Iraqi State TV tonight reporting that Qassim Soleimani, leader of Iran’s Quds Force, the elite unit of the Revolutionary Guards, was killed in US airstrike near Baghdad. For context this would be the equivalent of U.S. General Norman Schwarzkopf being killed during Dessert Storm.  This is a major escalation… buckle up!
Oh man, this is huge. Soleimani was a bad guy, a terrorist, and responsible for many U.S. deaths; but this could also mean we are about to go into a full-blown war with Iran. Also killed was Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces and other members within a convoy.

Qassim Soleimani (left) Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (right)

Baghdad (AP) — Iraqi TV and three Iraqi officials said Friday that Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, has been killed in an airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport.
The officials said the strike also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces.
Their deaths are a potential turning point in the Middle East and are expected to draw severe retaliation from Iran and the forces it backs in the Middle East against Israel and American interests. The PMF blamed the United States for an attack at Baghdad International Airport Friday.

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2020 is the year when a variety of prior democrat operations will converge with a single goal in mind.  Predictably we will see several years of prior effort beginning to merge, and it begins today.

NOTE: For interested readers it will be impossible for me to summarize the background for each step prior to putting the next puzzle piece into place.  Therefore I strongly suggest bookmarking posts for later reference because it would take tens of thousands of words to understand for anyone who steps into the light mid-way through. [Just an FYI]

Tomorrow, January 3rd, 2020, the House Judiciary Committeee (HJC) will be presenting oral arguments in the DC court of appeals for their effort to obtain the Mueller grand jury information [6(e) material], and also compel testimony of former White House counsel Don McGahn.
The House has a group of dozens of various DOJ and former Obama officials working on their behalf.  That House network also has several currently employed DOJ, FBI, State Department and Intelligence Community officials feeding them information on current real-time events.   The HJC are currently arguing the Mueller material and the McGahn testimony are needed for the impeachment trial of President Trump.
If the HJC team wins the argument to the three member DC Appellate Court, the DOJ will likely file for a full ‘en blanc’ review by the entire panel.  If the HJC wins the ‘en blanc’ argument the DOJ will likely appeal for an administrative stay by the Supreme Court.
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Nuttery.  Abject Lawfare nuttery.  Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe lied four times to internal FBI investigators, three times under oath, in 2017.  This led to his firing in March 2018.

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In a remarkable act of hubris, in late 2018 Andrew McCabe sued the DOJ for wrongful termination through Lawfare lawyer Michael Bromwich.  The legal argument was/is essentially that McCabe was allowed to lie to FBI investigators because he was the head of the FBI (an employee of the agency).
In response to the McCabe lawsuit the DOJ filed a motion for summary dismissal due to McCabe’s lying, and an Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) affirmation, saying the termination was valid.
In today’s response motion opposing the summary judgement [cloud pdf here], using a new batch of lawyers, McCabe’s legal team argues President Trump called McCabe a “dirty cop” last month, and that proves McCabe’s firing in March 2018  was wrongful.
Yes, that is their argument.
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In the aftermath of National Security Council usurper Lt. Col. Vindman helping to orchestrate a joint DoD, CIA and State Dept soft-coup against President Trump, several pointed questions were asked about why the NSC was allowed to undermine the office they were created to support.
In response to those questions, newly appointed National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien announce the White House was in an ongoing process to reduce the size of the NSC.
A follow-up article within the Washington Times highlights the downsizing so far.

WASHINGTON DC – The White House National Security Council staff is being downsized sharply in a bid to improve efficiency within the policy coordinating body by consolidating positions and cutting staff.
A second, unspoken thrust of the overhaul is a hoped-for end to what many critics see as a string of politically damaging, unauthorized disclosures of sensitive information. Leaks of President Trump’s conversations with foreign leaders and other damaging disclosures likely originated with anti-Trump officials in the White House who stayed over from the Obama administration, according to several current and former White House officials.

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At the time of a Tuesday evening Fox News interview Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was affirming his trip to Ukraine was still planned.  However, by the time Pompeo woke up on Wednesday morning those plans were cancelled….  Perhaps someone told the secretary he needed to stay-attached to the crisis he helped inspire?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday postponed a trip to Ukraine so he could focus on the situation in Iraq after demonstrators attacked the U.S. embassy.
Supporters of Iranian-backed Iraqi paramilitary groups stormed the U.S. embassy’s perimeter and hurled rocks in two days of protests. They withdrew on Wednesday after Washington dispatched extra troops and threatened reprisals against Tehran.

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Despite the initial reaction a stable-minded person would likely take away from the headline, it is a good thing that ABC News and other MSM have dropped their pretense and shallow-efforts to retain their open secrets.
In this example while lamenting the outcome of the recent U.K. election that saw the socialists and leftists crushed by conservative and pragmatic voters, ABC is concerned the American people may end up similarly interfering in media objectives for the 2020 U.S. presidential election.  The problem they discover is this pesky concept called “freedom”.

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Consider this argument from the article: “One of the things that we’re always very cautious about is everyone looking at Russia. But actually, we should be looking at the party and political dynamics closer to home and how domestic actors are using the platforms and manipulating the systems to spread information or misinformation that’s favorable to their political stance.” 
I mean seriously.  Can you imagine a world where U.S. politicians easily spread information favorable to their political stance.  Oh.My.God… The outcome is almost unimaginable…. People, allowed to think for themselves.  Yikes, the horror of it.
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First, the explanation from former CIA Director, current U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo:

President Trump responds to the domestic and foreign alignment of provocations.

President Trump doesn’t have too many options here.  However, he’s a much more cunning adversary than the Deep State has faced previously.  Strategically a good decision to head-off those carrying the banners in the war parade.  Secretary Pompeo, Secretary Asper, Joint Chiefs’ Milley have an alignment of domestic interests well organized.
Resounding applause will be heard from The State Department, the Pentagon, the CIA, Nikki Haley, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, John Bolton, Tom Cotton, Adam Kinzinger, Mark Levin, Mitt Romney and a host of well positioned senators, soon to be jurists….
The domestic warning was akin to ‘we can create a Benghazi, watch‘.  POTUS takes the energy from the threat, uses a little judo adding his own energy, and controls the outcome.
“Happy New Year” is akin to “Relax, I got this“…. So now we watch.

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Former representative Trey Gowdy appears on Fox News for a discussion of the current impeachment process and his outlook for the Senate trial. Mr. Gowdy spent some time with President Trump last weekend, but states he will not be part of the legal team moving forward.

Well, well, well…. we are not alone in our suspicions of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley.
Tonight Col Douglas Macgregor outlines his own suspicions about the U.S. military attack in Iraq and Syria that parallel our initial gut reaction.  Macgregor states his belief that President Trump is being “skillfully misinformed”.  WATCH: