Representative Jim Jordan is a good guy and a great congressman, immensely so, but “hoping to see” is not a successful strategy. We are in a moment of great consequence. Act or be acted upon. Do, or do not, there can be no room for try. [More on that later]
Jordan outlines his view on the John Durham investigation, and gives his perspective on the time-frame for the completion of that review.
White House Trade and Manufacturing Advisor Peter Navarro appears for a Sunday interview to discuss how Joe Biden lifted most of his trade platform from President Trump’s America-Fist initiative.
Much ado is being made over President Trump wearing a mask while visiting wounded soldiers and veterans at Walter Reed hospital earlier today. It seems a little silly to build a media narrative around taking precautions in the #1 place you would take prudent precautions, but whatever. It’s always better with theme music:
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President Trump was accompanied by: Colonel Andrew Barr, Director, WRNMMC; Master Chief Randy Swanson; Command Master Chief Captain Gerard Woelkers, NMRTC Commander; Colonel Marion Jefferson, Troop Command; and Sergeant Major Jeffrey Zak, Command Sergeant Major.
Chopper pressers are the best pressers. President Trump stops to give brief remarks to the assembled press pool as he departs the White House heading to Walter Reed hospital to visit wounded troops and veterans. [Video and Transcript]
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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. It’s very hot. It’s very hot.
So we’re going to Walter Reed Hospital, and we’re going to be seeing soldiers — our great heroes, our wounded, and some badly wounded. And they’re incredibly brave and great people. And we’re going to see also the warriors on the frontline of COVID, and quite a few of them. And we’re going to spend some good time with them, and I look forward to doing it. And it’ll be my honor to be there.
Q What is your message by wearing a mask today?
During a roundtable discussion on the future of Venezuela, Cuban immigrant Maximo Alverez shares a warning about current political events in the United States from his own experience in Cuba.
[Video and Transcript Below] – Note: Audio improves as video progresses.
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[Transcript] – Maximo Alverez: Listen, before I start, I need to first thank you for your sacrifice and the job you have done. And I also want to make sure that we understand that you are surrounded with very good people here in the State of Florida. And just to mention a few, we have the best Governor and Lieutenant governor in DeSantis and Jeanette Nunez. We have the best two senators in Mario, Mario is a congressman, but the two senators, Scott and Marco.
Earlier today Sidney Powell filed a new supplemental brief (#2) [pdf here] in support of the unopposed motion to dismiss. The supplement covers the defense position on the newly released information from USAO Jeff Jensen which includes: notes taken by Tash Guahar at a January 25, 2017 briefing; the FBI work product that was an outcome of that briefing; and later notes by acting DAG Dana Boente.
The notes and FBI briefing summary are also on pdf here and embedded below. It’s a lot of granular information to consider – so it’s worth beginning with the filing by Sidney Powell to see how the evidence released pertains to the current status of the case.
On January 25, 2017, the day after Flynn was interviewed by FBI Agent Peter Strzok and FBI Agent Joe Pientka (he’s the redacted name per his status under an ongoing protective order) the DOJ and FBI group assembled to discuss the Flynn interview and what steps they would take to frame Michael Flynn as part of their ongoing resistance operation.
Tashina Guahar from the DOJ-National Security Division was taking the notes.
Notes of then Deputy Assistant Attorney General Tashina Gauhar, reveal a January 25, 2017, meeting of ten officials including FBI General Counsel James Baker, Bill Priestap, Agent Peter Strzok, and [redacted]; from the National Security Division of DOJ: Mary McCord, George ZT, and STU; from the Office of the Deputy AG: Tash, Scott [Schools], and [redacted].
Additionally, when reviewing the notes and FBI briefing summary it’s worth remembering the release only covers the information pertinent to Michael Flynn; hence the non-Flynn material is redacted (even though some of the non-Flynn material we previously found). [Thanks to Techno Fog for that reminder]
One of the key aspects to the notes taken by Tashina Guahar relates to the group discussion of their own leaking of information to the media, which they worried had now alerted the Trump administration to the nature of their intelligence surveillance.
The resistance group’s media leaks, intended to undermine the Trump administration, “changed the dynamic” by informing the White House that FBI agents were intercepting communication from White House officials.
This evening a Washington DC appeals court denied an emergency request from Roger Stone to delay the start of his 40-month prison term for bragging to congress. The court said Stone had not proved he was in particular danger of catching COVID-19 in prison.
The court decision assured that Mr. Stone would have to surrender to federal correctional offices in Georgia. However, the White House is now confirming that President Trump has contacted Mr. Stone to notify him his sentence has been commuted.
WHITE HOUSE – Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Grant of Clemency commuting the unjust sentence of Roger Stone, Jr.
Roger Stone is a victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency.
The DC circuit court has requested a response from Michael Flynn’s counsel (and/or DOJ), by July 20th, regarding the petition filed by Judge Emmet Sullivan for a full panel en banc review of the mandamus order. The prior mandamus order required Sullivan to accept the unopposed motion to dismiss the case. [pdf here]
Notably the court is not permitting a re-response from Sullivan (implying they have enough information) only a brief reply from Sidney Powell, and inviting a brief response from the DOJ as appropriate. In the interim the writ of mandamus (Rao order) is stayed until the court decides whether to grant the en banc review.
In short: •Petition response (from Powell and/or DOJ) requested by July 20th. •No counter petition allowed. •Judge Rao mandamus order stayed. •Court *may* consider (vote on) en banc review pending petition response.
President Trump delivers remarks during a briefing at U.S. Southern Command. [Video and Transcript Below]
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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. I guess I might begin. It’s an honor to be with you and really brave men and women. The job you do is incredible, and the progress that you’ve made in the last short period of time has been unbelievable.
Today, President Trump visited the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) in Doral, Florida for a briefing on increased efforts to stop the flow of deadly drugs coming into the country. You might remember, earlier this year, President Trump directed his administration to begin conducting enhanced counternarcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere.
To conduct these operations, President Trump directed the deployment of additional ships, aircraft, and security forces to assist in the mission. Later, the Secretary of Defense ordered units of the Selected Reserve into active duty to support forces already engaged in this mission. These military deployments in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific will continue to counter the threat posed by illegal narcotics trafficking and criminal groups.
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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you very much. (Applause.) And thank you to our great Admiral Faller. Thank you also to all of the exceptional leaders and talents that we have in this room. U.S. Southern Command is just an outstanding group of people. Thank you very much — very much, Admiral