CTH has discussed the likelihood of DOJ action against Google previously.  Yesterday AG Barr also mentioned in an interview with Senator Ted Cruz that he was likely to have the final DOJ investigation on his desk for a decision within the next few months.

Today Politico is reporting on some of the background DOJ activity which aligns with Bill Barr’s statements and our own research assembly.

WASHINGTON – Justice Department prosecutors expect to file an antitrust lawsuit against Google in the coming months focused on the company’s dominance in online advertising and search, two individuals familiar with the discussions said Friday.

DOJ lawyers and state antitrust officials met online Friday and discussed contours of the expected complaint, according to the people, who weren’t authorized to speak on the record because the investigation is ongoing.

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Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross appears on Fox News with Stuart Varney to discuss a change in federal hiring policy.  However, within the interview Ross notes some key economic data that has a very solid predictor value for economic growth.

Both the spending rates and the savings rates for Americans are at all time highs.  The COVID-19 lockdown has limited purchase options, leading to less initial spending; however, consumers have a lot of recent cash reserve as shown in their rate of savings.

Ross is right, within this dynamic, as soon as economic limits are removed, the spending will boost the economy very quickly.

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U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr sat down for an important discussion with Texas Senator Ted Cruz for the Verdict podcast.  AG Barr discusses the recent riots and the ongoing effort to prosecute those engaging in violence and destruction of property.

Additionally, AG Barr also discusses the Big Tech censorship issue in combination with ongoing anti-trust investigations that will reach his desk for decision this summer.

Another important note surrounds AG Barr putting the date for Peter Strzok’s notes as January 5, 2017, following FBI Director James Comey’s pull-aside meeting at the White House with President Obama, VP Biden, Susan Rice and Sally Yates.

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Michael Flynn’s attorney Sidney Powell appears with Maria Bartiromo to provide insight into the DC Circuit Appellate court ordering the dismissal of the Flynn case. One of the key points Ms. Powell draws attention to is that her client was targeted.  Within that targeting there’s a criminal conspiracy.

In hindsight it is very clear the White House, DOJ and FBI knew they were treading on thin ice. Susan Rice’s memo to file is clearly a CYA memo for the White House. James Comey’s memos are clearly a CYA effort for his participation. Bill Priestap kept his own notes reflecting his CYA; and Peter Strzok’s notes appear to have the same motivation.

Additionally, when the special counsel was put into place, Andrew McCabe’s memos to self are clearly written from a CYA perspective. They knew what they were doing was wrong.

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House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes appears on Lou Dobbs to discuss the latest developments in the ‘Spygate’ investigation, John Durham, AG Bill Barr and ultimately the SDNY moves involving Geoffrey Berman.

Lou Dobbs gets the big picture; if the political left is allowed to manipulate the 2020 election, and steal a presidential contest, the ramifications will be so serious the potential for the fabric of our nation to completely tear is quite possible.  On a positive note, AG Bill Barr has made similar points in his conversation.

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U.S. Dept of Justice Attorney General Bill Barr appeared on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo for an extensive interview on current events. [Two part video below]

Part 1 – Racism, policing and police reform:

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Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Paul Howard Jr., held a press conference earlier this afternoon to announce eleven charges against police officer Garrett Wolfe for the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks.  The shooting took place at a local Atlanta Wendys.

In what appears to be a decision heavily influenced by local politics, DA Howard is charging officer Garrett Wolfe with felony murder; an unlawful killing with malice, forethought and specific intent.  It looks like Howard is purposefully making a mess.

During his press remarks the district attorney stated Mr. Rayshard Brooks was “calm, cordial and really displayed a cooperative nature – he was almost jovial” after he was found “peacefully sleeping” in his car outside the Wendy’s Friday night and subjected to a sobriety test.  According to the DA “for 41 minutes and 17 seconds, [Brooks] followed their instructions, he answered the questions,” Howard said. “Mr. Brooks was never informed that he was under arrest for driving under the influence.”

There is something rather unusual about the way DA Paul Howard framed the encounter between the police and Rayshard Brooks, because CCTV video and body-cam footage do not support the district attorney’s version of events.  Obviously in a courtroom the defense is going to replay the DA statements while they run simultaneous footage of Mr. Rayshard Brooks resisting arrest, fighting with police and ultimately taking one of the officers’ tasers to use as a weapon.

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Timing is everything…

When NBC published their background conversation with Google yesterday the media outlet made a big legal mistake.  NBC not only outlined the mechanics of a racketeering and antitrust violation, via Google’s power to control on-line ad revenue as a weapon to target NBC’s competition, but NBC outlined the actual collaborative communication.

NBC did the worst thing possible, they published the quotes from Google’s response to them where Google willingly accepted the request from NBC without pause.  The collusion was not only clear, it was self admitted.  What made the issue more explosive was the NBC article explained the motives of both organizations; the targeting was intentional and specific.  The goal was to take-down The Federalist news outlet by removing their revenue. There was no ambiguity of purpose, and Google knowingly agreed with the intent.

Within hours of realizing the consequences of the publication, the legal offices of NBC and Google both activated and attempted damage control.  The NBC article was completely rewritten and the communication between them and Google –as quoted– was removed.  For its part Google published a statement saying no action had been taken, and later they professed no action would be taken.  However, the damage was already done.

NBC’s hubris put both Google and NBC in the sunlight of their own admissions.

Google’s monopoly control of internet ad revenue made their agreement with NBC to target a competitor a transparent, and admitted, antitrust violation.  Without question, that stark admission is what triggered the timing of the DOJ public statement today.

The DOJ needs congress to take action, modify the law, and update the outdated immunity for online platforms under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996.

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In his opening monologue today Fox host Tucker Carlson took on the subject of Google and their control over 70% of all on-line advertising revenue.   Within the very accurate segment, Carlson noted that Utah Senator Mike Lee is in charge of the antitrust subcommittee and yet does nothing, absolutely nothing, to stop the authoritarian demonetization and deplatforming action carried out through the monopoly Google holds.

No single issue will do more damage to the reelection efforts of President Trump than allowing Google to carry out their political agenda. However, that accepted, that’s also the motive for the Senate and DOJ to do nothing. This is a good, honest and painful segment:

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Earlier today the DOJ filed a civil action [see pdf here] against former National Security Advisor John Bolton for refusing to comply with the classified intelligence review prior to publishing a book.  [DOJ FILING LINK]  Perpetual warmonger John Bolton worked as NSA to President Trump from April 2018 to September 2019.

Bolton was always an odd pick for National Security Advisor given his propensity to advance mid-east wars and advocacy for military strikes against North Korea.

…”On June 7, 2020, without Defendant giving any prior notice to the NSC, press reports revealed that Defendant and his publisher had resolved to release the book on June 23, without completing the pre-publication review process. Subsequent correspondence with Defendant’s attorney confirmed that public reporting.

Simply put, Defendant struck a bargain with the United States as a condition of his employment in one of the most sensitive and important national security positions in the United States Government and now wants to renege on that bargain by unilaterally deciding that the prepublication review process is complete and deciding for himself whether classified information should be made public.”… (pdf)

An embed of the lawsuit is below:

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