(D) = Total: 698,981 votes

Three days, or more, to count ballots.

Suspicous Cat remains, well, you know….

BMW Warns Investors of Lower Production Forecast, Incoming Factory Orders Declining


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 3, 2022 | sundance 

Whenever we are discussing the intentionally managed decline of the western countries, it is important to remember the closely connected relationship between multinational corporations and the political leaders of those nations.  Specifically, their public-private connections as they run through the World Economic Forum assembly.

An intentionally managed decline of western economic activity should have a direct impact on the private corporations within those economies.  If the politicians are collectively going to stop energy development, raise energy prices (inflation), then use monetary policy to shrink the economy down to the level of energy available, we would normally think corporations were going to make less money.

That preceding paragraph is not controversial.  It simply explains exactly what is happening; that is the situation.  However, for some weird reason the system that evaluates corporate wealth is not responding negatively to the reality of the situation.

Traditionally, we would think destroying the economy would be against the interests of the multinational corporations who benefit from economic expansion.  However, in the era of subsidized and controlled economic management, I’m not so sure the corporations are stakeholders in economic growth.  Something is profoundly disconnected, or else the corporations would be raising hell with the politicians.

BERLIN, Aug 3 (Reuters) – BMW (BMWG.DE) lowered its output forecast and warned of a highly volatile second half on Wednesday, pinpointing supplies of energy in Europe and chips worldwide as the two crucial factors to the carmaker hitting full-year earnings targets.

New incoming orders were beginning to fall but order books remained filled for the next few months, chief executive Oliver Zipse said. (read more)

All of the basic indicators point in one direction.

Energy prices are squeezing consumers and paychecks. Energy driven inflation is high.  Rising housing costs, food costs, gasoline costs and energy costs have hit the consumer hard.  Credit card balances have jumped.  Consumer sales on non-essential items have dropped.  Factory activity around the world (Asia and Eurozone) is slowing or has stopped.  Durable goods inventories have climbed everywhere, without customers to purchase them.  All of these facets are happening exactly as we would expect.

However, the value of the companies negatively impacted by everything above, is not dropping at the same rate of the financial impact each company is incurring.  It’s as if the entire financial system is pretending that things are not as bad as they are.  This announcement from BMW is a good example of that.

Consider another example.  According to the employment data, and even accepting the data is skewed, somewhere around 3.9 million jobs restarted or were created in the first six months of this year.  Yet, despite that job growth the GDP declined -1.6% in the first quarter and -0.9% in the second.

How does an economy add almost 4 million jobs while simultaneously shrinking?

Either people are (1) less productive, or (2) working less hours, or (3) holding multiple jobs…. or a combination of the three.

Trying to filter through the economic noise to see beyond the horizon is becoming more difficult.

So, let’s bring this conversation down to Main Street.  What do you see around you?  What’s going on economically in your community?

Do you see lots of people in stores and shopping malls?

Do you see a lot of new purchases being made?

How are your family, friends and the people in your community being affected by this economy?

Excellent News, Senator Tim Scott Endorses Senator Lisa Murkowski


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 3, 2022 | sundance 

This is excellent news because South Carolina Senator Tim Scott has long been a DeceptiCon hiding out and tricking most of the Tea Party republican base of voters for several years.  Some completely fooled people have even promoted Tim Scott’s name for the presidency.

As an attendee to the 2016 Sea Island Summit, Tim Scott pledged his allegiance to his one true god, money.  That is the only allegiance of the American Enterprise Institute. After his initiation he joined the ranks of the manipulative DeceptiCons in the senate led by Mitch McConnell.  This endorsement is simply further evidence:

For those who are surprised and let down, cheer up.  Look at the positive side of all awakenings.

Personally, I hope Donald Trump is paying attention.

The CTH track record for identifying the DeceptiCons, and their evolving motives, is well known.  We don’t flinch.

Not a single Republican who has ever attended the Sea Island summits has held a position of value to the working-class voter within the Republican Party.  Not one.  A few of the stealthier characters, those who duck down in the seats before they reach the security gates, have fooled the voters (ie Tim Scott, Nikki Haley); however, as with all things conniving, their true nature always surfaces, eventually.

The people who attend Sea Island don’t give a rat’s ass if it is their Democrats or their Republicans who retain power. What they cannot and will not tolerate, is a rise of power to benefit middle-America, the working class.  It has always been thus.

This is a very big part of the reason why we support Donald Trump.

Everything else is chaff and countermeasures.