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. Trade Rep Robert Lighthizer’s work on the U.S-China trade negotiations is easily the most technically challenging and legally complex trade deal in the history of U.S. Commerce.
Lighthizer is not focused on selling more U.S. product, he is focused on bigger issues and enforcement therein.
Think about it.  This is a deal between a U.S. open market economy and a communist controlled closed market economy in China.  No nation has a comprehensive trade deal with China on anything except individual business sectors.
Despite China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, no nation has ever achieved anything close to an aggregate FTA (Free Trade Agreement) with China.  This deal would be the first comprehensive deal, and as such Lighthizer is essentially mapping out an agreement that all other nations could follow….  This is big-league.
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And now….  for something, completely different. Enjoy:

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Former Canadian Attorney General Wilson-Raybould shocked the systems of government last week when she gave detailed testimony outlining how Justin Trudeau’s government conducted a sustained campaign to influence her decision in a bribery and corruption case surrounding a company called SNC-Lavalin. [More Here]
Today the scandal deepened as another Cabinet Minister, Ms. Jane Philpott, resigned her Treasury position citing the political corruption within the SNC-Lavalin case and her inability to support the Prime Minister’s Office.

CANADA […] “In Canada, the constitutional convention of Cabinet solidarity means, among other things, that ministers are expected to defend all Cabinet decisions. A minister must always be prepared to defend other ministers publicly, and must speak in support of the government and its policies,” Philpott said in a resignation letter posted to her website on Monday afternoon. “Given this convention and the current circumstances, it is untenable for me to continue to serve as a Cabinet minister.”

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Earlier today President Donald Trump hosted an annual gathering for the National Association of Attorneys General.  Video and Transcript)

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[Transcript] – State Dining Room, 4:30 P.M. EST – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Please. Thank you very much. I’m very honored to welcome our State Attorneys General back to the White House.
We were together last year, and I said, “I’m inviting you back.” And a lot things have been done, a lot of progress has been made. And, Vice President, thank you very much for being here. You were here last year and we’re here again, Mike.
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Shocked, S.H.O.C.K.E.D,.. well, not really….. actually ‘predictable‘; I digress.
Mr. Saikat Chakrabarti, the chief-of-staff for Ms. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has been caught using sketchy financial PAC constructs to construct dark money schemes.
Oh dear.

WASHINGTON DC – Two political action committees founded by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s top aide funneled over $1 million in political donations into two of his own private companies, according to a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission on Monday.
The cash transfers from the PACs — overseen by Saikat Chakrabarti, the freshman socialist Democrat’s chief of staff — run counter to her pledges to increase transparency and reduce the influence of “dark money” in politics.

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House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler has produced his committee witness list to initiate the predictable groundwork for his ‘impeachment’ process.  Pelosi’s trio of organized co-horts Schiff, Cummings and Nadler each have a role in the process.
Chairman Nadler provides some specifics within his planned approach, announcing three investigative prongs: ¹Obstruction of Justice; ²Public Corruption and ³Abuses of power.

It seems Nadler will tackle the “obstruction” aspect; Cummings will specialize on the “public corruption” angle and Schiff will likely tackle the “abuse of power” approach.

Washington, D.C. – Today, House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) unveiled an investigation by the House Judiciary Committee into the alleged obstruction of justice, public corruption, and other abuses of power by President Trump, his associates, and members of his Administration.  As a first step, the Committee has served document requests to 81 agencies, entities, and individuals believed to have information relevant to the investigation.

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Earlier today President Trump hosted the 2018 division-1 FCS National Champions, the North Dakota State Bison, to the White House. [Video and Transcript]

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[Transcript] East Room – 12:14 P.M. EST – THE PRESIDENT: It’s a lot of big people I’m standing next to. (Laughter.) These are big, strong, powerful champions, right?
SENATOR CRAMER: That’s right.
THE PRESIDENT: All champions. Well, I just want to thank everybody for being here. And we’re very excited to welcome to the White House the 2018 FCS National Champions, the North Dakota State University Bison. And that’s with a “Z”. You know, I spell (inaudible) — (laughter and applause). I actually took the “S” out, and I just put the “Z”, because I didn’t want to —
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Mitch McConnell doing what Mitch McConnell does best…. Setting-up, isolating, President Trump to own the National Border Security declaration without party support:

(Link to Article)

Reminder (February 14th, 2019):

..”and I’ve indicated to him that I’m going to support the national emergency declaration”…

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