Secretary of State Rex Tillerson did an excellent job representing the professional and deliberate diplomatic approach of the U.S. and President Trump administration.  His personal view toward foreign service on behalf of the U.S. was exemplary, and deserves high praise.

Having said that, as President Trump stated earlier today, there was also more than a tinge of disunity between the advocated views of Tillerson and the views of the Commander in Chief toward economic national security.   At times the fractures between policy perspectives were visible.  Over time those differences became more obvious.

As Secretary of the DoS Rex Tillerson supported the Paris Climate Treaty; the President did not; Secretary Tillerson supported the Obama administration’s Iran deal; the President did not; Tillerson was more apologetic toward lax immigration policy; the President is not; and there were other visible departures visible surrounding the use of economic leverage to achieve national security advancements, specifically on the issue of China and North Korea policy.

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Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is scheduled to hold a press conference moments from now to discuss current events including his exit from the Dept. of State and his replacement by CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

UPDATE: Video Added

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President Trump delivers remarks to the media while departing the White House heading to California.   President Trump discusses the replacement of Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State with CIA Director Mike Pompeo; and the nomination of Gina Haspel to be the new CIA Director.

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It is easy to get lost in the weeds if you don’t follow the details closely; however, last night James Clapper appeared on CNN to defend himself against mounting evidence he leaked, and falsified the content of a presidential briefing of an Intelligence Discussion -including the “Steele Dossier”- to CNN January 9th or 10th 2017. [Full Recent Backstory]

Before getting to the CNN/James Clapper video, it’s important to revisit the specific sequence of events. It is difficult to spot lies if you don’t have events to reference. Here’s a recap of the exact timeline of events from 2017:

♦Friday January 6th – DNI James Clapper, CIA John Brennan, FBI James Comey and NSA Mike Rogers briefed President-Elect Trump on their Joint Analysis Report of the Russian Election interference. (link) [POTUS-Elect released a statement]
♦Tuesday January 10th – CNN runs an explosive story (Jake Tapper) and article about Intelligence Officials briefing President Trump about the Steele Dossier. (link)
♦Tuesday January 10th – (Moments later) At 5:20pm Buzzfeed uses the CNN story as an excuse to publish the Steele Dossier.
♦Wednesday January 11th – The Trump transition team states the content of the CNN story [claiming President-Elect Trump was briefed on the Dossier] was false.
♦Wednesday January 11th – (same day) President Trump blasts CNN for pushing “fake news” about their story; P-Elect saying he was not briefed on the “dossier”.
♦Wednesday January 11th – (same day) NBC independently refutes the content of the prior day CNN story. Trump wasn’t briefed on dossier the Friday prior. (link)
♦Wednesday January 11th – (same day) FOX News independently refutes the content of the prior day CNN story. Again, Trump wasn’t briefed on dossier. (link)
♦Wednesday January 11th – (same day – EVENING) DNI James Clapper puts out a press release and affirms he only told the President-elect of the IC position on the Steele Dossier moments before. (January 11th – NOT January 6th) (link)

That’s the cited sequence of events, and the copy of the Press Statement by ODNI James Clapper for verification [Archived Link Here]  Pay close attention to the wording above.

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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

Sarah H Sanders Twitter @SHSanders45

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 †

U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross discusses the recently imposed steel and aluminum tariffs and America’s future trade relationships with all nations including the very protectionist European Union.

“Economic security is national security” ~ Secretary Wilbur Ross

Reminder: Regarding ‘European Union (EU) retaliation’, forget it; they won’t.

The protectionist EU hypocrites simply cannot afford to go toe-to-toe with the U.S. on trade. The UK is in the process of formalizing their Brexit terms; the EU (essentially ‘Germany’) needs to find a way to make up for the lost revenue (billions in taxes) from the UK economy. Currently the UK pays Brussels approximately a billion per month on a $2.5 trillion economy; that will stop.

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This story today from Sara Carter is really interesting because CTH outlined the foundation of this back in January of 2017.  According to an article published today by Sara Carter her congressional sources have told her of an investigation into former ODNI James Clapper and his leaking of “intelligence information” to CNN in an orchestrated effort to damage the incoming Trump administration.

Sara Carter – Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper allegedly leaked information to CNN early last year regarding the classified briefings given to then President-Elect Donald Trump and President Barrack Obama on the salacious dossier claiming the Russians had compromising information on the president-elect, according to government sources, who noted the evidence of the leak was collected during the House Intelligence Committee’s Russia investigation. (keep reading)

Here’s why it’s particularly interesting.  Back in January of 2017, we noted a series of events between James Clapper (ODNI), John Brennan (CIA) and Jake Tapper (CNN) that appeared transparently obvious about creating a specific narrative.  CTH Timeline:

♦ January 10th, 2017 – CNN Frames “Russian Narrative” – The anatomy of a media smear (link).
♦ January 11th, 2017 – President Trump confronts CNN – “You are fake news” (link)
♦ January 12th, 2017 – Confronted by the Trump Transition Team, independent NBC and Fox News Reporting, CNN’s Anderson Cooper attempts to defend CNN Propaganda (link)
♦ January 15th, 2017 – Bob Woodward calls out CNN, Jake Tapper, John Brennan and James Clapper for false statements and indefensible politicization of institutional U.S. intelligence agencies (link)

In essence the week beginning January 10th, 2017 was the origin of the vast ‘Muh Russia’ conspiracy/collusion narrative against the incoming administration.  The CNN report pushed by Jake Tapper was also the distribution of leaked information James Clapper and John Brennan.  This false narrative was specifically the origin of the “collusion” angle.

James Clapper appeared nervous and playing CYA when he released a statement trying to cover-up his leaking of information to CNN.  Remember this?

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The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has announced the completion of their year-long investigation. –SEE HERE-Texas Congressman Mike Conaway appeared on Fox News at 6:00pm to make the announcement (Video):

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HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes statement:

“After more than a year, the Committee has finished its Russia investigation and will now work on completing our report. I’d like to thank Congressmen Trey Gowdy, Tom Rooney, and especially Mike Conaway for the excellent job they’ve done leading this investigation. I’d also like to recognize the hard work undertaken by our other Committee members as well as our staff. Once the Committee’s final report is issued, we hope our findings and recommendations will be useful for improving security and integrity for the 2018 midterm elections.” (link)

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With the increases in on-line shopping, this approach at serial parcel bombs is much more consequential than years past.  Two explosions in Austin Texas today as parcel bombs were left on the doorsteps of the victims.  One teenager was killed, two women seriously injured.

TEXAS – A teenager was killed and at least two women were seriously hurt after a pair of explosions rocked homes in Austin on Monday — just two weeks after a separate blast which authorities said is believed to be linked to both of Monday’s incidents.

Austin Police said they received a call about the first explosion in a neighborhood on the northeast side of the city around 6:45 a.m., after the 17-year-old resident found a package on the front step, brought it inside, and opened it in the kitchen where it exploded.

“It is very similar to the incident that occurred in Austin on March 2,” Austin Police Chief Brian Manley told reporters.

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