Category Sundance

Nov 16 2024

President Trump Announces Nomination of Doug Burgum for Interior Secretary and Chair of New National Energy Council


Posted originally on the CTH on November 15, 2024 | Sundance

President Trump has announced the nomination of North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum to head the Department of the Interior and also Chairman of a newly formed cabinet-level National Energy Council (energy Czar).

[Source]

Very interesting move, not in the appointment of Burgum, but in the duality of a method to tear apart the Dept of Interior Silo.

As the American people are starting to become aware of a return to civics, the President of the United States has absolute power within the Executive branch and absolute immunity for everything he defines as an official act of his office.

By appointing Burgum as the Interior Secretary and simultaneously the appointed energy-sector representative of the president, carrying the full weight and authority therein, there is no way for the institutional bureaucracy of the climate change officials inside the agency to block any changes decreed by President Trump within the mandate of the Energy Czar.

Secretary Burgum will sit at the top of the Dept of Interior organization, AND Czar Burgum will sit inside every agency, office, and subsidiary department that has anything to do with “American Energy” production/regulation.

A very strong power move. I like it.

Burgum would lead a new National Energy Council comprising all agencies and departments involved in the production, regulation and transportation of “ALL forms of American Energy.” … “This Council will oversee the path to U.S. ENERGY DOMINANCE by cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the Economy, and by focusing on INNOVATION over longstanding, but totally unnecessary, regulation.”

Recap of Appointments So Far:

  • White House chief of staff: Susie Wiles
  • Secretary of state: Marco Rubio
  • Attorney general: Matt Gaetz
  • Deputy attorney general: Todd Blanche
  • HHS secretary: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
  • U.N. ambassador: Elise Stefanik
  • “Border czar”: Tom Homan
  • Defense secretary: Pete Hegseth
  • Secretary of veteran’s affairs: Doug Collins
  • National security adviser: Michael Waltz
  • Interior secretary: Doug Burgum
  • White House counsel: William McGinley
  • Solicitor general: Dean John Sauer
  • Secretary of homeland security: Kristi Noem
  • CIA director: John Ratcliffe
  • Director of national intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard
  • EPA administrator: Lee Zeldin
  • U.S. ambassador to Israel: Mike Huckabee
  • U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York: Jay Clayton
  • Department of Government Efficiency: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy
  • Deputy chief of staff: Dan Scavino
  • Deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser: Stephen Miller
  • Deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs: James Blair
  • Deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel: Taylor Budowich
  • Presidential Personnel Office head: Sergio Gor
  • White House communications director: Steven Cheung

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Nov 16 2024

Senator Bill Hagerty Outlines Case for Matt Gaetz Confirmation and Leaves Andrea Mitchell Speechless


Posted originally on the CTH on November 15, 2024 | Sundance 

MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell just didn’t know what to do with Republican Senator from Tennessee Bill Hagerty, after he outlined all the motives and justifications for President Trump to appoint Matt Gaetz for U.S. Attorney General.

Senator Hagerty cites examples of the Main Justice targeting of President Trump from the 2016 campaign all the way through the IC manipulation of the Hunter Biden laptop story in 2020, to the continued use of Lawfare to target President Trump throughout 2024.  Of course, that background makes the appointment of Matt Gaetz understandable.  WATCH:

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The Democrats destroyed political norms, weaponized agencies and violated the law. The Democrats will now face the consequences.

Accordingly, President Trump has provided a bold litmus test for Republicans in the Senate, they are either with the American people or they stand in the sunlight of a transparent and intentional disconnect.

Nov 15 2024

President Trump Announces Deputy AG Todd Blanche and Interim Acting DAG Emil Bove, During Confirmation Process


Posted originally on the CTH on November 14, 2024 | Sundance 

A very strategic plan for Main Justice transition delivered today by President Trump.  President Trump has announced Deputy AG Todd Blanche to be #2 in charge behind Matt Gaetz, and Emil Bove to serve as interim Acting DAG in case the Senate drag their feet on confirmations.  This makes a very quick transition period in Main Justice with President Trump officials immediately taking charge.

[SOURCE]

With nominated Attorney General Matt Gaetz as the Mother of all Bombs (MOAB), in comes the insurance policy, Todd Blanche, as the A-10 Warthog strafing the scattering Lawfare members. Emil Bove flying the circling Specter above the battlefield.

This Main Justice plan has been in the works for a long time, you can clearly see it.

Blanche and Bove are the lawyers who represented President Trump in the New York trial (Judge Merchan). Now selected as the #2 and #3 spots at the Department of Justice. [#4 is John Dean Sauer as Solicitor General]

Blanche and Bove are both alumni of the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office, where Blanche was co-chief of the violent crimes unit. Bove was co-chief of the Manhattan USAO national security unit. Look for Bove to take over DOJ-NSD when all confirmations are settled.

Todd Blanche is a serious, stable and likeable blue-collar guy. He advanced himself to the most prestigious federal prosecutor’s office in the country by attending night classes at Brooklyn Law School while working during the day as a paralegal.

As noted by Politico:

“In 2023, Blanche stunned many at the white-shoe law firm where he was a partner, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, and within the broader legal community when he abruptly quit his position at one of the oldest and most prestigious firms in the country to represent Trump. Blanche then formed his own law firm and hired Bove. Despite his representation of Trump, Blanche remains well-liked by his former colleagues in the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office.”

Buckets of “Giddy up!”

Don’t forget to eat your winnamins.

Nov 15 2024

President Trump Nominates Dean John Sauer for U.S. Solicitor General


Posted originally on the CTH on November 14, 2024 | Sundance

Sauer did a great job arguing ‘Absolute Immunity’ and ‘Plenary Power’ on President Trump’s behalf in the Supreme Court.

President Trump has announced the nomination of Dean John Sauer for the position of U.S. Solicitor General.

[Source]

The U.S. Solicitor General is the fourth highest ranking member within the Dept of Justice. The task of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) is to supervise and conduct government litigation in the United States Supreme Court. All Supreme Court litigation is channeled through the Office of the Solicitor General and is actively conducted by the Office. The United States government is involved in approximately two-thirds of all the cases the U.S. Supreme Court decides each year.

Nov 15 2024

President Trump Announces Nomination of Doug Collins for Secretary of Veterans Affairs


Posted originally on the CTH on November 14, 2024 | Sundance 

A reward for past Wolverine efforts.

President Trump has announced the nomination of former Republican Congressman Doug Collins for the position of Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

[Source]

Former House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Doug Collins was one of the key congressional representatives during the Trump-Russia madness who helped shine a light on all the nonsense.  In his Judiciary Committee position, Collins released all of the transcripts of investigative testimony, taken by the committee.

Collins used his position to outwit Chairman Elijah Cummings and release the transcripts from the floor of the House, putting them into the public record.  The transcripts were a key tool in tearing apart the lies fed to media in the effort to frame President Trump.

Collins then left the house to run for Georgia Senate where he was chewed up by the corrupt Georgia Republican establishment and undermined in the primary race.  It’s nice to see Doug Collins remembered for his strong position in the fight against corruption.

Nov 15 2024

President Trump Announces Nomination of Robert F Kennedy Jr as HHS Secretary


Posted originally on the CTH on November 14, 2024 | Sundance

This is perhaps one of the most predictable nominations, although everyone was wondering if it would be agency specific or just the entire apparatus of USA health.  It’s the whole enchilada!

President Trump has announced his nomination of Robert F Kennedy Jr to become the next Secretary of Health and Human Services.

[Source]

In this position RFK Jr has promised to change the construct of FDA, NIH, USDA and all the subsidiary agencies to remove the corporate influence that has corrupted them.  The goal is to change the food system by removing harmful additives, challenge the influence of the multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical lobbying industry, and restore the function of public health.

It is a massive task, but one that RFK Jr says he has been developing and planning for many years.  This is in his wheelhouse and Making America Healthy Again would be an incredible legacy initiative for both President Trump and Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.

They will both be targeted by the multinational corporations and lobbyists, but they will be bolstered by the overwhelming support of the American people.  I am looking forward to this initiative as it develops and rolls out.

 

Nov 15 2024

Kevin McCarthy Predicts Matt Gaetz Will Not Pass Senate Confirmation Process


Posted originally on the CTH on November 14, 2024 | Sundance 

Various media outlets are saying approximately 10 republican senators are in opposition to the nomination of Matt Gaetz for various DeceptiCon reasons.  More than likely the same ones who supported AG Merrick Garland, I digress.

Into this mix of squishy spinelessness comes former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy who has an axe to grind against his former nemesis.

WASHINGTON DC – Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy does not believe outgoing Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) will be confirmed as attorney general by the Senate after President-elect Donald Trump selected him as his nominee on Wednesday.

Some of Trump’s picks for his Cabinet, including Gaetz for attorney general and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, have garnered strong reactions on Capitol Hill and in the wider political world. McCarthy, whose speakership was ended by a successful motion to vacate filed by Gaetz in October 2023, told Bloomberg he believes Trump’s nominees are good, except for Gaetz.

“I think the choices are very good, except one. Gaetz won’t get confirmed, everybody knows that,” McCarthy said.

When pressed on why he thinks Trump picked Gaetz for his attorney general nominee, McCarthy said it was a “good deflection” but did not elaborate further.

McCarthy and Gaetz have had a public feud over the past several years, coming to a head during the former’s bid for House speaker in 2023. The Florida Republican led efforts to block his bid for speaker in January 2023, leading to 15 rounds of voting, and had threatened to file a motion to vacate against McCarthy until he did on Oct. 3, 2023.

Since McCarthy’s removal, he has not minced words about Gaetz. In April, the former speaker claimed the Florida congressman ousted him because Gaetz wanted to stop an ethics complaint alleging he slept with a minor. Gaetz has flatly denied the allegations and called McCarthy a “liar.”

The former House speaker did praise Trump’s other Cabinet picks, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) for secretary of state. (read more)

Nov 15 2024

The “PDB”


Posted originally on the CTH on November 14, 2024 | Sundance 

Almost every day an intelligence community overview assessment is compiled, it’s called the Presidential Daily Briefing or PDB.

The PDB contains content primarily produced by the CIA.  However, in the modern era, the PDB is assembled and enhanced by adding information from other intelligence agencies (silos).  The Director of National Intelligence assembles it; the position Tulsi Gabbard has recently been nominated for.

The DNI (now Tulsi) compiles the information, then delivers the PDB to the President, the National Security Advisor (now Mike Waltz) and the list of people assigned by the President to review it.

The PDB is the Intelligence Community (IC) telling the Office of the President, this is what’s going on.  The PDB frames the worldview of the CIA and other agencies.

However, if the CIA/IC wants to frame policy and action to their agenda – and not to the agenda of the president/administration per se’ – the CIA/IC can shape the PDB information toward their own individual objectives. In the past several decades the CIA manipulation of the PDB became obvious.

Because the PDB was no longer considered to be an “independent” finding of fact, and was/is, instead, more of a CIA tool to shape and control the president, it became increasingly useless.

President Obama saw the traps within the CIA/IC use of the PDB and started to ignore it. Obama gave the PDB to almost two-dozen administration officials daily, essentially saying, “here this is what the CIA say is going on – check it out.” Meanwhile Obama did what he wanted to do in shaping policy, often regardless of the PDB content.

With an incoming President Trump administration, the CIA/IC use of the PDB to manipulate outcomes will be even more on display. With that in mind, here’s one approach that might be worth considering.

Make the CIA/IC (now Ratcliffe/Tulsi) provide a footnote for every assertion of fact within the PDB.

Put the footnotes into a classified appendix that includes sources and methods and give the appendix only to the National Security Advisor, now Mike Waltz.  [ie. ‘Review and return’]

Let NSA Mike Waltz then review the attributions of source material in the White House SCIF. Then, if any concerns are noted, Waltz can turn to the National Security Council with a generalized statement describing the concern saying, “check this out.”

The NSC can then dig into the granular details and return with their own independent assessment about the validity of the information.

The National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, can then go question the specific CIA/IC silo about any contradiction that might be at issue.

Do this enough times, and I predict the PDB will quickly change in both tone and content. The originators of the intelligence assessment, the CIA and other agencies, will be on notice that their homework is being checked by the National Security Council.

Just a thought.

Nov 14 2024

Tulsi Gabbard Discusses Her Priorities as Nominee for Director of National Intelligence


Posted originally on the CTH on November 13, 2024 | Sundance 

Appearing on Fox News, DNI nominee Tulsi Gabbard discusses her perspectives on the position and her anticipation of the nomination process moving forward.  As a DNI nominee Mrs Gabbard will have to pass through the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI).

::Heavy Sigh::  I wish the interviewer would begin the questioning by asking, “what does the DNI do?”  That approach would be far more interesting than discussing feelings and reactions. WATCH:

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Nov 14 2024

President Trump Announces Nomination of Matt Gaetz for U.S. Attorney General


Posted originally on the CTH on November 13, 2024 | Sundance

In what can only reasonably be described as a MOAB targeted directly to Main Justice, President Trump has nominated Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz to be United States Attorney General.

[Source]

Making the nomination strategy that much more interesting, Matt Gaetz resigned his position within congress, “effective immediately.”

In combination with the nomination of Senator Marco Rubio to the State Dept., this sets the stage for a Senate situation where the upper chamber may attempt to derail the Gaetz nomination, yet Florida Governor Ron DeSantis could then appoint him to be the replacement U.S. Senator from Florida; thus, returning an angry MOAB back into the silo that derailed him.

You couldn’t write this script if you tried.

To say the Lawfare leftists are having a meltdown would be an understatement.

CTH knew Main Justice was the target of greatest transition discussion when we wrote this.  However, I had no idea the strategy would include an Attorney General nomination of such severity the officials inside the DOJ would likely begin to self deport.

If Matt Gaetz gets through the nomination process, there will be a mass exodus from Main Justice.

Within the dynamic of the decision-making, obviously it was the targeting of President Trump and his allies by the DOJ that led to such a severe response from President-elect Donald Trump.

The Main Justice Lawfare effort against President Trump and anyone in/around his immediate orbit, has been relentless for the past eight years.  From Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell all the way to the 1,500 protesters from January 6, 2021, the attacks from within the DOJ and their appointed Special Counsels have been relentless.  Gaetz is the response.

Remarkable.

The next several weeks and months are going to be epic as this battle carries out throughout the Executive and Legislative branches.  Additionally, I would be remiss if I did not note that Gaetz represents the biggest, irresistible bait for the Intelligence Community (IC) to watch being dragged in front of them.  It will be interesting to watch their reaction.

The nomination of Matt Gaetz is the Mother of All Bombs (MOAB) and the DOJ is the target.

The “reckoning” is here.

WASHINGTON – Donald Trump’s decision to nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general has Justice Department veterans petrified and warning of a crisis in the department marked by chaos and revenge.

The polarizing Republican lawmaker is already generating resistance on Capitol Hill, suggesting he may not get the votes to win the job. But even if the nomination is doomed, it sends an unmistakable signal about Trump’s expectations for the Justice Department in his second term: He wants a MAGA zealot in the post, one who has shown unbreakable loyalty to the president-elect and wrath for his adversaries, real and perceived.

[…] Many rank-and-file Justice Department staffers — who were already dreading what Trump might do at DOJ — were flabbergasted by the Gaetz announcement. “This is completely wild. It’s so out of bounds, it’s just shocking,” said one career DOJ lawyer, who was granted anonymity out of concerns about retaliation. “He’s there for one purpose: to enact retribution. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have a grand vision about the future of the department. I can’t imagine how this isn’t going to scare people even more.”

[…] In rejecting prominent conservatives with more typical pedigrees for the job, Trump eradicated any hope that the Justice Department in his second term might resemble the Justice Department of his first term, which was mostly helmed by Republicans with extensive and traditional law enforcement backgrounds, like Jeff Sessions, William Barr and Rod Rosenstein.

“If there were any people left who were sort of holding on to the idea that it’ll basically be like Trump’s first term, where the people who are really in charge of the department are more or less these sort of old guard Republican stalwarts … they’ve now been disabused of that notion,” former federal prosecutor Jonathan Kravis said. “Because even if it’s not Matt Gaetz, even if he doesn’t get confirmed, it’s going to be someone else like him.”

One former Trump DOJ official, granted anonymity to speak candidly, called the Gaetz nomination “fucking appalling.” (read more)