The first round of new NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) negotiations begins today in Washington DC.  The U.S., Canada and Mexico begin the task of renegotiating a trade deal originally established in 1995. There are trillions of dollars in trade being discussed, and more substantively the basic principles behind a tri-lateral trade deal that has compromised U.S. economic growth are being reformatted and reestablished.
Most of the media presentations on the substantive issues are framed in falsehoods, deception and many outright lies.  The advancement of multinational corporations, and multinational financial constructs has eliminated the historic reference points still being used by the media to mislead the average consumer – EXPLAINED HERE –
NAFTA was/is a highly political trade deal that has severely compromised U.S. workers and U.S. manufacturers.  There may be as many as six rounds of negotiations as each economic sector is addressed.  However, the first round is essentially to establish the principles of priority for each trade nation.  Against the backdrop of America as the worlds largest economy and market, the entire globe is watching to see the outcome.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer delivers his opening remarks (video and transcript below).

This morning, @USTradeRep Ambassador Robert Lighthizer delivered an opening statement at the first round of #NAFTA renegotiations. pic.twitter.com/8h21Ednskf

— Department of State (@StateDept) August 16, 2017

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AMBASSADOR ROBERT LIGHTHIZER – This is an historic day for the United States. Today, for the first time, we will start negotiating to revise a major free trade agreement. American politicians have been promising to renegotiate NAFTA for years, but today President Trump is going to fulfill those promises.
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The Daily Caller is reporting that Hope Hicks will be named as Communications Director.  Most people familiar with the 2015 campaign origin will remember Hope Hicks as one of the very original members of the small campaign team.
(Via Daily Caller) Hope Hicks will be named the new White House communications director, The Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.
President Trump has offered the job to Hicks and she has accepted the position, according to a White House insider. Hicks has been close by Trump’s side since the early days of the campaign and is one of his most trusted staffers. She has been serving on the press team in more of a behind-the-scenes role as the director of strategic communications.
The communications director position has been open since President Trump fired Anthony Scaramucci in July, just ten days after the Mooch took over the position from former press secretary Sean Spicer. Trump ditched Scaramucci shortly after he decided to bring on Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly as his new chief of staff.  (link)
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In the entire ridiculous enterprise of Steve Bannon -vs- HR McMaster the idiots on the #FireMcMaster side are ultimately going to end up delivering an exit for Steve Bannon. Then again, I repeat myself – SEE HERE –
But seriously, if there was validity to the #FireMcMaster issues, which there isn’t, and if we supported the #FireMcMaster cause, which we don’t, anyone with any intelligence at all would drop the anti-McMaster premise during a high visibility national security crisis like North Korea.
Then again, we ain’t exactly talking about the sharpest tacks in the political toolbox.  And if you understand that dynamic, you’ll also understand the reason why Jake Tapper is pushing this story right now.
The real target is Steve Bannon. Cue the audio visual demonstration – WATCH.

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And as unbelievable as it might seem, look at the useful tweet from one of Bannon’s media #FireMcMaster “supporters“.
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Attorney General Jeff Sessions Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosentein, appears on Fox News Sunday to discuss leak investigations and the ongoing Mueller probe into the 2016 election.
If special counsel Robert Mueller finds any crime outside the scope of the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, then he’ll have to seek permission, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said.

If there’s evidence of a crime that’s found within the scope of what they have agreed, then Mueller has free rein, Rosenstein explained. If it’s outside the scope of the probe, then “he needs to come to the acting attorney general, at this time me, for permission to expand his investigation,” he added. Rosenstein noted this as a precedent, which was also followed by independent counsel Ken Starr during the Clinton years.
Reports have come out over the past couple months about how the probe is investigating Trump for obstruction of justice, and that Mueller has impaneled grand juries, capable of issuing subpoenas.
These reports and more have relied on anonymous sources, against whom Rosenstein cautioned could be unreliable. He dubbed these reports, “speculation in the news media.”
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Here’s one angle to the Robert Mueller investigation that was entirely predictable.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller is now seeking documents from the White House on Michael Flynn and his personal arrangement to lobby for Turkey during the 2016 election.  Specifically they are looking into the financial aspects and whether Flynn masked the lobbying payments made to him.
Before getting to the crux of the issue, CTH must remind everyone that back in November of 2016 when we first discovered (During the Transition) the possibility that Flynn was under consideration for ODNI or National Security Adviser role – WE WARNED this was going to be an issue – SEE HERE November 17th, 2016.
We knew even before the election this could be a problem.  As far as we could surmise at the time – the Trump Campaign and subsequent President-Elect transition team, had no idea that campaign advocate and campaign adviser Michael Flynn was also being paid to lobby in DC on behalf of the government of Turkey, and Recep Erdogan.
The entire Flynn lobbying arrangement was beyond sketchy.  Before the election Flynn penned an op-ed advocating heavily for Recep Erdogan –SEE HERE–  The content was entirely disconnected from the assembled foreign policy outlook of Candidate Donald Trump. The Flynn Op-Ed was actually counter to candidate Trump’s policy views.
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According to numerous media reports Robert Mueller has empaneled a grand jury so that subpoenas can be dispatched to begin taking testimony in the ongoing investigation into Russian interference within the 2016 election.  Apparently Donald Trump Jr. in the first batch of recipients.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Grand jury subpoenas have been issued in connection with a June 2016 meeting that included President Donald Trump’s son, his son-in-law and a Russian lawyer, two sources told Reuters on Thursday, in a sign that special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is gathering pace.
The sources added that Mueller had convened a grand jury in Washington to help investigate allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. (link)

Attorney Jay Sekulow weighed in earlier (video below)
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Former White House Chief-of-Staff Reince Priebus was interviewed by Sean Hannity earlier tonight to discuss his feelings about being voluntarily resigned.

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Arriving at Joint Base Andrews President Trump gives brief remarks on the firing of Reince Priebus and the replacement with John Kelly as Chief-of-Staff.

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In congressional testimony today William Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital, was testifying about the “Foreign Agents Registration Act” (FARA).
During Mr. Browder’s testimony the origin of the Fusion GPS ‘Russian Dossier’ was discussed.  Browder stated the Russian government actually paid Fusion GPS to create the Steele propaganda dossier on candidate Donald Trump.  That same dossier was used by the FBI in June/July 2016 to generate the FISA surveillance warrants against the Trump campaign. WATCH:

Yes, that actually means FBI Director James Comey was using propaganda commissioned by Russia to attack Trump, as the framework to launch his FBI investigation into candidate Donald Trump and Russian collusion.
Expanding the reality.  This means the Russian collusion narrative the U.S. media has been running with for a year to attack Trump, was actually factual collusion between Russia and the the U.S. FBI, via James Comey.
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Senior Adviser to President Trump, Jared Kushner, gives a statement to the media following a meeting with the Senate Intelligence Committee:

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Mr. Kushner also released his statement as delivered to the committee.
STATEMENT OF JARED C. KUSHNER TO CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES – July 24, 2017
I am voluntarily providing this statement, submitting documents, and sitting for interviews in order to shed light on issues that have been raised about my role in the Trump for President Campaign and during the transition period.
I am not a person who has sought the spotlight. First in my business and now in public service, I have worked on achieving goals, and have left it to others to work on media and public perception. Because there has been a great deal of conjecture, speculation, and inaccurate information about me, I am grateful for the opportunity to set the record straight.
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