Fox News Catherine Herridge reports today, per her FBI investigative sources, it was an investigative interview with FBI Attorney Lisa Page, in July 2017, that contradicted FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and ultimately led to his firing.

That revelation is exactly what we anticipated was the origin to Inspector General Michael Horowitz gaining the text messages between Lisa Page and Peter Strzok.  The issue is actually more stunning than presented.  However, first here’s the report from Herridge (emphasis mine):

Fox News – Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was fired last month for committing three violations of the bureau’s ethics code, an investigative source told Fox News on Thursday.

The violations initially were uncovered by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General and confirmed by the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility. They included lack of candor under oath, lack of candor when not under oath, and the improper disclosure of non-public information to the media about the FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation.

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As CTH has continued to remind, on the issue of confronting China’s trade practices, President Trump will not back down:

WHITE HOUSE – Following a thorough investigation under section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) determined that China has repeatedly engaged in practices to unfairly obtain Americas intellectual property. The practices detailed in the USTRs investigation have caused concern around the world. Chinas illicit trade practices ignored for years by Washington have destroyed thousands of American factories and millions of American jobs. On April 3, 2018, the USTR announced approximately $50 billion in proposed tariffs on imports from China as an initial means to obtain the elimination of policies and practices identified in the investigation.

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Yesterday U.S. Trade Represenative Robert Lighthizer and Mexico’s Minister Ildefonso Guajardo met in Washington DC for a bilateral discussion. Likely one of the key avenues for Lighthizer to explore surrounded the upcoming election of a hardline Marxist in Mexico and how Guajardo views the impact to Mexican policy therein.

At this point it’s virtually guaranteed that Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will win the election – I would VERY strongly bet on that outcome (likelihood 85%).  That puts a Hugo Chavez type ideologue, and the attached economic policies, at our southern border. [Pro-Tip: prepare your business affairs accordingly now, and avoid the chaos later]

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland arrived in Washington DC today to join Lighthizer and Guajardo and expand the informal discussion toward a trilateral trade discussion.

Thankfully Lighthizer is on his home turf because he’s now surrounded by left-wing globalist advocates from Mexico, Canada and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce via Tom Donohue.

There was some media talk, and a hint from Trump’s NEC Chairman Larry Kudlow yesterday, about the U.S. strongly wanting to have an agreement on principle utilizing the cornerstone of the Auto-Sector as a building block.

However, I cannot caution strongly enough that NEC Chairman Larry Kudlow is in love with NAFTA and POTUS Trump is not.  So filter Kudlow’s optimistic glee against his trade worship with NAFTA.

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It was noted –and reported– yesterday that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes sent a letter (full pdf below) to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.  Nunes is demanding un-redacted FBI documents surrounding the origination of the July 2016 counterintelligence operation against candidate Donald Trump, and the FISA application stemming from within the FBI investigation.

The issue(s) surrounding the declassification of the FISA application and subsequent FISA warrant against Carter Page are not new.  The new aspect within the Nunes demand relates to a request for the intelligence community “electronic communication” (EC) that kicked off the initial FBI counterintelligence op.  Within that new line of inquiry the subject of interest is ultimately former CIA Director John Brennan.

However, there are issues here; serious issues. There are VERY valid reasons why the FBI (Wray) and DOJ (Rosenstein) would push back against HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes.  It’s complicated, and we’ll try to unpack.

Begin by noting on page two of the Nunes request, Paragraph #3, something all media writing about the Nunes demand seem to overlook.  Screengrab below:

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Alan Dershowitz and Joe diGenova appear on Sean Hannity TV show to discuss the latest revelations in the Robert Mueller ‘Muh Russia’ collusion investigation.

Against yesterday’s backdrop discovery of the secret instructions from Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Joe diGenova goes full wolverine.

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Neil Cavuto is the defender of multinational Wall Street interests.  Cavuto’s boss, Rupert Murdoch has a well known insider nickname: “Mr. Wall Street”… The Murdoch operations (Fox News and Wall Street Journal among them) are ideological advocates for multinational corporations and historic globalist trade practices; to the detriment of the U.S. middle-class.  Cavuto and Murdoch are aligned with U.S. Chamber of Commerce President, Tom Donohue, in all things related to Big Multinational Trade.

In this interview there is a very apropos example of the twisted disconnect evident in the multinational corporate media perspective.  Please watch the part that begins around 04:55 and listen closely to Cavuto:

…”and we’re really seeing the effect on the folks who have to pay the bills for this sort of thing … we’re already seeing soybean prices coming down; we’re seeing pork related prices coming down … folks are taking it on the chin, what are you telling them?”… etc.

There it is.  Did you catch it?

In discussing futures Cavuto sounds the alarm for “Soybean prices coming down.”  “Pork prices coming down”; and “the folks “taking it on the chin.”

Now, think.  What Neil Cavuto is saying is that U.S. food futures prices are forecast to come down.  In that scenario who exactly is taking it on the chin?

Who is it that Neil Cavuto sees losing out in his position?  It’s not the family going to the grocery store… they will see lower prices… so who are these “folks” losing out?

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Replacing Gary Cohn, today is day one for Larry Kudlow to hit the airwaves as President Trump’s new Chairman of the National Economic Council.  This will be an interesting dynamic to watch.  In essence, Kudlow’s job – whether he admits it or not, is to remove the clenched grip of U.S. Chamber of Commerce President, Tom Donohue, from the republican trade and business position.

With multinational trade confrontations now taking center stage, Kudlow is going to have to slowly shift the GOPe political minds into a modern Trump-era where Main Street U.S.A. is the priority.  Wall Street needs to shift to domestic investment if they desire to remain beneficiaries.

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U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross appears on CNBC earlier today to talk specifically about U.S-China trade resets, confrontation and negotiations.  Secretary Ross cuts right through the chaff and countermeasures and gets right to the primary issues.

When questioned about the myriad of downstream issues, Secretary Ross stays focused on the big picture.  GREAT INTERVIEW (there are multiple segments where it’s almost impossible not to laugh during Wilburine’s gnat-swatting):

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When reviewing new information against the backdrop of existing information it is important not to get so caught up in the weeds that you miss the obvious.  This is the important aspect to a new information release from Robert Mueller.

Overnight last night Special Counsel Robert Mueller released an attachment as part of a responsive court pleading.   The attachment was a previously unknown letter from Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to Robert Mueller outlining the specific authority of his investigative appointment.  The letter from Rosenstein to Mueller is dated August 2nd, 2017.

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There are several elements to break down, and one of the best ways to review the information is to first ask “why”?

• Question #1) Why did Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein deliver a non-public outline of investigative authority to Mueller on August 2nd, 2017?
• Question #2) Why would Robert Mueller be seeking a signed more specific outline of his investigative authority on August 2nd, 2017; a full three months after he was assigned the role of Special Counsel?
• Question #3) Why would Robert Mueller need to redact the content of an official outline of his investigative instructions from the Asst. Attorney General?

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Overnight last night Special Counsel Robert Mueller released an attachment as part of a responsive court pleading.   The attachment was a previously unknown letter from Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to Robert Mueller outlining the specific authority of his investigative appointment.  The letter from Rosenstein to Mueller is dated August 2nd, 2017.

The revelation of the content within the letter, in conjunction with the specific date of transmission to Robert Mueller, substantively changes my review of Rod Rosenstein’s 2017 motives and intents surrounding his authorization of the Special Counsel appointment.

Before getting to the Rosenstein letter to Mueller, it is important to review the origin of a specific fact that will be a key component in the next post.  To establish an important and needed time-frame.  See Page 18, Item #3, second paragraph of Interim Congressional Report:

“The FBI’s conduct in relation to supplying the text messages between Strzok and Page only heightens concern about actions and intentions at the highest echelons of the FBI. The DOJ OIG obtained the initial batch of text messages on July 20, 2017.“

Inspector General Horowitz gained the Page/Strzok text messages on July 20th, 2017.

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