Moments ago President Trump and Vice President Pence made an unscheduled stop to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington DC to pay their holiday respects.

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The President is scheduled to depart the White House at 6:15pm ET, for a trip to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The White House has announced the schedule for several bilateral discussions including:

• Dr. Barham Salih, President of the Republic of Iraq
• Imran Khan of Pakistan, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
• Simonetta Sommaruga, President of the Swiss Confederation
• Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
• Nechirvan Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Regional Government
• World Economic Forum Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab

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The lawyers representing President Trump and lawyers representing the Office of the Presidency collectively file a response briefing, a trial memorandum, to the Senate (full pdf below).  The 170-page rebuttal to the House articles is HERE and embedded below:
[scribd id=443635181 key=key-aNR0dOONH5PrvmDt1r3u mode=scroll]
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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 †

Sunday evening President Donald Trump delivered a key-note speech during the American Farm Bureau National Convention.  [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Well, I want to thank you very much. And thank you to our great Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue. Thank you, Sonny, very much. You’ve done a fantastic job. (Applause.) Sit down, everybody. Let’s stay for a while. Come on.
We did it. We did it. Remember? (Applause.)
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CTH held off reporting on this explosive story until we could see if a tell-tale consequence surfaced; perhaps it has.   On Friday the National Security Council senior director for European and Russian affairs, Andrew Peek, was escorted from the White House grounds and is currently under a security investigation.
There are few details about why Peek was physically removed and is under a very serious investigation; however, some of Andrew Peek’s professional background details tell a story.  The connection to Gen. John Allen is a MASSIVE warning flare.
Andrew Peek, the senior director for European and Russian affairs at the National Security Council, has been placed on administrative leave pending a security-related investigation, people familiar with the situation tell Axios.
First the Daily Mail:

[…] Peek had been in the NSC role for just two months, after most recently working as a deputy assistant secretary of state with responsibility for Iran and Iraq.
[…] Peek had been expected to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland next week with Trump and other top aides. However, he is currently on leave pending a security-related investigation, people familiar with the situation told Axios.

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Ohio congressman Jim Jordan appears with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the full background of the FBI surveillance impetus and how the bigger picture brings all of the government activity forward to the actions behind an impeachment trial.
In the full picture, the totality of government effort, the arc of all swamp action, has been to remove a president who is everything these administrative state officials oppose.  It is the independence of a Peoples’ President that represents the threat to the system…

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One of the White House impeachment lawyers, Robert Ray, sits down for an interview with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the impeachment trial.
As customary with most high-profile defense team assemblies, it would appear there are three or four of the team who have been selected primarily to articulate the legal arguments in the media arena; while the co-lead counsels (Cipollone & Sekulow) focus on the trial detail and presentations therein.

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Previous discussion HERE.
Virginia government officials have made extensive preparations ahead of tomorrow’s planned Second Amendment “Lobby Day” protests.  Earlier today a videographer named Stephen B walked through the capitol grounds to highlight the extensive fencing assembled by authorities.  Some slightly salty language:

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Additionally, the Virginia State Police are taking the planned protest quite seriously. In a Twitter video below law enforcement show up at a man’s home, 100 miles from the venue, to question him based on a “tip”, and suspecting some thought crimes may be committed.
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Texas Senator Ted Cruz appears on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo for a lengthy discussion of the upcoming senate impeachment trial.  Senator Cruz does not currently support subpoenas for witnesses; however, if the full senate votes to call prosecution witnesses Cruz would support reciprocal witnesses for President Trump.
Senator Cruz walks through the anticipated process including the “scheduling order” or senate rules within the impeachment process.  Twelve hours of prosecution, twelve hours of defense, sixteen hours of senator questioning, and then possibly a vote.

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