Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren has previously sent smoke signals indicating her desire to run as a presidential candidate for 2020.  Today Ms. Liawatha announced her launching of a presidential exploratory committee:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Monday took the first major step toward launching a widely anticipated campaign for the presidency, hoping her reputation as a populist fighter can help her navigate a Democratic field that could include nearly two dozen candidates.
“No matter what our differences, most of us want the same thing,” the 69-year-old Massachusetts Democrat said in a video that highlights her family’s history in Oklahoma. “To be able to work hard, play by the same set of rules and take care of the people we love. That’s what I’m fighting for and that’s why today I’m launching an exploratory committee for president.”  (read more)

China’s Communist Chairman Xi Jinping delivered a prepared speech to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference on Saturday and stayed far away from mentioning the challenge of a U.S. -vs- China trade reset.

Those who follow China’s historic patterns will note careful and intentional inferences within Chairman Xi’s remarks as shared by SCMP media:

[…] While the Belt and Road Initiative has faced an increasing international pushback amid fears it is saddling poorer countries with unsustainable debts, Xi’s speech steered clear of this and other sensitive topics.

Instead he praised the initiative for helping to improve international ties, adding: “Our circle of friends is expanding.”

“Circle of friends” defined as those political suckers (selfish and corrupt political parasites willing to sell out their countries’ best interest) who accept the smiling panda face and completely ignore the cunning dragon behind the mask maneuvering to enslave the locals.
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Incoming House Minority Whip Steve Scalise appears on Fox News to discuss the current status of the appropriations impasse and the non-essential government (non)shutdown.

(tweet link)

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham holds a press conference following lunch with President Donald Trump.  Beyond the border security shutdown issues, notably Senator Graham shares:

…” We had a great lunch.  We talked about Syria; and he told me some things I didn’t know that make me feel a lot better about where we’re headed in Syria”.. [@03:35]

There are three key congressional events likely in the first quarter of 2019. The sequencing of those events will be key to the “Resistance” political year.

The baseline is that Democrat leadership are cunning political strategists; and have likely already drawn out the big picture road-map with details to be filled in as they proceed.

• The first event is the congressional use of Michael Cohen for a series of public committee hearings. [Oversight (Elijah Cummings) and possibly -though less likely- Judiciary (Nadler) and HPSCI (Schiff)] This likely has to happen before March 6th, 2019, when Cohen is scheduled to enter federal prison. It’s almost certain Cohen’s incarceration deferment contains the unwritten agreement to appear. [Democrat leadership almost certainly coordinated this plan with team Mueller and the SDNY some time ago.]
• The second event is the release of the Team Mueller political report which, despite its inability to find criminal wrongdoing, will most certainly be written with highly charged innuendo as damaging to President Trump as possible. The release of this report will absolutely fuel several public committee hearings [Oversight/Reform (Cummings), HPSCI (Schiff) and Judiciary (Nadler)] without any doubt.
• The third event is the release of the OIG Horowitz report on possible FISA abuse. Due to the nature of Mueller’s proprietary investigative blackout (Horowitz not allowed to  see investigative material or witnesses with Mueller probe ongoing), the Horowitz report will  likely come out *after* Mueller.

That’s the three key events the Democrats and media will be most likely to exploit for maximum political benefit in the first quarter of 2019.   The sequence between Mueller and Horowitz might reverse (though unlikely and I’ll explain later). Other investigative resistance paths will spur from these three primary Q1 events.
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Former NYPD officer Dan Bongino appeared on Fox News weekend to contrast the politicization of U.S. immigration policies after police officer Ronil Singh was fatally shot in California by an illegal immigrant fugitive.

Several people have requested specificity as to why President Obama and candidate Hillary Clinton viewed Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as a risk worthy of primary confrontation/removal after Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 presidential election.
The most obvious answer is not too complex; predates the election; and is connected directly to three core components of the Libya crisis: (1) White House; (2) State Department; (3) Hillary Clinton.
Drawing from years of exhaustive research within the Benghazi Brief; along with breakout information as to how the FBI and DOJ are directly connected to the issues therein; there is a clear and concise reason why Flynn was viewed as a risk to the interests of President Obama, Hillary Clinton and State Department Officials.
Lieutenant General Flynn was appointed to head the Defense Intelligence Agency on July 24th, 2012, approximately two months before the attack on the State/CIA compound in Benghazi Libya.
The Benghazi compound itself was controversial as it was part of a joint State Department and CIA mission to try and stop the spread of weapons to radical Islamic elements in the region.  After the fall of Muammar Gaddafi the Libyan weapons depots -as well as U.S. weapons shipped into Libya to assist the “rebels” in Gaddaffi’s ouster- were the immediate problem.
Weapons in 2012 were being redirected to Syria.  An operation to secure those weapons was ongoing in Benghazi (Eastern Libya).
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With the congressional year now effectively over Bob Goodlatte and Trey Gowdy are retired.  With that in mind they submit a joint letter to the DOJ and Senate saying, essentially: ‘wish we could have done more… but, oh well, c-ya‘.
Outta’ there like a couple of fat kids playing dodge-ball.

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Incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has selected corrupt former DOJ career embed, Douglas N Letter, as Chief Legal Counsel for the House of Representatives.  Mr. Letter has agreed to come out of retirement to aid the House effort, and structure legal pathway to impeach President Trump.

San Francisco — Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi announced today that she will appoint Douglas N. Letter to be the new General Counsel of the House of Representatives.
Until February 2018, Letter served as the Director of the Civil Division Appellate Staff at the U.S. Department of Justice, retiring this year after 40 years of distinguished service at the agency. He is now a Senior Litigator at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he is also a Visiting Professor of Law. He is a recipient of many prestigious honors, including the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award.

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Incoming chief of staff Mick Mulvaney gives an impromptu press briefing to the media highlighting the position of incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the democrat intention to weaponize the government shutdown.
Career Democrats are working through a highly coordinated political agenda, defended by institutional media allies, that involve weaponizing the House of Representatives.