Today we observe Good Friday, the day of the death of Jesus. Many Christian Churches have different ways of observation, to prepare us for the coming resurrection of the Lord on Easter Sunday. Today, the sacrifices we have made during Lent culminate in our internalization of the great offering of Christ’s life. If we have been diligent in our Lenten preparations, Good Friday hits us with a power and force that brings us, literally and figuratively, to our knees with the grasp of what Jesus poured out for us. It becomes personal, a tiny sliver of the cross is buried in our heart. And so each year, we find that we give ourselves over to Christ just a little more through this time of penance and reflection. 

This year, in particular,  I suspect that many of us will experience Good Friday as we never have before, with a comprehension of our own mortality and perhaps even an understanding that there are so many things in this world we do not, we cannot, control. We can control our choice in relationship to those things, and to the most important choice of all, the life and death of Jesus Christ, who chose to hang on a cross and die for us. He had all control, and he made his choice for us.

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Laura Ingraham broadcasts the second part of her interview with AG Bill Barr (majority transcribed below).  In this segment we can get a sense of where the DOJ is going with the ongoing investigations by U.S. Attorney John Durham into spygate and the current status of FISA against the backdrop of the prior administration abuse.

AG Bill Barr notes John Durham will bring criminal charges against those in the previous administration: “he is looking to bring to justice people who were engaged in abuses if he can show that there were criminal violations; and that’s what the focus is on.” WATCH

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[@2:49 of video] INGRAHAM – John Brennan was smashing the President’s firing of Inspector General Michael Atkinson, let’s listen:

BRENNAN – “By removing Mr. Atkinson, and I think also sending a signal to others, Mr. Trump continues to show his insecurity in terms of trying to stop anybody who was going to expose, again the lawlessness, that I think he not only has allowed to continue, but also that he abets.”

BARR – “I think the president did the right thing in removing Atkinson. From the vantage point of the Dept. of Justice, he had interpreted his statute; which is a fairly narrow statute that gave him jurisdiction over wrong-doing by intelligence people; and tried to turn it into a commission to explore anything in the government, and immediately report it to congress without letting the executive branch look at it and determine whether there was any problem.  He was told this in a letter from the department of justice, and he is obliged to follow the interpretation of the department of justice, and he ignored it. So I think the President was correct in firing him.”

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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 †

Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacy Abrams, having previously refused to accept defeat, stands atop her imaginary governor platform and says she will be honored to be on the ticket as Joe Biden’s vice-president selection.   This is the second time Abrams has implied her addition to the ticket. [First Here]

[Washington DC] Stacy Abrams said Thursday that she would be “honored” to be former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate.

[…] “I would be honored to be on the campaign trail as a running mate,” she said. “But that is a process that you can’t campaign for, and I’m not campaigning for. I’m just being straight-forward.”  (read more)

If Biden remains the nominee through the convention (not guaranteed), then Abrams fits the mold for a predictable female of color VP.  Biden will select a female, but the race aspect is a 50/50 proposition depending on the candidate.

Sean Spicer interviews NEC Director Larry Kudlow about the administration’s thinking toward re-opening the U.S. economy.  According to Kudlow internal conversations currently include: whether geographic regions can be opened; whether specific job types can be opened; and what influences the timing around re-opening.

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House minority Leader Kevin McCarthy appears for an interview with Lou Dobbs to discuss the recent revelations around the exculpatory Papadopoulos transcript and the inference from AG Bill Barr that no legal consequences are likely for the coup attempt.

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It has been so long since the original 2018 congressional request that many people have forgotten what was included in the “Bucket Five” declassification request.

Bucket Five – Intelligence documents that were presented to the Gang of Eight in 2016 that pertain to the FISA application used against U.S. person Carter Page; including all exculpatory intelligence documents that may not have been presented to the FISA Court.

Bucket Five includes transcripts of the FBI wiretap operations using confidential human sources that were run against members of the Trump campaign; including George Papadopoulos and Carter Page.

One of those transcripts, from the operation against Papadopoulos was declassified on April 1st, and released last night and today.

Before getting into the transcript, it is also important to see the bigger context and the bigger landscape as it is visible.  Recent moves by the Trump administration highlight much more context and color… some may be interpreted as positive signs, and some are worth a note of caution.

Richard “Ric” Grenell was moved into the position as Acting Director of National Intelligence.  Together with a new staff within the ODNI Grenell is now in position to assist in any declassification effort.  Thus we also see the apoplexy by HPSCI Chairman Adam Schiff, as Grenell is positioned to bring a lot of sunlight on the overall FISA-gate and Spygate operations.   The corrupt intelligence community operators are not happy with Grenell holding such power.  Keep this in mind.

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Unfortunately, with President Trump effectively communicating the latest information on the federal efforts to mitigate COVID-19, more corporate U.S. resistance media have decided not to carry the live broadcasts from the White House task force briefings.

Today at 5:00pm ET the White House will hold a briefing for the public and media on the latest mitigation efforts against the coronavirus. [Livestream Links Below]

White House Livestream Link – Fox News Livestream Link – RSBN Livestream

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The initial coronavirus relief funding package (CARES Act) included $380 billion targeted to small businesses as part of the larger congressional relief package.  Within the SBA section small and medium businesses can apply for loans to cover payroll (75%), called payroll protection plan (ppp); and expenses (25%).  If the PPP funding is used to keep employees on payroll the loan is forgiven.   Thousands of businesses have applied.

Due to the success of the SBA targeted funding, the $380 billion may run out before all of the applications are covered.  Treasury Secretary Mnuchin asked Speaker Pelosi and Senate Leader McConnell for an additional $250 billion infusion into the program.

Senator McConnell framed a bill to provide the additional funds and asked for unanimous consent to advance the legislation.  However, speaker Pelosi doesn’t want to miss an opportunity to add pet project (constituent funding) to the bill.  Speaker Pelosi instructed Senator Ben Cardin to object to the unanimous consent request and block the funds.

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a Republican push to unanimously pass a bill to put $250 billion more into a loan program for small businesses devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.

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