Mrs. Shelly Luther probably did not expect to take this role, but the rebellious Texas salon owner has become the face of resistance to overbearing totalitarian dictates.

Mrs. Luther opened her salon in defiance of the economic shutdown that was causing financial ruin for her and her employees.

As a result Texas Judge Eric Moye sentenced her to a week in jail. Facing massive public outcry and support for Luther the Texas Attorney General and Governor are now asking Dallas County authorities to let her out of jail.

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has called for the “immediate release” of a Dallas salon owner who was arrested and sent to jail for opening her business in defiance of Gov. Greg Abbott’s stay-at-home orders.

Paxton said he believes the judge is abusing his authority and that her arrest seems like a “political stunt.” In a full statement, Paxton said:

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Supreme Court – “Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent non-surgical treatment for acute cholecystitis, a benign gallbladder condition, this afternoon at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. Following oral arguments on Monday, the Justice underwent outpatient tests at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., that confirmed she was suffering from a gallstone that had migrated to her cystic duct, blocking it and causing an infection.”

“The Justice is resting comfortably and plans to participate in the oral argument teleconference tomorrow morning remotely from the hospital. She expects to stay in the hospital for a day or two. Updates will be provided as they become available.” (link)

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.K. Secretary of State for International Trade Elizabeth Truss announced today [joint statement] the beginning of a series of fast-tracked trade negotiations toward a new free trade agreement. [USTR Release]

In the foreground is a trade agreement between the U.S. and the United Kingdom. However, in the more strategic background context these negotiations create leverage for the U.K. in their post-Brexit negotiations with the European Union. First from today:

LIGHTHIZER – […] The US negotiating team will be led by Dan Mullaney, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East; and the UK negotiating team will be led by Oliver Griffiths, Director for US Negotiations at the Department for International Trade. Over 200 staff from U.S. and UK government agencies and departments are expected to take part in the negotiations.

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It doesn’t come as a shock but it is ridiculous in the extreme. A Dallas County Texas salon owner has been sentenced to a week in jail for defying the order to keep her business closed.  “I couldn’t feed my family and my stylists couldn’t feed their families” Ms. Shelly Luther testified.  The court didn’t care.

The stakes are escalating daily as economic desperation takes over and the oppressive hand of the authoritarian government officials refuse to loosen their grip on their new found power over the population.  Confrontation is likely to get much worse quickly.

TEXAS – A Dallas salon owner will spend a week in jail after she was found in contempt of court Tuesday for violating a court order to close her salon during the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to the jail time, Shelley Luther was fined at least $3,500 for continuing to operate her business, Salon à la Mode, in violation of a temporary restraining order issued against the business.

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An interesting article from Fox News asks the question of whether Mueller’s special counsel attorney Brandon Van Grack misled Judge Sullivan in the Flynn case by not being forthcoming about the background documents under the DOJ Brady obligation.

Additionally, as a consequence of the Flynn evidence discoveries people are now asking why the FBI and DOJ did not produce these documents earlier.  Representative Jim Jordan is specifically asking these questions of current FBI Director Chris Wray.

In response to the Fox News article the FBI has released a statement which itself is very interesting.  Apparently the FBI Director is trying to dig himself and his institution out of a hole; but it is only getting worse.  First, here’s the follow-up from the FBI.

[FOX NEWS] – After this article was published, the FBI provided a statement to Fox News saying that under Wray’s leadership, the bureau had turned over relevant Flynn materials to the U.S. attorney probing possible FBI criminal misconduct during the Trump probe, John Durham — but the FBI didn’t say when exactly the handoff happened.

“Under Director Wray’s leadership, the FBI has fully cooperated and been transparent with the review being conducted by U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen, just as it has been with U.S. Attorney John Durham and was with Inspector General Michael Horowitz,” the statement read.

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Joint Base Andrews pressers are not as good as Chopper pressers, but they’re close. President Trump impromptu remarks departing Andews AFB. [Video and Transcript]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. I’m going to Arizona. We’re going to see Honeywell. They’ve done a fantastic job on many different fronts on the pandemic, and we’re going to pay our respects and also see the great people of Arizona.

Okay. Go ahead.

Q Mr. President, with these new projections, a lot of people do want the country to reopen quickly. Are you willing to accept these new projections that show that many more people will die and — with interaction?

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President Trump delivers remarks to the media as he prepares to depart the White House for a trip to Arizona. [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. So, I’m leaving for Arizona. We’re going to be at the Honeywell plant, which is doing great work for us. And it’ll be, I think, a great day. I love Arizona.

Go ahead, please.

Q What happened in Venezuela, sir? Apparently a couple of Americans were detained.

THE PRESIDENT: I just got information. Nothing to do with our government, but I just got information on that.

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An interesting dynamic unfolds tomorrow as the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) will be holding the confirmation hearing for President Trump’s nominee, John Ratcliffe.  As a result of earlier political moves the SSCI is between a rock and a hard place.

The SSCI is the drain-plug in the swamp. They use their corrupt oversight power and confirmation authority to control the intelligence apparatus (swamp guards) and ensure that no executive branch officer can disrupt or disclose their corrupt Senate schemes.

President Trump nominated Representative John Ratcliffe, an intelligence community reformer, for the position of Director of National Intelligence (DNI).  The SSCI previously rejected Ratcliffe because his existence is adverse to their interests.  However, in response Trump installed honey badger Richard “Ric” Grenell as the acting DNI.

The SSCI hates Grennel with the ferocity of a thousand supernovas because Grenell doesn’t give a f**k about their swamp life. Better yet, Grenell smacks them around publicly on Twitter whenever the SSCI dispatch the orcs from the deep swamp intelligence apparatus.  Every time orcs poke their heads out of the DC labyrinth, Grenell smacks them with a billion mega-watt sunlight hammer. They shriek and retreat to the dungeon.

The good news for the SSCI is that Grenell can only stay in the ‘acting’ role until September of this year.  However, the bad news is if the SSCI rejects John Ratcliffe then Ric Grenell gets another year to antagonize the corrupt senators, swing the sunlight hammer & expose the darkest secrets of their beloved swamp.  {{Grumble – Grumble}}

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Senator Tom Cotton appears on Fox News to discuss the latest revelations that COVID-19 came out of a laboratory in Wuhan, China.  Martha MacCallum attempts to push the Beijing propaganda of wounded panda as a victim; Senator Cotton outlines the importance of accepting that China is a communist totalitarian state.

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Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee, Jim Jordan, sends a scathing letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray questioning why the evidence of gross political corruption within his institution has to come from judicial documents in the Flynn case rather than honest production of material from the FBI.

Within the letter Mr. Jordan implicates Director Wray in an institutional effort to hide prior abuses in order to keep the American public blind to the corruption within it.  Given recent comments by President Trump about Director Wray, Jordan appears to be in-line with POTUS:

[…] “We write to request that you immediately review the actions of the FBI in targeting LTG Flynn. The American people continue to learn troubling details about the politicization and misconduct at the highest levels of the FBI during the Obama-Biden Administration.

Even more concerning, we continue to learn these new details from litigation and investigations—not from you. It is well past time that you show the leadership necessary to bring the FBI past the abuses of the Obama-Biden era.”

“Please facilitate making former FBI Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence Division Bill Priestap and FBI Agent Joe Pientka available for transcribed interviews about their actions related to LTG Flynn.”

Here’s the full six page letter:

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