Amid the ongoing partial government shutdown; and with the unwillingness of Democrats to negotiate on border security funding; and coming on the heels of a massive Puerto Rico junket funded by K-Street lobbyists; it may have been a bridge-too-far for Democrats to start another eleven day vacation on Thursday…..  So they cancelled it, sort of.
House Leader Steny Hoyer technically cancelled (in writing only) the recess (to keep the talking points out of the hands of the opposition), while factually telling membership to go ahead and take the vacation but be prepared to return if needed.

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Everything you need to know about political Democrats is in that interview. •Kate Bourdain never interrupts the talking points. •Hoyer focuses on the optics of politics and maximum political value, not actual policy. •Hoyer frames the narrative without pushback.
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Showcasing the severe political resistance objectives of Democrats, speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has sent a politically crafted letter to the White House requesting that President Trump cancel his State of the Union address.
The pretense of the letter surrounds the ongoing partial government shutdown and a concern for security.  However, DHS and the Secret Service have stated nothing in the letter is factually correct; and they were not contacted by Pelosi with questions.
In short, it’s a political stunt by Speaker Pelosi and Democrat leadership.

(link to letter)

Not surprised.

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 †

Chairman Graham is very happy with the nomination of William Barr as U.S. Attorney General.  It would appear purposeful Barr will re-balance the DC interests, and return the DOJ to a more ordinary level of corruption.  In this way Barr pushes back the fulcrum tilting the DOJ away from the more violent weaponized lean in the past eight years.

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President Trump’s AG nominee William Barr testifies to the Senate Judiciary Committee about his legal views and perspectives.  Overall post-testimonial punditry converges on the outlook Mr. Barr will be easily confirmed with broad bipartisan support.
Rather than agree or disagree with various opinions CTH is providing a full video of the Barr hearing below with a recap video as presented by Global News:

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My own personal view is that William Barr will likely reset the DOJ ‘status quo‘ to the institutional construct that existed prior to the Obama DOJ (Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch) era. That is to say: Barr will attempt to remove obvious weaponization and overt political motives behind every action taken by the U.S. Justice Department.
However, it also appears the most purposeful goal for Mr. Barr, in direct alignment with his close personal friend Robert Mueller, will be the preservation of the DOJ institution as a historic apparatus. That “preserve-the-institution” at all costs means Barr will necessarily have to bury any/all systemic corruption to achieve a larger institutional goal.
I Do not anticipate Barr will deliver any sunlight to expose how badly corrupted the DOJ has become. Instead he’ll likely apply bondo to cover the rot and apply a fresh coat of paint.
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Well, here we are again; another leaked transcript, this time from DOJ Official Bruce Ohr. And as with the prior two transcript leaks, we don’t get the raw information.  So let me first, necessarily, reassert our CTH position on these “leaks”.
Leaking is bad, period; in all directions. Because *leaking* is simply a method, a mechanism, to direct and control the focus of sunlight upon illicit action. Regardless of whether you support or oppose the message within any individual leak; the leak itself does not expose corruption…. only full and unfiltered information can expose corruption.  That means we need the actual raw transcripts to make determinations for ourselves.
As a factual standard for honesty and sunlight, CTH would never describe a transcript where we could not provide the reader with the raw and underlying material.  We have held this standard for many years; most of you know that. The truth has no agenda.

That said, someone is leaking congressional transcripts and a current tug-of-war exists between two opposing narrative engineers.  The heavily promoted New York Times article last Friday, was based on leaks of James Baker Transcripts, from sources who were responding to the leaks from other sources that were given to the Epoch Times.   Each side in the DOJ/FBI corruption story is currently leaking to advance their interests.
Three congressional committees have requested the release of witness transcripts.  HPSCI via Devin Nunes (September 2018); and the joint House Judiciary/Oversight committee (December 2018).  Congressional allies of President Trump (Nunes, Jordan, Meadows and Collins) are being blocked by corrupt cabinet members within the current administration.
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The British Parliament resoundingly rejected the proposed Brexit deal put forth by Prime Minister Theresa May earlier today.  Government officials on both sides of the contentious economic argument, globalists and nationalists, found little to support in May’s insufferable attempt to split the baby.  The vote was 432-Nay, and 202-Yea.

(Via Fox News) British lawmakers on Tuesday rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposed deal to exit the European Union by a resounding 432-202 vote, dealing a major setback to negotiations just 10 weeks before the United Kingdom is set to withdraw from the international body.

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If you wait long enough, the Lawfare actors brazenly expose their intents.  Cue the example today as former SDNY U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara showcases the ideology behind the DOJ and FBI weaponizing their offices based on political policy differences.
It has been outlined that President Trump would prefer to withdraw the U.S. from NATO. Trump’s view stems from NATO allies (Germany) engaging with NATO adversaries (Russia) with strategic energy policy (gas pipeline) to benefit Russia; while simultaneously demanding the U.S. taxpayer fund the defense of Germany (and EU) from Russia.
In response to reports that President Trump may withdraw from NATO, a strategic U.S. policy shift, Preet Bharara demands “impeachment and conviction”:

This clear example evidences the mentality within the DOJ and FBI that is becoming more openly obvious.  The institutions of the DOJ were/are weaponized, against candidate and president Trump, based on political differences and viewpoints.

Wow, this has some potential massive ramifications.  The trial of notorious drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been ongoing in federal court since November. During the trial today a witness and confidante of El Chapo outlined how he participated in a $100 million bribe to former Mexican President Pena Nieto.
No wonder the terms of the U.S-Mexico trade agreement (USMCA) were so favorable.

(Reuters) – A witness at the U.S. trial of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman testified on Tuesday that he previously told U.S. authorities the accused Mexican drug lord once paid a $100 million bribe to former Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
Alex Cifuentes, who has said he was a close associate of Guzman for years, discussed the alleged bribe under cross-examination by one of Guzman’s lawyers in Brooklyn federal court. Asked if he told authorities in 2016 that Guzman arranged the bribe, he answered, “That’s right.”

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