Those of you following along at home might be having a remarkable feeling of Deja-Vu with the similarity between Hillary Clinton’s approach to her emails containing classified information, and James Comey’s approach today to reports of his leaked memos containing “classified” intelligence.
The defensive narrative ‘fact pattern’ appears identical in sequencing:
Step 1 – The emails/memos were not classified. √
Step 2 – The emails/memos were not ‘marked’ classified. √
Step 3 – The emails/memos were ‘retroactively classified‘. √

(Politico Link – Lastest)

Next up in the logical sequence:

Step 4 –  Missing/deleted = Wiped Comey memos: “what, like with a cloth or something?”
Step 5 –  Robert Mueller (filling the role of Comey circa 2016) will hold a 2017 presser to say: James Comey didn’t intentionally violate the law with sharing classified information within his leaked memos in 2017.  Adding: “we could find no intent” by him to do so.
Step 6 – Mueller will conclude his presser by saying: “no reasonable special counsel would recommend charges“.
Bets?
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In addition to Hawaii being the origin of Barack Obama’s worldview and the epicenter of currently failing leftist judicial attempts to block President Trump from implementing a temporary travel ban from known terrorist and extremist nations, now Hawaii has the distinction of being home to an active duty soldier arrested while attempting join ISIS.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) –  An active duty Hawaii soldier has been arrested for allegedly trying to provide material support and training to the Islamic State.
FBI special agents and SWAT arrested Ikaika Erik Kang, 34, on Saturday evening at his Waipahu apartment.
Authorities said they believe Kang was a “lone actor,” and “not associated with others who present a threat to Hawaii.”

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You just can’t make this stuff up.  Yesterday it was revealed that several of fired FBI Director James Comey memos contained classified information:
(Via The Hill) More than half of the memos former FBI Director James Comey wrote as personal recollections of his conversations with President Trump about the Russia investigation have been determined to contain classified information, according to interviews with officials familiar with the documents.
This revelation raises the possibility that Comey broke his own agency’s rules and ignored the same security protocol that he publicly criticized Hillary Clinton over in the waning days of the 2016 presidential election. (link)
This latest report is contrary to James Comey’s prior assertion that he specifically wrote the memos about his contact and communication with President Trump to avoid containing classified information.
Today, the recipient of at least one of the leaked memos, Daniel Richman, claims the memo leaked to him by FBI Director Comey, with the specific intention to leak to the New York Times, did not contain markings designating the memo as “classified”:
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Despite the media protestations to the contrary, the importance within the G20 meeting in Hamburg German centered around trade and economics.  The assembled nations are trying to position, navigate and cope with the reality of the worlds largest economic market, the U.S., no longer participating in multinational trade deals (TPP and TTIP) and focusing on direct trade relationships with individual countries.

The new economic approach by President Trump deconstructs decades of advanced collectivism and wealth-spreading globalism.  The European Union preferred approach was constructed by multinational backs  and multinational corporations; and pushed on the collective societies by purchased left-wing politicians using administrative and political policy.

In Hamburg, U.S. President Donald Trump, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chairman of Economic Policy Gary Cohn, are advancing bilateral trade deals within one-on-one discussions; including discussions with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May now that brexit has freed the U.K. from the collective European Union.

President Trump speaking trade with Prime Minister May is making the EU collective furious because, Germany’s Angela Markel is attempting to leverage/blackmail their own protectionist EU trade deal before allowing the United Kingdom to exit the union.

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U.S. Jobs Growth exceeded expectations in June by adding 222,000 jobs. Well beyond the anticipated 170,000 original forecast.   The government also revised up its estimate of job growth for April and May by a combined 47,000.

However, the economic dissonance is still evident within the fed analysis:

[The] cycle of limited wage gains and low prices has kept inflation in check, to the consternation of the Fed, which wants to see slightly higher inflation to justify its campaign to raise short-term rates. (link)

As we previously shared there’s a predictable inability of federal economists to understand what happens when executive administrative policy reverses course and establishes the benefit to Main Street, ie. the middle-class, over Wall Street. The feds cognitive dissonance is evidenced because modern economic theory cannot reconcile the space between two economies, Wall Street and Main Street.

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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin outline the past 48 hours of diplomatic discussions within the framework of the G20.

**Remember** as you read this transcript, e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g eventually boils down to economics and the seismic geopolitical shifts currently underway.  (See Bottom for Important Detail)

[Transcript] 7:18 P.M. CET – SECRETARY MNUCHIN: Hi, everybody. I just want to highlight very briefly, and then Secretary Tillerson will go on, and then afterwards we’ll both answer a few questions.

But President Trump has had a very, very significant few days. I think, as you know, we went to Poland on Wednesday. In Poland, he met with 12 different leaders. We had bilats with Croatia and with Poland, as well as 10 other leaders at the Three Seas Conference where we talked about energy — the importance of the energy markets, the importance of supplying independent energy, infrastructure and opportunities there. I think, as you know, the speech which was just incredibly well-received, is part of our “America First But America Not Alone.”

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Sharing only because CTH readers have a more thorough understanding than most; and we are entering a phase of extreme consequence.

Donald Trump doesn’t bluff.

Bluffing is for those who accept they may or may not win.  The outcome is based on an unpredictable response from the opponent.

In business or in life, go review the decades of available information and you will see that Donald Trump, now President Trump, doesn’t bluff.  It’s one of the reasons he so openly owns the downsides.  It’s also the reason he has never engaged in the stock market.

President Trump controls outcomes.

Donald Trump the person, doesn’t wait for an entity, ally or opponent to enter his orbit. He greets them at the perimeter.   Trump doesn’t sit with his back to the door, he positions to see all upon entrance.   Donald Trump doesn’t try to hide his interest, he’s quite open about any engagement he is focused upon.

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U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson issues a formal statement in response to the ICBM missile test conducted by North Korea:

The United States strongly condemns North Korea’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. Testing an ICBM represents a new escalation of the threat to the United States, our allies and partners, the region, and the world.

Global action is required to stop a global threat. Any country that hosts North Korean guest workers, provides any economic or military benefits, or fails to fully implement UN Security Council resolutions is aiding and abetting a dangerous regime.

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U.S. Officials are now confirming the North Korean missile test was an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The ICBM, which is believed to be “two-stage,” officials said, would have a range of at least 3,500 miles, and thus be capable of reaching Alaska. (NBC link)

This launch represents another escalation by Kim Jung-Un in his ongoing quest for long-range intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles.  The ICBM test is another in a series of violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning the launches, and is simultaneously a slap in the face to Chinese President Xi Jinping who is presumably trying to get North Korea to back down.

China’s support of North Korea will become even more of an issue with the increased escalations.  Understanding the perspective of President Donald Trump toward these events, we would/should anticipate a series of economic actions by the U.S. administration against China.

The U.S. cannot focus exclusively on North Korea, their enablers must be targeted for corrective leverage. Economic sanctions can increase internal regional pressure.

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It’s challenging to see the sunlight at the end of this complex tunnel, but it’s there. More visible today than a week ago.

White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short appears on Fox News Sunday to discuss the ongoing efforts to reform ObamaCare.  In a very positive shift amid the overall discussion, for the first time the point of the cost on the individual insurance market is brought to the forefront.

CTH readers will note our continuing frustration that 99% of the entire healthcare discussion has centered around medicaid spending, or the state funded subsidy of low-income healthcare coverage.

The vast majority of the most severely impacted people within the discussion, middle-class workers/taxpayers who do not qualify for medicaid, have been essentially locked out of the legislative consideration. It is refreshing to see middle America finally being part of the equation.  Within the Senate bill, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee have finally advanced something of value.

The “Consumer Choice Amendment” would allow insurance companies to sell plans that do not follow regulations created under Obamacare, with the caveat that those insurers have to sell at least one plan that adheres to Obamacare’s mandates. The proposal would allow insurers to sell plans with tailored benefits.

(Video Below)

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