Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced Tuesday he will appoint GOP Rep. Martha McSally to the Senate to fill the seat of the late Sen. John McCain.

“All her life, Martha has put service first — leading in the toughest of fights and at the toughest of times. She served 26 years in the military; deployed six times to the Middle East and Afghanistan; was the first woman to fly in combat and command a fighter squadron in combat; and she’s represented Southern Arizona in Congress for the past four years. With her experience and long record of service, Martha is uniquely qualified to step up and fight for Arizona’s interests in the U.S. Senate. I thank her for taking on this significant responsibility and look forward to working with her and Senator-Elect Sinema to get positive things done.” ~ Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey

We interrupt your regularly scheduled political anxiety with a brief intermission…

Former FBI Director James Comey appeared December 17th, 2018, for a second round of questions by a joint House committee oversight probe into the DOJ and FBI conduct during the 2016 presidential election and incoming Trump administration.
The Joint House Committee just released the transcript (full pdf below):
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This was just released.  Analysis to follow.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivers the White House press briefing for December 18th, 2018:

Without cameras in the courtroom we are constrained to understand the Flynn sentencing hearing today through the perspectives of others. The Daily Caller has an article [See Here] and a thread on the events [is Here] and a great video recap of the events by Will Chamberlain [is HERE].
That said, there is much speculation and punditry delivered opinion on what took place; and how the hearing ended with Judge Emmet Sullivan delaying the sentencing of Michael Flynn for 90-days. While we await the transcript from the court, here’s my view.

Last night, while contemplating the possible outcomes of the hearing, there was a strong likelihood of exactly what happened today…. but only if Judge Sullivan was aware of the conflicted position of Michael Flynn, and approached the hearing from that perspective.
Flynn took the guilty plea of lying to investigators to avoid Mueller charging him over the Turkish lobbying issues (FARA).
Happily, it appears Judge Sullivan is well aware of this very specific dynamic and the issues therein. Special Counsel Robert Mueller used the unregistered foreign lobbying charges, and -more importantly- the devastating narrative that can be drawn from those FARA violations, as leverage over Flynn. Based on the comments from Judge Sullivan, it is clear he is aware of this dynamic.
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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 †

CEA Charman Kevin Hassett is a happy MAGAnomic warrior as he continues to explain the disconnect between the strength of the U.S. economy -vs- the world; and how the disconnect impacts the multinationals (Stock Market).

Prosecutor Brandon Van Grack filed a cover letter attempting to explain the reason for the Flynn interview on January 24th, and the official filing of the interview notes (FD-302) on February 15th, and then again on May 31st.  To explain the delay, he claims the report “inadvertently” had a header saying “DRAFT DOCUMENT/DELIBERATIVE MATERIAL”  (screen grab)

What the special counsel appears to be obfuscating to the court is that there was factually a process of deliberation within the investigative unit, headed by FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, surrounding the specific wording of the 302 report on the interview.
Prosecutor Brandon Van Grack is attempting to hide the length of the small group deliberations. It seems he doesn’t want the court to know Andrew McCabe was involved in shaping how the fd-302 was written.
We know there was a deliberative process in place, seemingly all about how to best position the narrative, because we can see the deliberations in text messages between Lisa Page and Peter Strzok:  See below (note the dates):

The text message conversation above is February 14th, 2017.   The Michael Flynn FD-302 was officially entered into the record on February 15th, 2017, per the report:
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This is interesting.  On the eve of Michael Flynn’s sentencing hearing tomorrow, judge Emmet Sullivan has ordered Robert Mueller’s office to publicly file a redacted version of  the original 302 (interview notes) that FBI Agent Joe Pientka prepared after Flynn’s Jan. 24, 2017 interview (full pdf below).

(Source Link)

  The FD-302 that is submitted by the Mueller team in response to the Sullivan order is here.  Written by FBI Agents Joe Pientka and Peter Strzok:
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[Cloud Link to pdf – SCRIBD link to pdf]

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