Chopper pressers are the best pressers. As the president departed the White House for Camp David, President Trump stops to deliver remarks on ongoing events to the assembled press pool.  [Video Below – Transcript will Follow]

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Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor, Peter Brown, will accompany the President to Camp David this weekend to provide regular updates on Hurricane Dorian. Also traveling with the President were Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Senior Advisor for Digital Strategy Dan Scavino and Press Secretary/Communications Director Stephanie Grisham

I must admit at first I was going to present this as a “Friday Funny“, because the statement is a nomination for this year’s Captain Obvious Award.

“Domestic politics could drive Britain out of the EU”…  Gee, ya think?

Well, duh.  Of course it’s those pesky British domestics, those vulgarian masses, that are driving Britain out of the EU.  It is stunning to see a person say that out loud as if there was some other mysterious force that could have created the Brexit referendum.

However, beyond the stupid humor of the comment, and believe me it had me in stitches for more than a few moments, Tusk’s outlook actually opens a window into the knuckleheaded collective mindset that exists within the EU:

“The main political problem with Brexit is the situation inside Britain … the emotions related to this show that we are all victims of Britain’s internal politics.” (link)

Perhaps it’s just because we are inherently American, that this outlook, this collective elitism as highlighted by Donald Tusk, just seems to personify everything wrong with their entire assembly.   The Tusks of the EU just cannot fathom a system of government where the people actually get to determine their own future.  It’s remarkable to watch and hear.

EU President Donald Tusk was never elected by people, he was appointed by a technocratic system filled with central-planning bureaucrats.   At the most basic of cognitive capabilities, the Tusks writ large cannot understand individual liberty, individual freedom, self-determination, etc.

Not only can they not comprehend it, the very fiber of their DNA has no connection to the concept of individualism.   The elitism within the modern EU is ridiculous.

The IG report on the behavior of FBI Director James Comey clearly validated President Trump’s 2017 decision to fire him.   Mr. Comey is described as a highly self-interested person within the department who saw himself above all rules applied to others.

Today, President Trump tweeted about the IG findings:

From the CTH review of the report content, there is absolutely no doubt James Comey used his memos akin to FD-302 investigative reports from an FBI agent. Meaning, from beginning-to-end James Comey considered himself an investigative agent against the President-elect and then President Trump.

Note: From Comey making a record of his encounter with the target, President-elect Trump, should be: “treated like FISA derived information in a counterintelligence investigation.”

This outlook highlights James Comey’s disposition.  During this January 6th operation, Comey was an active FBI agent gathering evidence for later use. The collected intelligence would be shared with the FBI team via memo #1.

Remember the Lisa Page Texts from the same date?

The FBI likely redacted almost all of that text because it outlines the distribution of the evidence Comey was collecting. Comey’s memos were essentially FD-302 reports, and the officials within the DOJ and FBI didn’t want that exposed. The Lisa Page text was heavily redacted because it would have shown the January 6th encounter was an operation against Trump.

Every encounter, and every aspect of every action within that encounter, was conducted in what Comey perceived as an official investigative capacity.

President Trump was the target of Comey’s operations and he wrote his memos as investigative notes therein. Example: Comey ran the January 6th, 2017, operation:

So the “small group”: Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Baker, Priestap, Rybicki, et al, were running a counterintelligence operation against the incoming administration.

There are parts of the IG report highlighting a stunning amount of self-interest.

Example: Who made the decision(s) about what “was” or what “was not” classified? Or, put another way: who was making the internal decisions about Comey’s exposure to legal risk for sharing his investigative notes (memos) outside the department?

The answer is the same “small group” who were carrying out the operation:

James Baker, Peter Strzok, Andrew McCabe, James Rybicki and Lisa Page were determining what parts of James Comey’s investigative notes needed to be classified.

The corrupt FBI was in position to police itself. This is not a conflict of interest, it is better described as a profound conflict of self-interest.

The information the ‘small group‘ wanted to use to frame the target would be visible, not classified; however, any material that would outline the construct of their corruption in targeting the target would be hidden, classified. You can’t make this stuff up folks.

The “small group” WAS the sources and methods they were protecting.  They were protecting themselves.

Everything needed to understand that level of corruption is outlined in the way the IG report discusses the handling of James Comey’s investigative notes (ie. memos). AND the fact that James Comey kept them hidden, yes hidden. Read this stuff:

First, “no hard copies of any of the memos were found in Comey’s FBI office.”:

So, if the memos were not held in Director James Comey’s official FBI office, the next logical question is where were they?

Well, when Special Agents went to James Comey’s house, he still kept them hidden and never informed the agents:

It is worth noting James Rybicki went to Comey’s house along with three supervisory special agents to pick up FBI property.  Prior to this event Comey had already given Rybicki the memos as evidence in the case against Trump.  However, neither Comey not Rybicki told the SSA’s about the physical copies of the memos at the residence.

If Mr. Altruism, James Comey, was simply fulfilling the duty of a concerned and dedicated FBI Director, why not tell the FBI agents -picking up FBI records- that he had copies of FBI investigative notes in his “personal safe” while they were there?

What honorable justification exists for keeping them hidden from valid investigators?

Obviously we are not the only ones able to see the sketchy nature of this construct. In fact, an internal FBI whistleblower came forward soon after that search of Comey’s home to request official “whistleblower status protection” from the IG.

Think logically…. What would prompt someone inside the FBI; who at some point gained access to the Comey memos; to request ‘whistleblower protected status’?

Doesn’t the “whistleblower request” itself indicate the requesting FBI official saw something nefarious in the way this was all going down?

Who was that ‘whistleblower’?

Well, it has to be someone who actually gained possession of those memos right?…. this is not a big group. Second, we only need to read a few more pages of the IG report to see who it was:

The “whistleblower” was almost certainly the Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) described in page 38 as above.

The memos were “stored” in a “reception area“, and in locked drawers in James Rybicki’s office. [“Drawer safes” are silly FBI legal terms for fancy locked drawers] Also note…

“Reception area“? “May 15th“?

Well, (#1) apparently no-one wanted to admit their knowledge of the hot potato of investigative evidence (Comey memos).  That admission would outline them as participatory members in carrying out the targeting of then President Trump.

Those investigative notes (memos) were not in “the office of the FBI Director” on May 10th, when the SSAs were there searching the last time,… for some mysterious reason.. they, uh,… well, they were discovered… in the “reception area“… yeah, yeah, that’s the ticket! Right under the four month old copy of People Magazine, n’ stuff.

….ARE YOU FRIGGIN’ KIDDING ME WITH THIS?

…AND (#2) the very next morning, using the copies of the memos that were left hidden in Comey’s residence, GUESS what happened?…

Now we see why the FBI Supervisory Special Agent in charge in charge of inventorying Comey records asked the IG for official “whistleblower status.”

The SSA agent was surrounded warning signs of corruption in the FBI executive suites.  On May 10th, they were kept hidden.  On May 12th they were kept hidden.  On May 15th Rybicki finally told the SSA where they were; and on May 16th Comey told his friend Daniel Richman to leak the content to the New York Times.

Of course the SSA in charge of inventorying Comey’s records gave the Inspector General the seven memos, asked for whistleblower protection, and likely explained to the IG the way they were handled and produced by FBI officials was extremely concerning.

Today President Trump is participating in the formal establishment of US Space Command as a unified combatant command, ie. “space force”.

The President is expected to deliver public remarks for the first time since returning from the G-7 Summit in France and since the Justice Department Inspector General released the report on former FBI Director James Comey’s handling of the Russia investigation. Anticipated Start time 4:15pm EST

WH Livestream Link – Fox News Livestream Link – Fox Business Livestream

Reports today about FBI raids on the homes of United Auto Workers (UAW) President Gary Jones who is under investigation in a nationwide corruption sweep.

MICHIGAN – FBI and IRS agents raided the home of UAW President Gary Jones in metro Detroit early Wednesday as part of a nationwide sweep of sites tied to the autoworker union.

Agents also raided the California home of Dennis Williams, who preceded Jones as UAW chief; the union’s northern Michigan conference center; and additional UAW locations in Wisconsin and Missouri.

The raids were a major step as federal officials ramped up their corruption investigation of the autoworkers union — which is in the midst of contract negotiations with Detroit automakers.

As many as a dozen agents collected evidence from Jones’ home on Wildrose Drive in Canton, and would remain there “as long as it takes,” Special Agent Mara Schneider said from the site late in the morning. The search lasted six hours. (read more)

An interesting article in the South China Morning Post outlines how Chinese companies producing everything from canned mandarin oranges, to mid and high-tier furniture, cannot sustain a business model without access to the U.S. market.

Their problem?…

In essence, when they established their decades-old business model the overwhelming majority of their manufacturing was/is contingent on U.S. buyers.

Right now those Chinese companies are praying the CCP central government keeps devaluing their currency, because U.S. purchasers, including wholesalers and intermediaries, have told those manufacturers they will not pay the import duties.

Apparently, U.S. corporate buyers are leveraging the pressure applied by President Trump – a remarkable dynamic.

This was in response to China’s move earlier on Friday to impose retaliatory tariffs of between 5 and 10 per cent on US$75 billion worth of American products, including soybeans, pork, and, for the first time, crude oil. China also reinstated the 25 per cent penalty duty on imports of US-made cars and car parts, bringing the total tariff on the sector to 40 per cent.

[…] “In the case of medium-and high-end furniture, even with the addition of tariffs, it is still impossible to find substitute markets for our products,” said Xie Jun, a furniture exporter in Haining, a city in Zhejiang province where hundreds of furniture factories make goods for export to the US.

[…] “For Chinese exporters, it is useless to be afraid because there is nowhere to hide. We can only rely on the wisdom and countermeasures of the central government,” he said, adding that as long as Beijing can maintain employment levels and prevent the housing market from collapsing, “we are not afraid”. (read more)

The Eagle and the Arrow – An Aesop’s Fable

An Eagle was soaring through the air. Suddenly it heard the whizz of an Arrow, and felt the dart pierce its breast. Slowly it fluttered down to earth. Its lifeblood pouring out. Looking at the Arrow with which it had been shot, the Eagle realized that the deadly shaft had been feathered with one of its own plumes.

Moral: We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.

HatTip DaveNyiii – Shocking video has surfaced (via Voice of America) of Mexican military police battling today with swarms of African migrants outside an immigration detention center in Tapachula, Mexico.  WATCH:

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How do African nationals get to Mexico?

[…]  J. Antonio Fernandez, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of San Antonio. These new arrivals hail from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola—two countries with no strong historic ties to the United States. (link)

It’s the business end of illegal immigration.  Previous background here.

The efforts of the Wall Street pundits and financial class to talk the American consumer into creating a recession is failing. The Consumer Confidence Index remains at historic highs as U.S. workers/consumers are confident in their economic position. Yes, Main Street USA is optimistic about current and future expectations.

The Consumer Assessment Index, a measure of the percentage of consumers claiming business conditions are “good”, increased from 39.9 percent to 42.0; and the Present Situation Index is now at its highest level in nearly 19 years (Nov. 2000, 179.7).

These are all key indicators because the U.S. consumer is the engine of our economy.  The U.S. consumer generates over two-thirds of our GDP activity through purchases.  One of the strengths of the U.S. economy is our internal self-sufficiency; approximately 80 percent of all consumer goods created in the U.S. are purchased in the U.S. by U.S. consumers [we are not reliant on exports to sustain growth].

A strong jobs market means higher wages and benefits; those higher wages lead to more purchasing…. the purchasing demand leads to more manufacturing, competition and innovative product creation… which leads to more job openings, which creates upward pressure on wages.

The U.S. economic growth is a strongly self-sustaining process so long as the consumer is optimistic about the future.

This dynamic is exactly why corporate media pundits, pushing the preferred message of Wall Street, are attempting to convince the U.S. consumer that a recession is coming.

Those who oppose a strong Main Street are attempting to create a self-fulfilling prophecy.