Understanding that Michael Cohen is the first pre-planned Democrat House interview, first step, within a longer ‘impeachment’ strategy, it becomes easier to see why MSM are all-in to help build the false basis for the initial obstruction snowball.
In 2015/2016 Michael Cohen working for the Trump organization and exploring a business deal within Russia is nothing.  Democrats did not kick-off the public “Muh Russia” conspiracy narrative until October 2016.   In the aftermath of two years of creating the ‘Muh Russia’ planetary election conspiracy theory, a nothing-burger contact within Russia becomes a focus-point. [Ah-ha!, you were talking to Russians… ‘IMPEACH’! ]
However, for the impeachment cornerstone to take footing, Cummings, Schiff and Nadler need to present the optics of obstruction. House investigations need a plausible premise to justify the work. Media are working overtime to frame/support the ‘plausible premise’.

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It’s annoying as heck because the baseline (Russian Conspiracy) is nonsense; but creating the plausible premise is the goal of the media. This is how media help the resistance effort.
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While reading a great article by Mollie Hemmingway at The Federalist, something stands out that might lend a cautious amount of optimism toward ongoing ‘spygate’ investigative inquiries and accountability.  There are two distinct differences in the Bruce Ohr testimony as compared to all others released or revealed so far.
The known list of witnesses questioned by the joint House Judiciary and Oversight committees includes: James Comey, Andrew McCabe, James Baker, Lisa Page, Bill Priestap, Peter Strzok, and Bruce Ohr.

Until the release of the Ohr transcript all prior reports and leaks of witness testimony have been from the FBI side of ‘spygate’. Bruce Ohr is the first witness from the Main Justice (DOJ) side of the issue.
Within the released witness transcripts, lawyers from the FBI were interceding in the testimony and instructing witness not to answer questions; and/or blocking statements from the witness to the questioners.  This pattern exists in Comey, McCabe, Baker, Page, Priestap and Strzok statements.  However, there is a stark difference, a much more fulsome set of answers, obvious in the testimony from Bruce Ohr.  Example:
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Anastasia Vashukevich (27) is the Belarusian woman connected to Oleg Deripaska who was being held in a prison in Thailand under charges of recruiting women to act as prostitutes and escorts.  [Backstory]  Her name surfaced early in 2018 when CNN claimed she had dirt on Trump and “tapes” of some sort relating to Deripaska and his activities with contacts around the 2016 election.  [More Backstory]
While the outlandish aspects to the storyline pushed by initial media appeared ridiculous; there was something about Ms. Vashukevich’s connections to the larger Deripaska story that also appeared valid.  Ms. Vashukevich has been held in Thailand for almost a year.
Last week the Thai government agreed to release Ms. Vashukevich.  Today she was en route to Belarus when she was intercepted in Moscow:

MOSCOW — A model from Belarus who claimed to have recordings shedding light on the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia was detained at a Moscow airport Thursday on prostitution allegations, the police said.

The model, Anastasia Vashukevich, had been deported from Thailand earlier in the day after spending nine months in prison on charges of conspiracy and soliciting prostitution.

She was booked to fly to Minsk, Belarus, but was detained along with three others traveling with her as she changed planes at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport, according to her husband and another person traveling with her.

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If you wait long enough, the Lawfare actors brazenly expose their intents.  Cue the example today as former SDNY U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara showcases the ideology behind the DOJ and FBI weaponizing their offices based on political policy differences.
It has been outlined that President Trump would prefer to withdraw the U.S. from NATO. Trump’s view stems from NATO allies (Germany) engaging with NATO adversaries (Russia) with strategic energy policy (gas pipeline) to benefit Russia; while simultaneously demanding the U.S. taxpayer fund the defense of Germany (and EU) from Russia.
In response to reports that President Trump may withdraw from NATO, a strategic U.S. policy shift, Preet Bharara demands “impeachment and conviction”:

This clear example evidences the mentality within the DOJ and FBI that is becoming more openly obvious.  The institutions of the DOJ were/are weaponized, against candidate and president Trump, based on political differences and viewpoints.

The creep vibe on this interview with U.S. Democrat Senator Mark Warner is off-the-charts.   The only thing more disturbing than the background possibility of three teenage boys tied up in his basement is the structural way he can blatantly lie to the camera; and how the perpetually furrowed brow of Jake Tapper doesn’t call him out on it.
Warner begins by saying: “I’m not going to to talk about what we may have been briefed in the gang-of-eight when these investigations opened.”  Well, um, duh.  You see, as Warner continued: “that throughout that whole summer [of 2016]”etc…. senator Mark Warner wasn’t a gang-of-eight member.
Senator Mark Warner didn’t become a Go8 member until Senator Dianne Feinstein abdicated her Senate Intelligence Chair position in January 2017.   Kinda hard to talk about briefings he never participated in…. It’s all made up from there.  Watch:

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The gang of eight in 2015 and 2016 was: Devin Nunes, Adam Schiff, Paul Ryan, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, Harry Reid, Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein.
I think even the perpetually perplexed Tapper knew Warner was talking from inside the manufactured rabbit hole because furrowed-brow followed up with questions about the counterintelligence origination [July 2016] he knew Warner was not a part of.
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President Donald Trump tweets a response to a recent New York Times article citing the internal FBI debate about opening an investigation on him personally:

The New York Times article was based on leaks from sources who were responding to the leaks from other sources that were given to the Epoch Times.   Each side in the DOJ/FBI corruption story is currently leaking to advance their interests.
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In the last 24 hours The Epoch Times has become a conduit for leaked information from inside the joint House congressional committee (Oversight/Judiciary) that was investigating DOJ and FBI corruption. [Two Stories: See Here and See Here]
The joint House committee previously requested approval from the DOJ and FBI for transcripts of all witness testimony to be released.  In response, Deputy FBI Director David Bowditch, citing possible interference with the Mueller investigation, refused to release the transcripts.  However, it appears someone from within the committee, likely Mark Meadows, following a pattern previously exclusive to John Solomon (The Hill), is now leaking those witness transcripts to The Epoch Times.
The leaked transcripts are not being made available; however, articles are being written from those who are reviewing them.  The first is an article by Jeff Carlson about the testimony by former FBI lawyer Lisa Page.  It is a lengthy article and I would urge all who are interested in her testimony to read it: SEE HERE.  There is a wealth of new information that fills in many of the gaps from prior research.

One of the immediately interesting aspects of the Page testimony goes directly to the issue of why the witness transcripts are not being released, and the inherent risk to the small group inside the DOJ and FBI who were coordinating the Clinton and Trump probes.
Lisa Page outlines the people who were at the center of the “small group team” within the FBI (emphasis mine):
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is conducting a regional visit to multiple allies and partners in the anti-ISIS campaign.  Today, Secretary Pompeo is in Jordan for discussions as the U.S. anticipates withdrawing troops from Syria.

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Meanwhile, National Security Adviser John Bolton is in Turkey after announcing from Israel the U.S. will not withdraw from Syria until Turkey (NATO ally) agrees not to kill the Kurdish fighters. Turkish President Recep Erdogan said emphatically there would never be such assurances, therefore U.S. troops will never leave Syria.
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The official, albeit preliminary, U.S.T.R. delegation from the United States is on the ground in China to begin initial discussions of “technical details” surrounding the ongoing trade dispute.  The preliminary talks are today (Jan 7th) through Wed (Jan 9th).

The prior notice from USTR announced the delegation: •Ambassador Jeffrey Gerrish, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative (pictured above – center); •Ambassador Gregg Doud, USTR Chief Agricultural Negotiator; •Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney, U.S. Department of Agriculture; •Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Gilbert B. Kaplan, U.S. Department of Commerce; •Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg, U.S. Department of Energy; and •Under Secretary for International Affairs David Malpass, U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The delegation will be accompanied by senior officials from the White House, USTR, and the U.S. departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, State, and Treasury. (link)

Tu Xinquan, director of the China Institute for World Trade Organization Studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing is quoted as saying Beijing’s first phase will be focused on technical details before more important voices “make hard political decisions.”
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In the realm of everything geopolitical in consequence, a recent article from an interview with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro highlights the globalists’ worst nightmare. And the comments from the WTO reflects the global influence of President Donald J Trump.

Before getting to two key points, rather stunningly delicious points, it’s worth remembering that Brazil is the “B” in the ‘BRICS alliance’.  Before U.S. President Donald Trump took center stage in the world of international influence, the former governments of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) had formed a coalition.  Each nation represented an enlarged -and growing- regional trade/economic influence.
Shortly after taking office; and with hindsight – prior to the China confrontation; President Trump began a systematic process of challenging various economic influencers.  This is the origin of the Trump Doctrine .
By expanding U.S. energy development, strategically engaging with OPEC (Gulf Cooperation Council) States, and simultaneously engaging with Baltic States at the Three Seas Summit in Warsaw Poland, President Trump established the groundwork for downward pressure on oil prices.  This comprehensive and geopolitical energy strategy diminished the ability of Russia to maintain a consistent external financial influence.
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