The U.S. DOJ led by Attorney General Bill Barr celebrates the conviction of Bijan Rafiekian, 67, of San Juan Capistrano, CA, along with his co-conspirator, Kamil Ekim Alptekin, 42, of Istanbul, Turkey & the Michael Flynn Intelligence Group for: “conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government, conspiring to make false statements and willful omissions in a FARA filing, and acting as an agent of a foreign government.”

Despite the incredibly sketchy nature of the case; and despite a possibility any conviction will be dismissed by presiding judge Anthony J. Trenga; a jury has convicted Rafiekian, Alptekin and the Flynn Intel Group of not filing the correct FARA paperwork and therefore evidencing a conspiratorial intention to falsify documents.

DOJ Press Announcement – After three hours of deliberations a federal jury convicted a California man today on charges of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government, conspiring to make false statements and willful omissions in a FARA filing, and acting as an agent of a foreign government.

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…Every minute spent outraged at what Muller did yesterday, is one minute less that Bill Barr has to be worried about being held accountable for what he is not doing today..

With Robert Muller scheduled to testify tomorrow; and considering his chief handler will be sitting beside him; and accepting that both have coordinated, scripted and rehearsed the appearance with the House committees for several months; it is worth reminding everyone about the DC two-step.  A predictable outrage trap which should be avoided, but won’t be….

The issue(s) surround the aggregate investigation of candidate, president-elect and President Donald Trump.  Those who participated in the soft-coup and ongoing impeachment effort would like nothing more than to discuss all of the DOJ and FBI actions they took when faced with the possibility that Vladimir Putin had installed a Russian asset in the White House.
All of the outrage about lying to the president-elect; hiding information from the president-elect/President; planting spies in the White House; placing bugs and seeking wiretaps and surveillance on the administration etc.  All of what is known, and buckets more action that is unknown – all of which will stir up jaw-dropping outrage, is exactly the narrative that benefits the DOJ/FBI and intelligence group.
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This evening President Trump delivered remarks during the swearing-in ceremony for newly appointed Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper.  [Video and Transcript]  The Senate voted 90-to-8 easily confirming Secretary Esper.

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much everybody. We have a very important moment in our country’s history, actually. And we had a lot of our great Republican senators in the White House, and I invited them over and many of them wanted to be here. And as you probably heard, the vote just took place, and it was 90 to 8. That’s a vote that we’re not accustomed to, Mark, I have to say that. So congratulations, that’s great.
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Generation Z is absolutely the generation to absorb the truthfulness, purpose and benefit of President Donald John Trump.  Gen-Z are also some of his strongest supporters.
Earlier today President Donald Trump delivered rally-style remarks at the Turning Point USA’s Teen Student Action Summit.  President Trump discussed a number of topics including “The Squad,” Prime Minister-elect Boris Johnson’s victory in the UK and the corrupt Robert Mueller testifying before Congress. [Video and Transcript]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA!
THE PRESIDENT: So, let’s have a good time, right? (Applause.) Let’s have a good time.
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The U.S. Department of Justice has announced a new and broad review of on-line tech companies to investigate if their activity is violating antitrust laws.   The DOJ announcement explains: “Review Focuses on Practices that Create or Maintain Structural Impediments to Greater Competition and User Benefits.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, “The new antitrust inquiry … could ratchet up the already considerable regulatory pressures facing the top U.S. tech firms. The review is designed to go above and beyond recent plans for scrutinizing the tech sector that were crafted by the department and the Federal Trade Commission.”

Full Press Release: The Department of Justice announced today that the Department’s Antitrust Division is reviewing whether and how market-leading online platforms have achieved market power and are engaging in practices that have reduced competition, stifled innovation, or otherwise harmed consumers.

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Boris Johnson has succeeded in beating his nearest rival Jeremy Hunt for leadership of the conservative party in the U.K. thereby becoming the next Prime Minister. One of the priority challenges for Prime Minister Johnson will be navigating a successful Brexit.

A full three years after the British electorate voted to leave the European Union, the elites in Britain have continued to stymie the referendum in their effort to remain attached to the communal values of the collective society.  Thus gave rapid rise, recently, to the Brexit Party as a national force led by Nigel Farage.  It’s the UK version of ‘deplorables’ vs ‘elites’.
The British Parliament is filled with elected members who stand in opposition to the majority of the British citizenry.  It is amid this professionally political and elitist disconnect that Boris Johnson must now attempt to deliver Brexit, while the purchased politicians of both institutional parties will oppose his effort. [Sound familiar?]
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The media has been apoplectic in selling outrage over the U.S. Department of Justice sending a letter to Robert Mueller with guidelines for his testimony.   House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler appeared on morning TV shows today to decry the hubris of the letter calling it “incredibly arrogant” of Bill Barr to send such instructions.
However, in the background, for those who watch these manufactured events, you can see that everything around this “letter” was staged.  Everything around this letter was intentionally designed by the Lawfare group; which includes Jerry Nadler’s staff.
Yes, it is revealed today…. the Lawfare staff of Chairman Nadler -who are coordinating with Mueller’s staff- requested the letter to set-up a manufactured narrative before the testimony.  Essentially, team Nadler and team Mueller requested the letter, so that Nadler could decry it.  That’s the textbook definition of manufacturing outrage:

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The schemes of Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler are predictable. As we said three months ago, Robert Mueller would not be allowed to testify without a handler. Small group participant Aaron Zebly will now join Mueller for his testimony.  This has always been the plan, but strategically announced today.
Remember, Mueller’s team is working closely with Nadler’s team; they are part of the same purpose. They are all part of the same network. The impeachment objective is a group effort from inside government & outside (Lawfare). These are not separate groups.

The pre-planning was why Chairman Nadler hired Lawfare Group members to become committee staff. Chairman Schiff hired former SDNY U.S. Attorney Daniel Goldman (link), and Chairman Nadler hired Obama administration lawyer Norm Eisen and criminal defense attorney Barry Berke (link).  All these participants are within the Lawfare network. Aaron Zebly is just another key player in the coordinated group.

WASHINGTON – Former special counsel Robert Mueller has made a last-minute request to have one of his longtime aides appear as a witness during his highly-anticipated testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, one congressional source told NBC News on Tuesday.

Mueller has requested that Aaron Zebley appear with him when he testifies on Wednesday about his report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and collusion and obstruction by President Donald Trump.

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP

Stephanie Grisham Twitter @StephGrisham45

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †