Within today’s reporting from the New York Times and NBC, a key aspect is how CIA analysts are worried about explaining and/or justifying the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA). As such it is well worth remembering information about John Durham’s originating focus from June, 2019:
Against the backdrop of the DOJ admitting FBI investigators never had access to the DNC servers to verify a Russian hack; and with new information about the FBI receiving partial and redacted analysis from Crowdstrike; the review by U.S. Attorney John Durham toward the downstream assessment/claims of the CIA takes on new meaning.
CTH has previously outlined how the December 29th, 2016, Joint Analysis Report (JAR) on Russia Cyber Activity was a quickly compiled bunch of nonsense about Russian hacking.
The JAR was followed a week later by the January 7th, 2017, Intelligence Community Assessment. The ICA took the ridiculous construct of the JAR and then overlaid a political narrative that Russia was trying to help Donald Trump.
The ICA was the brain-trust of John Brennan, James Clapper and James Comey. While the majority of content was from the CIA, some of the content within the ICA was written by FBI Agent Peter Strzok who held a unique “insurance policy” interest in how the report could be utilized in 2017. NSA Director Mike Rogers would not sign up to the “high confidence” claims, likely because he saw through the political motives of the report.
(JUNE 2019 – New York Times) […] Mr. Barr wants to know more about the C.I.A. sources who helped inform its understanding of the details of the Russian interference campaign, an official has said. He also wants to better understand the intelligence that flowed from the C.I.A. to the F.B.I. in the summer of 2016.
During the final weeks of the Obama administration, the intelligence community released a declassified assessment that concluded that Mr. Putin ordered an influence campaign that “aspired to help” Mr. Trump’s electoral chances by damaging Mrs. Clinton’s. The C.I.A. and the F.B.I. reported they had high confidence in the conclusion. The National Security Agency, which conducts electronic surveillance, had a moderate degree of confidence. (read more)
Questioning the construct of the ICA is a smart direction to take for a review or investigation. By looking at the intelligence community work-product, it’s likely Durham will cut through a lot of the chatter and get to the heart of the intelligence motives.
Apparently John Durham is looking into just this aspect: Was the ICA document a politically engineered report stemming from within a corrupt intelligence network?
The importance of that question is rather large. All of the downstream claims about Russian activity, including the Russian indictments promoted by Rosenstein and the Mueller team, are centered around origination claims of illicit Russian activity outlined in the ICA.
If the ICA is a false political document…. then guess what?
Yep, the entire narrative from the JAR and ICA is part of a big fraud. [Which it is]
Information available as of 29 December 2016 was used in the preparation of this product.
Scope: This report includes an analytic assessment drafted and coordinated among The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and The National Security Agency (NSA), which draws on intelligence information collected and disseminated by those three agencies. It covers the motivation and scope of Moscow’s intentions regarding US elections and Moscow’s use of cyber tools and media campaigns to influence US public opinion. The assessment focuses on activities aimed at the 2016 US presidential election and draws on our understanding of previous Russian influence operations. When we use the term “we” it refers to an assessment by all three agencies.
The activity of the “small group” of coup plotters consists of three generalized subsidiary agencies: (1) DOJ/FBI, (2) CIA/ODNI, and (3) The State Department.
Within each “small group faction” a years-long review of their narrative constructs shows the groups have specific and unique media outlets for their offensive (’16, ’17) and defensive (’18, ’19) propaganda efforts.
•The DOJ/FBI faction of the “small group” leaks to narrative engineers at the New York Times and NBC. •The CIA/ODNI faction utilize the Washington Post and ABC; and •the State Dept. faction use CNN and CBS. Each faction uses the same reporters & pundits for their distribution. This pattern, albeit generalized, has been consistent for several years.
The originating media entity -utilizing the leaks, opinions and agenda of the faction most concerned- starts the process. The secondary media groups come in for support – reporting on the reporting; and then reporting on the reporting of the reporting… and so on. This process provides a concentric distribution effort to bolster the originating premise.
Similar to the Journ-o-list effort of Ezra Klein, all of the ideologically aligned reporters share information for the larger process of defending the prior activity and advancing a unified narrative. [Reference Buzzfeed’s Ali Watkins sharing leaks from SSCI Security Director James Wolfe to her peers at WaPo and New York Times while she had sex with the source to keep the information pipeline open.]
It is important to remember this concerted process whenever we are reviewing media articles concerning the matters of interest to each of the “small group” factions.
In essence, the propagandists within the media are the same; and the sources for the positions reflected in the articles are the same. Wash, rinse and repeat depending on the identified risk.
So today we see NBC and the New York Times going “out front” on behalf of their interests. Referencing the faction each outlet represents we see the *reporting* is to defend the interests of the DOJ and FBI.
The Durham investigation is more broad and therefore more troubling.
Durham is moving to interview current/former CIA and current/former Intelligence Community operatives.
The CIA and Intelligence Community operatives are hiring lawyers prior to speaking to Durham.
The Durham investigation appears again looking at the ICA (Intelligence Community Assessment); which again is the part of Small Group operation which constructed the ‘vast Russian conspiracy’ (election interference) narrative.
The Small Group is worried the investigation has now shifted into a possible criminal probe.
The Small Group members themselves have NOT been questioned. This is making them nervous; hence the reporting.
Barr and Durham visiting Italy, the U.K. and Australia to speak with Mifsud, Halper and Downer respectively is really making the Small Group nervous.
(Via NBC) A review launched by Attorney General William Barr into the origins of the Russia investigation has expanded significantly amid concerns about whether the probe has any legal or factual basis, multiple current and former officials told NBC News.
[The “multiple current and former officials” are members of the small group. Based on the outlet and the material, these members are DOJ and FBI officials].
The prosecutor conducting the review, Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham, has expressed his intent to interview a number of current and former intelligence officials involved in examining Russia’s effort to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, including former CIA Director John Brennan and former director of national intelligence James Clapper, Brennan told NBC News.
Durham has also requested to talk to CIA analysts involved in the intelligence assessment of Russia’s activities, prompting some of them to hire lawyers, according to three former CIA officialsfamiliar with the matter. And there is tension between the CIA and the Justice Department over what classified documents Durham can examine, two people familiar with the matter said.
[Here we see Durham doing what we suspected five months ago. {Go Deep} Durham is looking at who put together the December 2016, Joint Analysis Report (JAR); and the January 2017, Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA); essentially the originating documents that promoted the vast Russian conspiracy and set the cornerstone for a special counsel investigation therein.]
With Barr’s approval, Durham has expanded his staff and the timeframe under scrutiny, according to a law enforcement official directly familiar with the matter.
[This is common sense. If the ICA is a false political document, then guess what? Yep, the entire narrative from the JAR and ICA is part of a big fraud (it is). Then the construct of the special counsel probe (remember the “originating” construct), was false. (it was)]
[…] If Durham is conducting a criminal investigation, it’s not clear what allegations of wrongdoing are being examined. The Justice Department has not detailed any, and a spokeswoman declined to comment for this story.
“I don’t know what the legal basis for this is,” Brennan said, calling the probe “bizarre.”
[…] Justice Department officials have said that Durham has found something significant, and that critics should be careful.
[…] Skeptics who have been trying to track Durham’s movementssay he has yet to interview key figures, including former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe, former FBI agent Peter Stzrok and former FBI general counsel James Baker.
[“skeptics”? Who are they? …and why are they “trying to track Durham’s movements”?]
“Nobody who knows anything has been interviewed,” said a personin touch with those former officials.
[So the group is talking to themselves and using a third party to push their collective discussion into the media. Important to note.]
[…] A Western intelligence official familiar with what Durham has been asking of foreign officials says his inquiries track closely with the questions raised about the Russia investigation in right-wing media.
[So some entity in the intelligence community, likely outside the U.S. , is in contact with the small group and keeping them apprised of what Durham is doing? Interesting. Pay attention to what NBC is admitting here… Corrupt officials, co-conspirators, within the intelligence apparatus are monitoring John Durham; relaying information back to their allies; who then talk among themselves and coordinate media leaks based on the information they are able to extract from the tracking. That’s a big admission.]
[…] The Senate intelligence committee examined the allegations about Downer, Mifsud and Halper, as part of its bipartisan investigation into the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia was responsible for attacking the 2016 election, and found nothing to substantiate any wrongdoing, a committee aide said. (read full article)
[Again, notice how the small group is utilizing the SSCI, and it is a committee aide within the SSCI that is leaking to NBC. We already know the SSCI was completely compromised by the effort to remove President Trump from office. {Go Deep} Part of that SSCI effort led to the discovery of SSCI Security Director James Wolfe leaking the FISA application to the media. The SSCI was/is part of the coup/impeachment effort.]
Trying to find the details within the U.K-EU Brexit deal is more difficult than finding evidence of a Yeti. The negotiating team secrecy is inherent to the way the elites within the European systems work. Essentially the “betters” rule the proles by hiding the details and relying upon the electorate to “trust” the outlined framework of their elected superiors.
Hiding details is a feature within the European system and the way the government looks at their role.
That said, tomorrow British members of parliament will begin debating the deal for the UK to exit the EU. The deal was modified by Boris Johnson. A backgrounder:
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Farage is concerned, rightly, about how the framework of the EU customs union is constructed to influence the UK after Brexit. From what can be determined there’s a triggering mechanism where the UK and EU begin a lengthy process to construct a UK trade agreement with the EU after Brexit takes place.
Within that post-Brexit automatic trade-framework is where the European Union is seeking to retain their influence over the United Kingdom. However, it is not accurate to overlay EU influence too heavily, and here’s why….
Within the current framework there’s a customs union design similar to a Venn diagram, that consists of Northern Ireland remaining attached to EU tariff rules, and yet the UK is not subject to the same parameters. So there’s three different sets of trade rules in place.
One set between the EU and Northern Ireland; one set between Northern Ireland and the UK; and one set between the EU and the UK. All of this is designed to stop the UK from having independent trade wealth that is beyond the reach of the EU to control.
It’s complicated.
However, here’s the aspect you won’t find discussed.
Within the agreement as it appears the EU can, likely would, punish the UK for having more favorable trade agreements with other nations. Meaning if the UK gives better deals to others than it does the EU, the EU will increase tariffs against the UK intended to punish the UK by restricting access to the EU market for UK products. But that’s the limit of what the EU will be able to do….
Meaning, the EU cannot stop the UK from entering a trade deal with North America (think USMCA). And there’s every visible likelihood President Trump is constructing a U.S.-U.K trade agreement with that in mind…. Meaning the U.K. will have preferential access to North America, and the USMCA countries (Mexico, U.S. and Canada) will in turn have preferential treatment in trade with the U.K.
This is important. The EU will not be able to influence the U.S-U.K. trade agreement beyond imposing tariffs on Britain as punishment. This is where the importance of Donald Trump comes in…. Trump can, I would say: likely will, give preferential treatment to exports from the U.K., so long as PM Boris Johnson is reciprocal toward the U.S.
Simultaneously, President Trump can hit the EU much harder than the EU can hit Great Britain. If, say, the EU hits the UK with a 25% tariff as punishment for a better trade deal with the U.S. on any individual segment, Trump can hit the EU with a 25% tariff back on the EU.
The EU needs access to the $20 Trillion U.S. market much more than the EU needs access to the newly freed U.K. market. Brexiteers should remember this. President Trump and PM Johnson can work together to leverage this trade situation to both of their benefits. The EU will want to keep selling their stuff into the U.K. (less important); but the EU *has to* keep selling their stuff into the U.S. (very important) in order to survive.
Trump and Johnson can work on a U.S-U.K. trade superhighway. Our research already sees this construct in the discussions. Simultaneously, Trump can pummel the EU with tariffs. [Keep in mind the U.S. just won a WTO ruling for $7.5 billion a year in countervailing duties the EU cannot legally try and counteract.]
Combine the $7.5 billion WTO ruling with the potential for President Trump to hammer additional duties against the EU for adverse trade action within the Brexit customs authority, and what you see is an EU that can threaten action, but has limited recourse (just like China).
President Trump is itching to trigger more tariffs against the EU and looking for any economic excuse to do so. Brexit provides just that excuse.
This is why, despite the flaws inherent within the UK-EU Brexit agreement, it would be in the best interests of the U.K. to vote in support of the current deal and get out.
Once out, President Trump can then provide trade incentives for EU products that come from the U.K. that do not come from the EU itself. No U.S. tariffs on Great Britain, while Trump puts heavy U.S. tariffs on the EU.
The result of this process would push EU manufacturers and suppliers into the U.K. as a trade hub for access to North America, specifically the United States. Simultaneously, EU companies wanting to avoid the U.S. tariffs against the EU could distribute their products through operations within the U.K.
As described this trade network provides PM Boris Johnson with the ability to pick and choose the EU entities that he would permit to operate in the U.K. In essence, this provides Prime Minister Boris Johnson with leverage against the EU for “other issues” of importance.
It’s all about the economics.
Without money to finance their ideology, everything stops.
All of the above stated, this is another reason why Nancy Pelosi and the ideological leftists are trying to stall the USMCA. The North American Trade agreement is the trade fulcrum for a massive global economic reset.
The corporate multinational profit schemes to use China/Asia, and the political ideology behind the socialists/leftists that align with the EU (ie. “share the wealth”), are both weakened by a North American trade alliance, USMCA, that relocates the best return on international investment.
At the center of this realignment is “America First“.
A big FUBAR happened in Culiacan Mexico yesterday as Mexican police and narcotics officers captured Ovidio Guzman, aka “Chapito”, the heir of drug kingpin El Chappo and current head of the Sinaloa cartel.
We watched via social media yesterday as a war broke out in Culiacan between the police/military and the cartel. After authorities captured Chapito, hundreds of Sinaloa cartel members came down from the mountains and cut off the city. The cartel began executing and capturing anyone who was assisting the arrest. The city shut down.
To save themselves, the surrounded Mexican officials released Chapito back to the cartels and now the world has more evidence that Mexican President Lopez-Obrador has no control over the peace and security of Mexico. The cartels are in charge.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican officials on Friday admitted they had bungled the arrest of kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s son, who they let go during shootouts with drug gangs in the streets of a major city, but the president insisted his security strategy was working.
Cartel gunmen surrounded around 35 police and national guards in the northwestern city of Culiacan on Thursday and made them free Ovidio Guzman, one of the jailed drug lord’s dozen or so children, after his brief detention set off widespread gun battles and a jailbreak that stunned the country.
The chaos in Culiacan, a bastion of Guzman’s Sinaloa Cartel, turned up pressure on President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who took office in December promising to pacify a country weary of more than a decade of gang violence and murders.
Lopez Obrador came under heavy criticism on social media and from security experts, who said that authorities risked encouraging copycat actions by caving in to the gang, and that the retreat from a major city created the impression that the cartel, not the state, was in control. (read more)
Hasta las 5 de la tarde (hora culichi) no hay confirmación oficial, pero el rumor fuerte es que @SEDENAmx mató a Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar y detuvo a Ovidio Guzmán López en un operativo. Ambos son hijos del Chapo Guzmán.
Tras la supuesta captura del Hijo de el Chapo, Ivan Archivaldo, la ciudad de #Culiacan se encuentra situada. Familias enteras huyen despavoridas resguardándose de las balas.
Mexican president says they had to release the son of drug kingpin Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman after an intense battle between security forces and cartel gunmen as ‘the situation became very difficult’ and ‘many people were at risk’ https://reut.rs/2qm71ly
Perhaps the only institution more corrupt than the Obama intelligence apparatus, writ large, was/is the Clinton constructed U.S. State Department. Foggy Bottom is appropriately named as the septic tank for the Administrative State.
Former President Barack Obama carved out a segment of the financial indulgence, and thereafter purchased the acquiescence of Team Clinton, when he handed Dame Hillary the keys to the State Dept as an outcome of the 2008 election. Barry from Chicago and his fellow travelers would weaponize the domestic apparatus, and Hillary could graft the international effort; thus, the compact was sealed…
President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton are photographed with Aung San Suu Kyi and her staff at her residence in Rangoon, Burma, Nov. 19, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
The institutional bile, filth and corruption embedded within the the U.S. State Dept. is an outcome of an organization whose sole purpose is to generate credentials for leftists on their curriculum vitae; curry income for pontificating academics who have done absolutely nothing of inherent value in life; and advance ruling class ideologies through control of foreign policy. The Birkenstock peaceniks, promote the global elitist ruse, demand accolades from the subservient proles, and use Hollywood as their PR division.
Therefore it comes as no surprise a four-year internal self-investigation of their own complicity results in little more than a carefully worded 9-page letter admitting, essentially, mistakes were made by allowing Secretary Clinton to construct a parallel communication network to avoid public scrutiny of her graft and scheme operations.
WASHINGTON – State Department identified nearly 600 security violations in its now-completed review of email records of dozens of former agency officials and aides to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The investigation, which covered the 33,000 emails Clinton provided for review, found 91 “valid violations” attributable to 38 individuals, some of whom may face disciplinary action. Another 497 violations could not be tied to any specific person.
A nine-page unclassified report was sent to Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, who is leading the congressional oversight of the security review, in a letter from Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Mary Elizabeth Taylor dated Oct. 16. (read more)
Despite the abject nuttery, there is good news here. Former Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is accusing current Democrat Presidential Candidate Tulsi Gabbard of being a secret Russian agent:
“[Tulsi Gabbard is] the favorite of the Russians, and that’s assuming Jill Stein will give it up, which she might not because she’s also a Russian asset. She’s a Russian asset! I mean, totally. They know they can’t win without a third-party candidate.” (link)
The insufferable Mrs. Clinton re-initiated her vast Russian conspiracy theory during an interview with former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe. Yes, THAT David Plouffe.
However, Clinton nuttery aside, this level of political quackery -as expressed- is not all bad news. Clinton’s tendency to make herself stupid and small is a strong indicator: (A) she’s not stable; (B) she’s not viable; and (C) she knows she could never re-enter the race.
Office for Trade and Manufacturing Policy’s Peter Navarro discusses the China trade negotiations, the UAW General Motors strike, U.S. tariffs in European goods, and USMCA.
On the U.S-China ‘Phase-1’ construct the key issue is going to be the enforcement mechanism to ensure any agreement has strength. On U.S. placing tariffs on the EU due to the Airbus ruling Navarro reminds everyone the WTO ruling does not permit the EU to place tariffs on U.S. productions. On USMCA everyone avoids telling the truth; that is Nancy Pelosi is waiting to see what happens in the Canadian election in three days. If Trudeau wins re-election, the USMCA will likely be scrapped (tabled) by Pelosi.
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{*Note* We are holding-back on BREXIT-EU deal outlines until we complete reading the majority of the 2,000+ pages of UK-EU legal agreement construct.}
From the White House – Today, President Donald J. Trump spoke to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronauts Christa Koch and Jessica Meir during the first all-woman spacewalk from the International Space Station (ISS). Both Koch and Meir were members of NASA’s 2013 astronaut class, half of whom were women. Koch is currently serving on an extended mission to the ISS and is scheduled to achieve the record for the longest stay in space by a woman. The President was joined on the call by Vice President Mike Pence, Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump, and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. [Video Below]
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[Transcript] THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Okay. Thank you very much. I think we’re getting ready to do something very exciting. Jim, do you want to take over?
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: Sure. So this is a —
OPERATOR: Christina and Jessica, please stand by for a call from the President of the United States.
THE PRESIDENT: Where’s my camera?
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: (Laughs.) I guess it’s over to you at this point.
Sir —
THE PRESIDENT: Where’s — where’s my camera? You tell me. (Laughter.) There are a lot of cameras.
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: It is. It’s an exciting day.
THE PRESIDENT: It is.
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: The first all-women spacewalk underway right now. They’re doing very important work. Just so everybody knows, we’re — this is a short window for the downlink, and also they’ve got very busy work to do. They’re on the outside of the station. But what a big day. We’re thrilled to be here, Mr. President. It’s over to you for communicating with them.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I’m thrilled also. And if they’re ready, I’m ready.
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: Okay.
MS. TRUMP: Can we confirm that the link is live?
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: Sir, the link is live.
AIDE: The link is live.
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: The link is live. They’re listening. They are on the outside of the Space Station.
THE PRESIDENT: Station, this is President Donald Trump. Do you hear me?
MS. KOCH: We can hear you.
THE PRESIDENT: That’s great. (Laughter.) (Applause.)
MS. TRUMP: Yes!
THE PRESIDENT: That’s great. I was starting to get worried about you. (Applause.) I was starting to get worried about you. (Laughter.) You’re in an interesting place.
I thought we may have to be — a little emergency work. I don’t think that will ever be necessary with you. The job that you do is incredible.
And I’m here with Vice President Mike Pence, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, and my daughter, Ivanka. We’re thrilled to be speaking live with two brave American astronauts who are making history.
Joining us during their spacewalk outside the International Space Station — and this is the first time for a woman outside of the Space Station — are Flight Engineers Christina Koch and Flight Engineer Jessica Meir.
And I just want to congratulate you. What you do is incredible. It’s so — you’re very brave people. I don’t think I want to do it, I must tell you that. But you are amazing people.
They’re conducting the first-ever female spacewalk to replace an exterior part of the Space Station. They’re doing some work, and they’re doing it in a very high altitude — an altitude that very few people will ever see.
Congratulations, Christina and Jessica, on this historic event. This is truly historic. And you’re right now on television all over the world, so don’t get nervous. (Laughter.)
I’d like to ask you a question: What would you like to tell everyone listening and watching today, especially young women —
DR. MEIR: (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: — who are interested in space?
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: There’s about a four- or five-second delay.
THE PRESIDENT: Ah, okay.
DR. MEIR: Hello. Thank you. First — first of all, we don’t want to take too much credit, because there have been many other female spacewalkers before us. This is just the first time that there have been two women outside at the same time.
And it’s really interesting for us. We’ve talked a lot about it up here. You know, for us, this is really just us doing our job. It’s something we’ve been training for, for six years, and preparing for. And so, it didn’t really, you know — for us, it’s just coming out here and doing our job today. And we were the — we were the crew that was tasked with this assignment.
At the same time, we recognize that it is a historic achievement, and we do, of course, want to give credit to all of those that came before us. There has been a long line of female scientists, explorers, engineers, and astronauts, and we have followed in their footsteps to get us where we are today.
We hope that we can provide an inspiration to everybody, not only (inaudible), but to everybody that has a dream and has a big dream and that is willing to work hard to make that dream come true — something that all of us that have made our way up here have done all throughout our lives. And I can tell you, the hard work certainly did pay off.
I’ve only been up here a few weeks, actually — about three weeks I’ve been in space — and this is my first flight and my very first spacewalk. So it is a pretty incredible feeling. I’m sure you can all imagine. And it’s one that I will never forget.
I’m extremely fortunate to be sharing this moment with Christina Koch, who’s not only my colleague, but also a very, very close and dear friend.
So it’s really our honor to be out here working today and to be representing whatever it is that’s significant to whatever — whatever individuals’ desires and hearts.
Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, Christina and Jessica, I would like to, if I could, just thank you. Jessica, I know that you’ve been doing this and you’ve been working hard. And, Christina, I’ve studied your résumé. It’s really incredible what you’ve done, what you’ve both done. Your lives have been incredible. And now you’re in a place that, as I said, very few people will ever get that experience. You’re doing an incredible job.
This is a first step — because we’re going to the Moon, and then we’re going to Mars. We’re launching from the Moon most likely. They seem to think that’s the best way of doing it, Jim. So we’re launching from the Moon.
And I just want to congratulate you both. You’re very brave, brilliant women, and you represent this country so well. And our country is very proud of you, and we are very proud of you. Millions and millions of people are watching you right now. But I will tell you: What you do is really something very special.
So, first the Moon, and then we go to Mars. Thank you both very much. Have a good time.
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: I’m wondering if we might have lost the link at this time.
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t know. Maybe they didn’t like my message. (Laughter.) Could be.
Anyway, two great women. Two great people. And, you know, it’s a big danger. Not easy. It’s not an easy thing to do. A lot of people would take a pass on that one. But they’re great women.
OPERATOR: Back to the scoop.
THE PRESIDENT: I think I heard that.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: There’s the link.
THE PRESIDENT: That’s the link.
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: Oh, that’s the link.
THE PRESIDENT: That’s the end of the link. So they heard my message and they tried to respond and — (laughter) —
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: It’s space.
MS. TRUMP: Not the easiest of phone calls. (Laughs.)
THE PRESIDENT: I assume they’re okay. I assume they’re okay. Anyway, they’re actually outside of the ship. So that’s something. Right? That’s the first time it’s —
MS. TRUMP: The first time since 1969 that a President has spoken to astronauts outside of the spaceship. So, it’s incredible.
THE PRESIDENT: That was a great — that was a great — it’s a great thing. And when are they coming back? What’s the timing?
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: So each one is different. Christina Koch is actually going to be — have the longest single endurance mission. So she’s going to be on the Space Station for, I think, it’s a little — about 10 months, which the longest
THE PRESIDENT: Wow.
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: — we’ve ever had a woman on the Space Station ever.
THE PRESIDENT: What’s the longest for a man?
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: Three hundred and forty five days. So —
THE PRESIDENT: So why don’t you have the woman break the record?
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: Well, we have a very tight schedule when it comes to windows to get back and forth to the International Space Station. But that’s within the realm of what is possible. We’re working on schedules, sir.
MS. TRUMP: And next, a woman on the Moon, right?
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: That’s right. The — by direction of the President, we will have the first man — or, I should say, the first woman and next man on the south pole of the Moon will be Americans. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: And what’s your timing on that?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we better not say it too fast. Get it done before you talk about it. (Laughter.)
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: Okay. Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Okay. Go ahead.
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: The goal is 2024, sir. We’re at — if all things go according to plan, 2024 is within the realm of what is possible. And we’re working hard to make that a reality.
THE PRESIDENT: And because of the fact that we’ve been there, as I have said to you many times — we’ve been there, a long time ago — it’s really being done as a launch for Mars. Is that correct?
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: That’s right. We’re building a habitat in orbit around the Moon — a space station, in orbit around the Moon. And that will be launching in 2022.
And once that is deployed, that will be modified into a Mars ship that will take us all the way to Mars. And between now and then, we want to build a sustainable architecture at the Moon. We need to learn how to live and work on another world for long periods of time. And then, we go to Mars. Because when you go to Mars — Earth and Mars, we’re only aligned on the same side of the Sun once every 24 months — or 26 months. What that means is we have to be willing to stay.
THE PRESIDENT: Right.
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: We need to learn how to live and work on another world.
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, I see. Yeah. Right.
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: So that’s what the Moon is all about.
THE PRESIDENT: That’s going to be very interesting. Well, it’s very exciting. Exciting times. And that whole program was dead when I took it over, when we came into office. And something that Mike liked very much and I liked very much. And you’re both doing a fantastic job. And everybody is doing a fantastic job. It’s been totally reinvigorated, I think, to a level that it’s never been at.
And we’re also thinking in terms of defense. We have the Space Force happening. That’s going along very nicely, as you know. We’re creating a new force, and it’s called the “Space Force.” And that’s a big thing. And that’ll be working along very closely with you. So that’s beyond going to the Moon and Mars. That’s also defense of our nation, which is very important.
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: That’s right. Anywhere there’s commerce, it needs to be defended. And we are industrializing space. It’s going to be an export for the United States. And that’s going to be very positive. In fact, it already is. We need to grow it. And so we’re working very hard to commercialize it, make it an export. And, of course, that requires it to be defended just like the high seas for trade.
THE PRESIDENT: That’s fantastic. Thank you very much. Great job.
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: Thank you, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much, everybody. That was very exciting. And these are two great people. And they put themselves at risk for our nation and because they love doing it. And there are few people that have the ability to something like that, I will say that. It takes a great ability.
So thank you all for being here. It’s very nice. Thank you.
Q Mr. President, do you mind clarifying what Mick Mulvaney said yesterday? Was the aid —
THE PRESIDENT: I think he — I think he clarified it.
Q — to Ukraine contingent upon investigating the Democrats?
THE PRESIDENT: And I do have to say this: We, yesterday, had a tremendous day in Texas. We opened a Louis Vuitton plant. One of the great brands of the world. And they opened it right in the heart of Texas. Lone Star State. And then, we went over to Dallas and had an event like few people have ever seen. We had a packed arena with thousands and thousands of people outside. It was an incredible evening. Got back very, very late.
I did actually get to hear about Ambassador Kent. This is the witch hunt, you know. Their — their Crooked Schiff is coming after the Republican Party. He’s coming after the Republican Party as hard as he can, considering he’s really — he’s been compromised very sadly and badly because of the fact, as you know — I think, as the press knows — he made a statement and he made a virtual speech about what I said, and then it turned out that I didn’t say any of it because he fraudulently made this statement to Congress.
I thought what he did was one of the worst things. I understand he has immunity, but he doesn’t have immunity when he puts it on his Twitter, which he did. And he doesn’t have immunity when he speaks to press, which he did. And he certainly won’t have immunity if we ever get him into Congress and can swear him under oath. Because what he did was a very bad thing.
But what just happened is, Ambassador Kent — who I have never had the privilege, I don’t believe, of meeting; I don’t know him — and they brought him in as a witness against me, even though I don’t know him. And he excoriated, from what they reported on the news — and, of course, maybe, in this case, it won’t be fake news — but he excoriated the Obama administration and Joe Biden and Joe Biden’s son, saying that he has tremendous problems — tremendous problems with Joe Biden’s son and the Ukraine.
So he’s got tremendous problems with Biden’s son and Ukraine. And it’s inappropriate. And all of the horrible things — I mean, you could get it; you could see it. It’s been a big deal. And I heard Schiff is going, “No, no. We don’t want to talk about that. We don’t want to talk about that.” But he talked about it. And it’s one of those things. So, this is a terrible witch hunt. This is so bad for our country.
I just spoke to President Erdoğan of Turkey. We’re doing very, very well with Turkey. There’s a ceasefire, or a pause, or whatever you want to call it. There was some sniper fire this morning. There was mortar fire this morning that was eliminated quickly. And they’re back to the full pause.
We have ISIS totally under guard. Turkey is also guarding, separately. They’re watching over everything. So you have the Kurds, who we’re dealing with and are very happy about the way things are going, I must say. The Kurds. And you also have the Turks watching, just secondarily watching. So we have ISIS under control.
We’ve taken control of the oil in the Middle East, the oil that we’re talking about; the oil that everybody was worried about. We have — the U.S. has control of that. And there are no shots being fired. And a lot of people are doing a lot of things.
This is a deal that should have been made 15 years ago, 10 years ago, over the last number of years, under the Obama administration. The real number is over a million people were killed. We have lost no — not a drop of blood since we’ve started what I’ve started. And it was — so far, it’s working out.
Look, it’s a complicated region. Many, many people have gone down. I have to watch in great interest as I see people talking about what we should be doing. And these are the same people that have been failing for the last 20 years, didn’t know what they were doing, especially when they went in and did what they did. They shouldn’t have been there.
But we’re doing a very, very significant amount of great work. We’ll see if it works. It’s very fragile. It’s been fragile for years. They’ve been fighting each other for centuries. Literally, for centuries, they’ve been fighting each other. And years ago, we injected ourselves right into the middle of it. And we won’t go into whether or not that was a good thing or a bad thing. You know how I feel about it.
But we’ve had tremendous success, I think, over the last couple of days. A little bit unconventional, a little bit of hard love. I told you that. A little — there was a lot — a lot of pain for a couple of days. And sometimes you have to go through some pain before you can get a good solution. But the Kurds are very happy about it. President Erdoğan and Turkey is satisfied with it. And we are in a very strong position.
We are also in a position where we can put tremendous, powerful sanctions on Turkey or whoever else we want to. Our country is a financially much stronger country than when I took it over. China would have been, right now, the strongest economy in the world, the number-one economy in the world. And right now, China is way behind us. We picked up trillions of dollars in value, in worth. And they’ve lost trillions and trillions of dollars. And they’re having the worst year they’ve had in 57 years.
With that being said, we’re working with China very well. We’ve done, subject to getting it signed — and I think it will get signed quite easily, hopefully by the summit in Chile, where President Xi and I will both be.
But a lot of good things are happening. Our farmers are taken care of. Our bankers and financial services are going to have access, the likes of which they’ve never had to — the largest or second largest, depending on your definitions. About 1.4 billion people, population, whether it’s India or China. They’re pretty close. And we’ve done some great things.
So, we had — but, I just want to say, I want to thank the people of Dallas and the people of Fort Worth and the people of Texas, because yesterday was incredible.
I want to thank Bernard Arnault, one of the great businessmen of the world, for agreeing to do something that was a first. He’s built this incredible plant right in our great state of Texas. And they’re going to make super luxury and super product. They have already started. It’s opened. A big investment. And we’re very proud of it.
That was done with me and with the election with — even prior to the election, I said, “You have to open up a plant someplace in the United States.” He said, “What do you think about Texas?” I said, “I love Texas. That would be good.” And I said, “If you do it, I’ll be there.” And so I fulfilled that commitment. But he opened up a beautiful plant. We think over 1,000 people will soon be working there.
So, thank you all very much. Yesterday was a big day. We had a great talk with President Erdoğan, and it’s going very well. Thank you very much.
“With today’s first all-woman spacewalk on the International Space Station led by NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir, America once again sets a precedent for women to lead in human space exploration. Today’s historic effort continues to lay the foundation for our Artemis program when the first woman and next man walk on the surface of the Moon in preparation for the next giant leap – sending astronauts to Mars.” – NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
Energy Secretary Rick Perry appears on Fox News to discuss his departure as Secretary of Energy from the administration.
Additionally, Secretary Perry shoots down the talking points about Ukraine outlining how the administration was working throughout 2017, 2018 and 2019 to ensure corruption was addressed in order to advance the U.S. and Ukraine relationship.
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
Against the backdrop of the DOJ admitting FBI investigators never had access to the DNC servers to verify a Russian hack; and with new information about the FBI receiving partial and redacted analysis from Crowdstrike; the review by U.S. Attorney John Durham toward the downstream assessment/claims of the CIA takes on new meaning.
Holy Cats!! sound on….. 
Centinel2012 