Tag Archives: Big Government

Feb 28 2026

Lawyer for Susie Wiles Categorically Denies Knowledge of Phone Call Recording by FBI


Posted originally on CTH on February 27, 2026 | Sundance 

Yesterday the alarming story surfaced of Biden-era FBI officials working for Jack Smith conducting phone record surveillance on Kash Patel and Susie Wiles in 2022 and 2023 when Donald Trump was organizing his second term candidacy.

Beyond the initial element of subpoenas for Patel and Wiles phone records was an alarming assertion made inside the Reuters report stating:

“[…] In 2023, the FBI recorded a phone call between Wiles and her attorney, according to two FBI officials. Wiles’ attorney was aware that the call was being recorded, and consented to it, but Susie Wiles was not.” (source)

That statement is shocking on many levels.  There is no legal mechanism for the FBI to gain wiretap authority to record a phone conversation between a lawyer and his client.  Every legal cannon that underpins the American legal system forbids such an intrusion.

Any lawyer who would consent to his client being recorded by the FBI while keeping the client unaware would be disbarred and lose their license.

No judge or legal authority would even consider approving a warrant for such a wiretap, and inside the judiciary any of the content from such a violative breech would be immediately nullified in any capacity.

Reporting by Marc Caputo of Vice News now reflects the lawyer categorically denying being aware of his conversation with Susie Wiles being intercepted or recorded.  “The lawyer representing Susie Wiles at the time of this incident categorically denies he allowed his client to be recorded by the FBI w/out her consent.  I understand she believes him & that the Biden-era FBI may have lied about it.  Here’s what the lawyer told me: “If I ever pulled a stunt like that I wouldn’t – and shouldn’t – have a license to practice law. I’m as shocked as Susie.” (source)

As the story now rests. If the FBI does indeed have a recording of a private phone call between Susie Wiles and her attorney, the recording itself could have only come from an illegal wiretap by rogue elements of the FBI working in coordination with Jack Smith.  No judge would ever approve of such a violative action.

If such a recording and wiretap does factually exist, Jack Smith and the top elements of the former DOJ (Merrick Garland and Lisa Monaco) together with FBI leadership Director Christopher Wray, now have a lot to answer to.  Again, that is if the predicate claim is factual; if a recording of such an intercept does factually exist.

This is certainly a story to watch closely and see who exactly is asking the right questions to get the right answers.

Feb 27 2026

Secretary Rubio Responds to Report of Cuba Shooting Speedboat, Killing 4, Wounding 6


Posted originally on CTH on February 26, 2026 | Sundance

According to the Cuban government: “It has been established that the neutralized speedboat, registered in Florida FL7726SH, was carrying 10 armed people, who, according to preliminary statements by the detainees, intended to carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes.”

The Cuban military opened fire on a speedboat with 10 passengers.  According to established reports, 4 passengers were killed and six were wounded and captured by the Cuban coast guard forces.  Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the story as it surfaced yesterday (Associated Press). WATCH:

The Cuban government has released the names of those captured: “1-Amijail Sánchez González, 2-Leordan Enrique Cruz, Gómez, 3-Conrado Galindo Sariol, 4-José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, 5-Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara, 6-Roberto Azcorra Consuegra.  Among the deceased was Michel Ortega Casanova. Work is being done on the identification of the other 3.”

Cuba claims the boat, registered out of Florida, was carrying ten people intended to conduct terrorism in Cuba.  Secretary Marco Rubio says the U.S. is conducting our own investigation to determine what took place.

In the press remarks above, Secretary Rubio also discussed the current status of U.S.-Iran negotiations.

Feb 27 2026

After Being Named in Epstein Files WEF President and CEO Borge Brende Resigns


Posted originally on CTH on February 26, 2026 | Sundance

Apparently, the World Economic Forum had launched an internal investigation of President and CEO Borge Brende following revelations of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Today, the former Norwegian Foreign Minister resigned from his position.

ZURICH, Feb 26 (Reuters) – The president and CEO of the World Economic Forum, Borge Brende, said he was stepping down on Thursday, a few weeks after the forum launched an independent investigation into his relationship with late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Brende, who became president of the WEF in 2017, announced his decision in a statement following disclosures from the U.S. Justice Department that showed the Norwegian had three business dinners with Epstein and had also communicated with the disgraced financier via email and text message.

“After careful consideration, I have decided to step down as President and CEO of the World Economic Forum. My time here, spanning 8-1/2 years, has been profoundly rewarding,” said Brende, a former Norwegian foreign minister.

[…] In their own statement, Andre Hoffmann and Larry Fink, co-chairs of the Geneva-based WEF, said an independent review conducted by outside counsel into Brende’s ties with Epstein had concluded and had found no additional concerns beyond what has already been disclosed.

Brende told Norwegian business daily Dagens Naeringsliv that while the review had not uncovered any previously unknown issues relating to Epstein, the case risked drawing attention away from the forum’s work. He said he regretted he had not been more open about the dinners and subsequent communications he had with Epstein. (more)

Feb 27 2026

Democrats in Intel are Big Mad That Tulsi Gabbard Will Not Share Details of Gossip About Jared Kushner


Posted originally on CTH on February 26, 2026 | Sundance 

The summary of the story basically circles back to that NSA/CIA whistleblower intercept they previously were using to attack DNI Tulsi Gabbard.  Now that the whistleblower’s lawyer (same lawyer as last CIA whistleblower, Ciaramella) has leaked the subject of the conversation was Jared Kushner the democrats really want to know the details.

Two foreign nationals (unknown countries) were discussing the U.S. position toward Iran. In their conversation they talked about Jared Kushner. Their conversation was intercepted by NSA/CIA using an “exceptionally sensitive surveillance method.”  The intercept was written, evaluated and determined to be “gossip” but given to the ODNI, Gabbard.

The whistleblower was upset the intercept was not shared with the larger intelligence apparatus. Thus, they were angry at Gabbard.  The ODNI followed the distribution for the whistleblower complaint, but not the underlying intercepted details of the conversation.

The White House has now asserted “executive privilege” over the content of the intercept, thereby bolstering the position of not sharing what was previously determined to be gossip.  The DNI was asked for the details, and Gabbard has told the Democrats the White House has asserted privilege.  The House and Senate Intelligence committee democrats are now big mad they don’t get to read the gossip.

(VIA WSJ) – WASHINGTON—The Trump administration told Congress it won’t share with lawmakers the classified intelligence that led to a whistleblower complaint against U.S. spy chief Tulsi Gabbard, citing presidential claims of executive privilege.

In an email to Democratic congressional staffers sent on Feb. 13 and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Gabbard’s office said it was unable to provide the unredacted intelligence that underpinned the complaint “due to the assertion of executive privilege to portions” of the intelligence itself.

In a Tuesday letter to Gabbard, Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrats on the congressional intelligence committees, asked who asserted privilege over the intelligence report and on what basis.

[…] A spokeswoman for Director of National Intelligence Gabbard declined to directly address the decision to not share the underlying intelligence with Congress. She instead referred to a previous letter to lawmakers from the office’s general counsel that said Gabbard had met her requirements concerning notification to Congress about the complaint.

[…] The intelligence, which is at least in part about Iran, is said to derive from an exceptionally sensitive surveillance method. Officials have said any disclosure of the collection method could damage U.S. national security. Gabbard’s office ultimately shared the complaint with select lawmakers earlier this month, but redacted significant portions of it, also chiefly on grounds of executive privilege.

In the new letter, Warner and Himes said they weren’t able to confirm whether the discussion at issue was about Kushner because the version of the complaint they received was so heavily redacted. (more)

If I had to hazard a guess as to what is going on, based entirely on the current state of politics and what we know about how the IC and Democrats operate, overlaid against the domestic IC influence provocations currently underway, here’s my suspicion:

Bad actors within the CIA organized two friendly foreign intel officials to have a conversation. The script is about U.S. policy toward Iran, and the ‘gossip’ is that Jared Kushner is an Israeli intelligence asset, a blue sparrow, previously inserted into the Trump family.  That ‘intercept’ would send everyone in the USA bananas regardless of truth or merit.

It sounds crazy, but that’s the level of conspiratorial nuttery, the sort of thing the IC would feed, to bolster the currently swirling year of crazy and further divide Trump’s base of support.

Whatever the underlying intercept consists of, it’s coming out of a highly political U.S. intelligence system; therefore, I would not give it any merit – unless, of course, you choose to cling to their prior construct of Trump colluding with Russia.

Feb 26 2026

Cutting Through the SCOTUS Tariff Fog, USTR Jamieson Greer Discusses Baseline Tariff Reset Shifts and Reciprocity Tariffs


Posted originally on CTH on February 25, 2026 | Sundance 

The Supreme Court tariff ruling has created the need for U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to modify the baseline tariff approach with the approvals of President Trump.

The baseline tariffs are being reset to 10% with upward adjustment to 15% as planned.  The reciprocal tariffs will not require any substantive modifications as most of the Free Trade Agreements have been cemented with reciprocity tariffs as part of the negotiated deals.

USTR Greer appears on Bloomberg to clarify the current situation and provide some information as to the transitional baseline tariffs as now modified. Additionally, and importantly, Greer begins discussing the USMCA review and his acceptance that President Trump is openly questioning the value for us. Greer notes Mexico and Canada being used as import hubs to avoid tariffs is a big issue. WATCH:

Section 232 [Steel and Aluminum examples] of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. §1862, as amended) authorizes the President to impose trade restrictions—such as a tariff or quota—if the Secretary of Commerce determines, following an investigation, that imports of a good “threaten to impair” U.S. national security. {SOURCE}

Section 301 tariffs are a trade enforcement mechanism established under the Trade Act of 1974. They allow the U.S. government to impose tariffs on imports from countries that are found to be engaging in unfair trade practices. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) conducts investigations to determine if a country is violating trade agreements, and if so, it can impose tariffs as a corrective measure {SOURCE}

Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 allows the U.S. president to impose tariffs of up to 15% to address “large and serious” balance-of-payments deficits. This authority can be exercised without prior congressional approval for a limited duration of 150 days. After this period, any tariffs must be extended by Congress. {SOURCE}

*FYI, there is a lot of distracting noise in the various social media platforms about internecine MAGA battles and ego-driven points of specific interest.  CTH chooses to focus energy and attention on the substantive policy issues that will generate substantive policy outcomes for America.

Feb 25 2026

U.S Court of Appeals – DC Circuit – Rules IRS Can Share Information with DHS for Immigration Enforcement


Posted originally on CTH on February 24, 2026 | Sundance

A win for President Trump and the Dept of Homeland Security.  The DC Court of Appeals has ruled against the plaintiff argument seeking to block the IRS (Treasury Secretary Bessent) from sharing cross-reference information with the Dept of Homeland Security (Secretary Noem).

Bottom line, the IRS can share data with DHS to identify status of illegal aliens.

“The only issue that we decide is whether, on the sparse record before us, Appellants have met their heavy burden to make a clear showing that they are entitled to the preliminary injunctive relief sought. For the reasons indicated, we conclude that Appellants have not.”

[SEE Ruling Here]

Feb 25 2026

EU Schedules Permanent Ban on Russian Import Oil for Three Days After Hungarian Election


Posted originally on CTH on February 24, 2026 | Sundance

I guess we can put this in the open admission file surrounding the all-out effort by the European Union to defeat Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

According to a leaked document received by Reuters, the European Union is scheduled to permanently ban all EU nations from importing Russian oil.  They have scheduled the ban to trigger on April 15th, three days after the Hungarian election.

BRUSSELS, Feb 24 (Reuters) – The European Commission will submit a legal proposal to permanently ban Russian oil imports on April 15, three days after Hungary’s parliamentary election, according to EU officials and a document seen by Reuters.

Two EU officials told Reuters the timing was designed to prevent the oil ban becoming a major factor in Hungary’s election campaign. Hungary and Slovakia, still reliant on Russian oil imports, are strongly opposed to any ban.

In the April 12 election, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his nationalist Fidesz party are facing the biggest challenge to their hold on power in 16 years.

The EU has already imposed sanctions on imports of seaborne Russian oil. But it wants to enshrine a full phase-out of Russian oil in legislation that would remain in place, even if a peace deal in the Ukraine war led to the EU lifting sanctions.

The Commission plans to propose the Russian oil ban on April 15, according to a draft agenda seen by Reuters.

Asked about the matter, a Commission spokesperson told Reuters the EU executive’s agendas were provisional and that it did not have a confirmed timeline for submitting the proposal. (read more)

Feb 25 2026

Ukraine (EU) Strikes Russian Oil Pumping Station that Transmits Oil into Hungary and Slovakia


Posted originally on CTH on February 24, 2026 | Sundance

The Ukraine military, technically and non-pretendingly accepted as the EU military, has targeted a key oil pumping station in Russia that feeds into the westerly directed oil supply.  However, if you stand back from the western media, what you will notice from this attack is not the target in Russia, but the customers at the end of the pipeline in Europe, mainly Hungary and Slovakia.

[…] Through local stations, including infrastructure around Kaleykino, oil from Tatarstan and neighboring regions feeds into the main pipeline, which runs through the Samara region and continues westward toward Belarus and further to countries in Eastern and Central Europe. […] There were also earlier reports that Ukrainian forces carried out several attacks on Druzhba pipeline infrastructure inside Russia, which at times disrupted Russian oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia. {source}

So, what’s going on here?

Well, with the anniversary of the Russian Federation beginning the war into Ukraine, the Europeans who now control the military operations inside Ukraine are targeting European countries who do not align with their bloodlust, specifically Hungary and Slovakia.

Both Hungary and Slovakia are land locked countries without easy access seaports. Because of their geographic locations, they rely on Russian oil and gas for their energy needs.  Hungary and Slovakia have not wanted to expand the war against Russia.  The EU is demanding Hungary and Slovakia agree to expanded war.

The European ‘coalition of the willing’ is now targeting key Russian infrastructure that supplies energy products to European countries who are not in compliance with the EU dictates of war.

Putin says threats to energy pipelines sabotage peace process with Ukraine.

In his televised speech, the Russian president also accused Ukraine of threatening Russian energy ⁠pipelines with ⁠the help of Western intelligence agencies. He claimed these attacks were aimed to sabotage the peace process.

Putin ⁠also stressed it ⁠was vital for Russia ⁠to strengthen the defence of energy ‌infrastructure and other strategic sectors. {source}

This is why Secretary of State Marco Rubio travelled to Hungary and Slovakia last week.

Essentially, now we see European leaders attacking their own European “allies” through the use of Ukraine.  If you do not support the continued bloodlust, you are an enemy of the EU collective hive mind.

A picture is worth a thousand words….

Feb 24 2026

Former British Ambassador to US Peter Mandelson Arrested by London Police Amid Epstein Fallout


Posted originally on CTH on February 23, 2026 | Sundance 

According to The Daily Mail, former British Ambassador Mandelson was arrested Monday around 4:00pm in the afternoon, questioned for several hours and then released on bail at approximately 2:00am Tuesday.

Mandelson was arrested on similar charges to those levied against Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Both charged with misconduct in public office.

Via Daily Mail – Peter Mandelson has been released on bail after being quizzed late into the night over allegations he leaked sensitive information to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein during his time as business secretary.

The disgraced former minister was led away by detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s Special Investigations Team – the unit dubbed the Yard’s ‘Celeb Squad’ – on suspicion of misconduct in public office yesterday afternoon.

Nine hours later at around 1.15am the 72-year-old architect of New Labour was pictured as he was driven out of Wandsworth Police Station.

He left the station in a black car accompanied by three other people but shortly after arrived home in a London black cab. He remained silent and downcast as he walked into his house.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said in the early hours of Tuesday: ‘A 72-year-old man arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office has been released on bail pending further investigation.

‘He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, 23 February and was taken to a London police station for interview. (read more)

Feb 24 2026

Judge Aileen Cannon Permanently Blocks Jack Smith Report II from Release


Posted originally on CTH on February 23, 2026 | Sundance 

After Special Counsel Jack Smith was dispatched by Judge Aileen Cannon, his team continued to organize materials to frame the hit against an incoming Trump administration.  Judge Cannon calls out this wrongdoing as part of her ruling to keep all the records sealed.  [Ruling pdf Here]

[SOURCE]

“While it is true that former special counsels have released final reports at the conclusion of their work,” Cannon wrote, “it appears they have done so either after electing not to bring charges at all or after adjudications of guilt by plea or trial. The Court strains to find a situation in which a former special counsel has released a report after initiating criminal charges that did not result in a finding of guilt.”