Ratcliffe: James Comey “under investigation for violations of the espionage act”?…


If this were anyone except Judiciary Committee member John Ratcliffe, it would be easier to ignore…. but it’s not.  John Ratcliffe is a very tempered and deliberate voice; he has a strong reputation in DC and doesn’t speak in riddles, hype, or disingenuous terms.

During an interview with Maria Bartiromo discussing the recent comments by former FBI Director James Comey, Ratcliffe replied [Must Watch at 04:10 ]:

[@04:10] “Gosh, y’ know, as I listen to that, Jim Comey is proud and wouldn’t change a thing? Really?  He’s proud that he put Peter Strzok in charge of investigating Donald Trump? The same Peter Strzok who, while he was investigating Donald Trump, promised to “f*ck” him and to “stop” him?  He’s proud of his hand-picked deputy director, Andrew McCabe who lied under oath; lied to the inspector general, and has been criminally referred for that?

And we know Jim’s proud of himself, but the inspector general found him insubordinate, and many of us believe that he either is or should beunder investigation for violating the espionage act; for recording his conversations with President Trump in the oval office, and then intentionally leaking classified information to start this investigation”…

Note: “is, or should be”.  So there’s a possibility of “is”.

Remember, Ratcliffe is one of only a handful of people who saw, and continues to see, all of the highly classified intelligence documents (fully unredacted) currently under consideration for declassification by President Trump.  Ratcliffe was also strongly considered for the U.S. Attorney General position.  This is a deliberate man.

Setting an optimistic tone, Representative John Ratcliffe expresses an unusual amount of confidence in U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr.

(IG Report on Andrew McCabe Leaking to Media)

Senator Lindsey Graham Discusses 2016 “Spygate” With Maria Bartiromo….


Boy howdy, Maria Bartiromo has the big picture of the 2015/2016 political weaponization of the intelligence apparatus exactly right.  In this interesting interview with Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham both Bartriromo and Graham discuss the scale and scope of the 2015/2016 effort to stop Trump.

Interestingly, in a shift of tone, Senator Graham outlines what this surveillance operation means when contrast against the structures of our constitutional government.

Traditionally Lindsey Graham would bury any issue adverse to the institutions of the DC administrative state.  So there’s two possibilities here:  (A) Graham has fundamentally changed his outlook toward the dangers of the institutions within government; or, (B) Graham is doing a full ‘Castellanos‘ and embracing the controversy in order to control the risk to the administrative state with intent to protect it. [The latter is tradition]

The best way for DC to protect itself from the mob’s approach is to lead it themselves. The modern GOPe club has used this defense sending agents to the front of the grassroots anger in order to control the outcome. [Fast-n-Furious, IRS targeting, Benghazi, etc.]

♦When the common sense Tea Party movement formed in 2009 and 2010 it contained a monumentally frustrated grassroots electorate, and the scale of the movement caught the professional republican party off-guard.

♦When Donald Trump ran for the office of the presidency in 2015 and 2016 he essentially did the same thing; he disrupted the apparatus of the professional republican party.

The difference between those two examples is one was from the bottom up, and the second was from the top down. The commonality in the two forces resulted in the 2016 victory.

It took a few years for the heavily armored old guard of GOP to formulate a plan to retain their control. In the example of the Tea Party, the republican power structures moved in 2011 through 2014 to co-opt the vulgarian movement and impede their disruptive influence. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was at the forefront of those power moves. {Go Deep} and {Go Deep} The basic issue for the GOP was retention of power.

McConnell and crew tamped down the fire. A few years pass and the issues that spurred the Tea Party movement remained unresolved. In 2015 Donald Trump taps in to that exact same Tea Party frustration toward the control authority within one-half of the DC UniParty; again, the professional republican apparatus was disrupted.

From the first moment candidate Trump announced his platform positions; from the very first poll *after* those platform positions were announced; Donald Trump was leading the republican field in every-single-poll from August of 2015 through today. Center stage throughout 2015 and 2016 and President of the United States as an outcome therein.

Yes, the “movement” rebranded and now MAGA wins the presidency.

However, think back to the 2015 instructions from republican insider Alex Castellanos as he described how the RNC could eliminate the disruptive influence of Donald Trump:

[…] “The best way to do it is how Brutus killed Caesar. Get real close, snuggle up, and shiv him in the ribs”… (link)

For the past two years it’s been a never-ending game of whac-a-mole as each of the establishment minded embeds surfaces at different times. Within the dynamic, the one commonality within the internecine conflict inside the Trump administration is the establishment GOP -vs- Trump MAGA.

It’s like having an independent MAGA administration that contains establishment terror cells. Each cell acts independently, but each cell also acts based on a common objective: retain the UniParty.

When you think about the actual structure of the National Republican Party -vs- the state party machines; it’s enough to make you wonder if the mid-term outcome and lack of structural fight was not part of this dynamic. After all, “their” party was taken over by a new MAGA base and a new pragmatic political leader, Donald Trump.

The same UniParty dynamic is visible in the way the FBI/DOJ and aggregate intelligence community were weaponized against Donald Trump – with Democrats and Republicans participating in the unlawful processes. Now, in the downstream consequence phase, we see a UniParty defense approach to block Trump from revealing what happened.

I’m not sure people fully completely understand this dynamic within “spygate”. It was not a targeting operation by democrats; republicans were just as complicit. The ongoing goal to eliminate candidate and president Trump is *not* partisan.

I hope Senator Lindsey Graham has encountered something that has fundamentally changed his core sense of identity.  I truly hope that is the case.  However, in the modern era of DC politics I cannot reference an example where the outlook of the individual, the guiding principles, changed inside a politician.

Check the audience at 01:25 (look fast):

.

CTH has been in this modern-era conservative battle for a long time.  We have the GOPe battle scars, and a thousand points of betrayal to reference.

The genuine Tea-Party/MAGA movement has the same ideologies and objectives.  It is the ‘Monster Vote’.  It is also the most important political movement in our lifetime.  However, we will not promote ‘hope-porn’ and fantasy proclamations amid sudden appearances of political altruism.

We fight for DC change; we support our President, and we accept the battle-space as it exists; not as we wish it to be.

Proceed with cautious optimism…

Sunday Talks: Larry Kudlow -vs- Chris Wallace on China…


National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow appears on Fox News to debate Chris Wallace over the U.S-China trade reset.  As customary Wallace completely ignores the dynamic of communist China as a state run economy, and not a free market system; thus presenting the fictitious Wall Street position about bad tariffs.

Chairman Kudlow notes the bigger issues of President Trump confronting the enforcement mechanisms that must be in place if a trade agreement (FTA) between a free-market system (USA) and a state-run system (China) are going to work…

.

Washington, DC – U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer today released the following statement regarding additional action under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974:

“Earlier today, at the direction of the President, the United States increased the level of tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent on approximately $200 billion worth of Chinese imports. The President also ordered us to begin the process of raising tariffs on essentially all remaining imports from China, which are valued at approximately $300 billion.”

The process for public notice and comment will be published shortly in the Federal Register. The details will be on the USTR website on Monday as we begin the process prior to a final decision on these tariffs.  (link)

Tom Fitton: Comey, Clapper, Brennan have criminal liability


Published on May 25, 2018

Did the FBI have sufficient evidence to launch an investigation into the Trump presidential campaign? Reaction on ‘Hannity.’ FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. The number one network in cable, FNC has been the most watched television news channel for more than 15 years and according to a Suffolk University/USA Today poll, is the most trusted television news source in the country. Owned by 21st Century Fox, FNC is available in more than 90 million homes and dominates the cable news landscape, routinely notching the top ten programs in the genre.

Chelsea Manning Release & then Served Again with Another Subpoena


Chelsea Manning was released from the Virginia jail where she spent 62 days for refusing to testify about her past ties to WikiLeaks before a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia. While contempt cannot be maintained beyond the term of the Grand Jury, they will simply conjure up another one. The attorneys for Manning said the release came after the grand jury’s term expired on Thursday which is required by law. However, her legal team has already been served another subpoena. It demands she appear before a different grand jury on May 17th. They will be able to throw her back in jail again for 18 months.

Manning has vowed not to answer any questions and, therefore, will be imprisoned yet again. Then at the trial of Assange, she can be subpoenaed yet again and throw into prison and that time they may seek criminal contempt which she will be imprisoned for another 5 years. We no longer respect the rights of individuals. The demands of the state supersede all constitutional rights

Roger Stone Questions DOJ on Predicate of Russia DNC Hack…


In two separate court filings Roger Stone is challenging the DOJ to produce evidence of their predicate claim the Russians “hacked” the DNC servers.

The first filing is a motion to compel [SEE HERE] and requests the DOJ provide unredacted documents to support their framework of evidence that Russian’s “hacked” the DNC.  The second filing is a motion to suppress [SEE HERE] any downstream evidence, extracted by the use of search warrants, built upon upon the predicate claim of Russians “hacking” the DNC.

In essence Roger Stone is challenging the U.S. government to prove the DNC was hacked by Russians; and further he is refuting the validity of the FBI using a private organization, Crowdstrike, as a valid investigative and determinative body.

The suppress motion argues it was the responsibility of the FBI to secure and investigate the hacking evidence and not rely upon the word of a private party hired by the DNC (an opposing political entity). If the government cannot prove the Russian’s hacked the DNC, and subsequently attempted to work with Wikileaks for the distribution therein, then the basis for government claims about Stone seeking to engage with Wikileaks diminishes.

If the DOJ and FBI are independently certain Russian’s hacked the DNC servers, there should be no issue in providing the evidence toward that claim. It will be interesting to see how the DOJ responds; and how the judge rules on the responsibilities of the FBI.

(Link to Motion to Suppress)

People Outside A Trump Rally Told Us Why They Hate The Media (HBO)


Published on Jun 23, 2017

Subscribe to VICE News here: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News President Trump campaigned against the press. He governs against the press. And in February, Trump tweeted this about the press. There’s a reason for this: Republicans in general, and Trump supporters in particular, hate the media. A Pew poll from May found that in the Trump era, the partisan divide over the role of the press is the largest it’s been since they began asking this question. VICE News went to a Trump rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, this week to ask his supporters why they hate the media. Subscribe to VICE News here: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News

EXPLOSIVE – FOIA Documents Show Evidence of Weissmann/Mueller Entrapment Scheme…


Recently release FOIA documents into the special counsel team of Robert Mueller reveal the remarkable trail of a 2017 entrapment scheme conducted by Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann to target George Papadopoulos.

[Hat Tip to Undercover Huber and Rosie Memos who have been reviewing documents.]

Before digging into the details it is important to note this is a DOJ/FBI entrapment operation being conducted in 2017 by the special counsel; this is not prior to the 2016 election. The detail surrounds a series of events previously discussed {Go Deep} where George Papadopoulos was approached by a known CIA operative named Charles Tawil.

In 2017 George Papadopoulos and his wife Simona were approached in Greece by a known CIA/FBI operative, Charles Tawil.  Mr. Tawil enlisted George as a business consultant, under the auspices of energy development interests, and invited him to Israel.

On June 8th, 2017, in Israel under very suspicious circumstances, where Papadopoulos felt very unnerved, Mr. Tawil hands him $10,000 in cash for future consultancy based on a $10k/month retainer.

On June 9th, 2017, according to his book, Papadopoulos and Tawil fly back to Cyprus.

In interviews Papadopoulos said he was uncomfortable with the way the encounters had taken place.  He became suspect of Tawil’s motives; something didn’t feel right.  Instead of keeping the cash, Papadopoulos gave the money to an attorney in Greece before traveling back to the U.S. on July 27th, 2017.

Upon arrival at Dulles airport on July 27th, 2017, Robert Mueller had FBI agents waiting.  Papadopoulos was stopped and his bags were searched; however, he did not have the cash because he smartly left it in Greece with his lawyer.  Papadopoulos was detained overnight by FBI agents, and questioned.

[…] Stanley said Papadopoulos arrived on a Lufthansa flight from Munich that touched down at about 7 p.m. on July 27, and the FBI intercepted him as soon as he got off the plane.

“He was arrested [detained] before he got to Customs and he was then held at the airport before being brought to a law enforcement office,” Stanley recalled. (link)

According to Politico:

[W]hen he was arrested [detained] at Dulles Airport on July 27 after coming off a flight from Munich, prosecutors had no warrant for him and no indictment or criminal complaint. The complaint would be filed the following morning and approved by Howell in Washington.

And when prosecutors filed the complaint the next day they got a spoken order from Howell to seal it, but followed up with a written request that they could take to the magistrate in Alexandria, where they showed up almost an hour later than she expected.

All of it suggests something of a scramble, rather than a carefully prepared plan to take Papadopoulos into custody. (more)

Here’s where the recent revelations come in.  According to Andrew Weissmann’s schedule on June 13th, 2017, he was in conversations surrounding the basis of a Cyprus Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT):

(Page #5 of FOIA pdf)

So overlaying the timeline:

  • 6/8/17 US intelligence asset Charles Tawil gives George $10K cash in Israel
  • 6/9/17 George Papadopoulos flies to Cyprus w $10K
  • 6/13/17 Andrew Weissmann starts series of “Cyprus MLAT” meetings with FBI
  • 6/13/17 Andrew Weissmann phone call w/ FBI Money Laundering and Asset Recovery “MLARS” section of FBI.

It would appear Weissmann was well aware of the Cyprus “Tawil operation” and engaged in communication regarding Cyprus.  Additionally, he was discussing “Money Laundering and Asset Recovery” w/ FBI.  [MLARS Link]

Taken in combination with hindsight of the search for the cash, and lack of a pre-existing warrant at the airport, this is clear evidence of a coordinated operation to entrap Papadopoulos.

Remember, the preferred approach toward targeting Paul Manafort, Mike Flynn and George Papadopoulos surrounded FARA (Foreign Agent Registration Act) lobbying violations.  Papadopoulos has stated the special counsel threatened him with charges of acting as a unregistered agent for Israel.  There’s a clear picture here.

#1) Papadopoulos was lured to Israel and paid in Israel to give the outline of a FARA premise (ie. Papadopoulos is an agent of Israel).  #2) Bringing $10,000 (or more) in cash into the U.S., without reporting, is a violation of U.S. treasury laws.  Add into that aspect the FARA violation and the money can be compounded into #3) laundering charges.

[A “laundering” charge applies if the money is illegally obtained.  The FARA violation would be the *illegal* aspect making the treasury charges heavier. Note: the use of the airport baggage-check avoids the need for a search warrant.]

Andrew Weissmann was conducting an entrapment scheme that would have ended up with three violations of law: (1) Treasury violation; (2) FARA violation; (3) Money laundering…. All it needed was Papadopoulos to carry the undeclared cash into the U.S.

However, because Papadopoulos suspected something, and left the money in Greece with his lawyers, upon arrival at the airport the operation collapsed in reverse.  No money means no treasury violation, no laundering and no evidence of the consultancy agreement (which would have been repurposed in the DOJ filing to mean lobbying for Israel via Mr. Tawil who would have become a confidential informant and witness).

That operational collapse is why the FBI agents were “scrambling” at the airport and why they had no pre-existing criminal complaint.  The entrapment’s success was contingent upon the cash.

Lastly, to repeat, this entire scenario was constructed by the DOJ/FBI team operation in 2017.  The members of the Special Counsel were running the entrapment operation; the FBI agents were participating in the operation.  This is not *investigating* criminal conduct; this is manufacturing criminal conduct.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was in charge of the Mueller Special Counsel.

The only way DAG Rosenstein and Robert Mueller didn’t know about the operation is if they both claim that Andrew Weissmann was completely rogue and in control over the FBI agents.

Oh, wait, what does the Mueller report say about the FBI agents and their chain-of-legal guidance and command?

So according to the apologists, Rod Rosenstein, Robert Mueller, current FBI legal counsel Dana Boente and current FBI Director Chris Wray were what?… Hoodwinked?

Yeah, ok. Sure.

I digress.

Rudy Giuliani Cancels Trip to Ukraine…


Rudy Giuliani cancels a trip to Ukraine where it was predicted he would inquire about pre-existing investigation of Joe and Hunter Biden.

.

[Note: I don’t think Giuliani was ever really planning to go to Ukraine. He might have just seeded/fed the story to get headlines and attention toward Joe Biden’s corrupt endeavor.]

Trump Compares Pete Buttigieg to Alfred E Neuman – Buttigieg Responds: “Who”?


Oh gosh, this is funny.  Politico had a phone interview with President Trump where they asked him for opinion of Democrat candidate Pete Buttigieg.  President Trump responded with a one-liner:

…“Alfred E. Neuman cannot become president of the United States.”

So immediately everyone starting to look at the Mad Magazine character and compare the images.  Too funny, Pete Buttigieg really does look like Alfred E Neuman.

Making things funnier, Buttigieg had no idea who the character was.