FBI's War on The Memo

The public relations effort came as more evidence became available about the questionable behind-the-scenes conduct of fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who allegedly tried to use his authority to undermine President Trump's campaign.

The classified four-page memo, compiled by House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, was based on classified information supplied by the FBI and its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Justice.

The FBI takes seriously its obligations to the Court and its compliance with procedures overseen by career professionals in the Department of Justice and the FBI. We are committed to working with the appropriate oversight entities to ensure the continuing integrity of the FISA process.

With regard to the House Intelligence Committee's memorandum, the FBI was provided a limited opportunity to review this memo the day before the committee voted to release it.

Echoing the FBI, the serial liar and TV camera-hogging ranking member of the House committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, howled that the memo is "Distorted and misleading," even though two FBI officials who have read the memo about surveillance abuses during the 2016 presidential election cycle were unable to find any factual inaccuracies in it, according to Catherine Herridge of Fox News.

Continued below.... FBI Director Christopher Wray read the memo last weekend, which apparently led to the dismissal Monday of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

Wray sent a message to all FBI employees late Monday stating McCabe left because of a damning upcoming report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz about the agency's handing of the Hillary Clinton email probe, NBC News reports.

Investigative journalist Sara Carter said on Fox News Channel Monday that McCabe may have engaged in obstruction of justice by urging FBI investigators to falsify reports.

Ironically, the FBI's announcement that it was reopening the Clinton investigation a few days before the election - which many Clinton supporters say cost her the election - may have come nearly three weeks later than it should have.

Continued below.... McCabe failed to recuse himself from the Clinton email probe until Nov. 1, 2016, which was four days after Comey, then the FBI director, announced the agency had reopened the investigation into the emails after finding new data on Weiner's computer.

http://canadafreepress.com/article/fbis-war-on-the-memo

New National Poll Shows Tax Reform Skyrocketing, Dems Cratering on Generic Ballot

Monmouth University is out with a fresh poll that is likely to cause heartburn among Democrats who may already be anxious about how well President Trump's State of the Union Address was received among the vast majority of viewers, including roughly 70 percent of political independents.

NATIONAL POLL: Support for #TaxReform plan increases.

Extraordinary stat from new Monmouth poll showing support for #TaxReform spiking from 26/47 in Dec to 44/44 now: Only 24% of respondents believe their taxes will drop, and a plurality think their taxes will *rise.

Again, these humongous gains in public perception appear to be almost entirely attributable to the effects of the corporate side of new tax law.

More than two-thirds of respondents think their own taxes will either go up or stay the same, when in fact 80 percent of them will experience a tax cut this year, including 91 percent of the middle class.

Three of the last four national generic ballots have pegged Democrats' lead in the low-to-mid single digits.

President Trump's approval rating in December's Monmouth poll was an abysmal.

Four of the last five nationwide surveys show Trump's job approval rising into the 40's. A majority of respondents said they're at least somewhat optimistic about the policies Trump will pursue as president, and 55 percent said the state of the union is at least somewhat strong - with just 14 percent taking the bleak, Joe Kennedy-esque 'not strong' view.

It's a safe bet that Trump may have helped himself even more on Tuesday night, as more Americans heard his tax reform celebration-slash-reality check.

I'll once again argue that the overriding political priority of every Republican should be to make sure that Americans both notice their tax cuts in the form of ballooning paychecks over the next few months, and understand the causal relationship between those favorable outcomes and their tax law.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2018/02/01/boom-new-national-poll-shows-tax-reform-skyrocketing-dems-cratering-on-generic-ballot-n2442580 

Trump's China policies are working a treat

Say what you like about Donald Trump's rhetoric on trade.

The fact is he is engineering the fastest reboot of the US/China imbalance that anyone can remember without having to fire much more than a beebee gun.

Of course, China may also be happy to see the yuan rise to push forward its rebalancing.

Especially since the last time it tried in 2015, the yuan crashed and threatened to take down the global economy.

This time, the higher yuan is giving consumers greater purchasing power as it works against industrial over-capacity while capital outflow has been contained.

It will also exacerbate the Chinese macro-level slowdown this year if it does not stimulate more domestically.

It would be downright bad manners for Trump to not ease up on the protectionist push in response; "Global synchronised growth" is going to morph this year into global synchronised growth ex-China, and.

If you think Australia is about to join the global boom then I have a bridge to sell you.

Maybe fighting back against a currency-pegging, excess saving mercantilist is not so bad for your country.

https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2018/02/trumps-china-policies-working-treat/

Trickle-down social justice is a liberal pipe dream

Ever since President Calvin Coolidge slashed taxes in the Roaring Twenties, Democrats have pejoratively described conservative tax proposals as "Trickle-down economics." The liberal contention is that tax cuts-particularly for the top rate - do not spur economic growth for middle and lower income Americans.

The NFL kneeling protests followed a similar script.

The players claimed to be protesting inequitable treatment within the judicial system.

The week after President Trump demanded that protesting players be fired or suspended, the number of demonstrating players ballooned from about 25 to over 150.

A month later, protest volumes essentially returned to pre-Trump levels.

Neither Berkeley nor Yale have staged or planned protests for these disenfranchised groups.

Economics are about leveraging limited resources - or capital - to build wealth.

http://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/371826-trickle-down-social-justice-is-a-liberal-pipe-dream

Andrew McCabe knew of Hillary Clinton emails weeks before FBI alerted Congress: report

The FBI knew for at least a month that emails possibly related to an investigation of Hillary Clinton had been found before telling Congress, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday evening.

According to the report, citing "Text messages reviewed by The Wall Street Journal," FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe knew by Sept. 28, 2016, about the findings on Anthony Weiner's computer.

"In the text messages reviewed by the Journal, FBI agent Peter Strzok, who led the probe into Mrs. Clinton's use of a private email server, told FBI lawyer Lisa Page on Sept. 28 that he had just been summoned to speak to Mr. McCabe about the newly discovered emails," the Journal wrote.

Federal investigators had been scouring for Mrs. Clinton's emails since she acknowledged using a private server and email for government business - potentially frustrating numerous open-records and Congressional investigative requests.

In the course of a child-pornography investigation of Weiner, who was then married to close Clinton confidante Huma Abedin, some of Mrs. Clinton's emails were found.

The month-long lag between the FBI learning of the Weiner emails and Mr. Comey telling Congress is part of a Justice Department's inspector general, probe of FBI actions during the presidential-election season, the Journal wrote, citing "People familiar with the matter."

Mr. McCabe resigned as FBI deputy director this week after having come under a barrage of criticism from President Trump and other Republicans as part of a "Swamp" culture biased for Mrs. Clinton and against Mr. Trump.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jan/31/andrew-mccabe-knew-hillary-clinton-emails-weeks-fb/ 

Hillary Clinton’s 1,500 Word News Dump

I'm not even mad. I'm impressed. It takes some guts to publish a 1,500-word Facebook post 20 minutes before the State of the Union explaining why you, Hillary Clinton, feminist hero, didn't fire a dude for sexually harassing one of your young female staffers despite the fact that everyone in your campaign told you to get rid of him ASAP. It's kind of like, I dunno, trading for a new franchise quarterback in the middle of the Cavalcade of Horrors section of Donald Trump's speech.

I mean, I understand why she felt the need to do go on the record with something. She doesn't exactly have a great history on these matters, given the way she has viciously attacked Bill Clinton's various accusers over the years and sabotaged her campaign by refusing to fire an aide whose husband was caught sexting with minors. Once-loyal supporters are turning their backs on her. It's a bad look to stay silent in this #MeToo moment.

And the statement itself is fine, I guess, in the sense that she had to say something, this is something, and it lets her and us move on. But there's still this whingy, petulant tone to the whole thing that is so grating and offputting. I mean, how is this a good look for her?

Indeed, while we are revisiting whether my decision from a decade ago was harsh enough, many employers would be well served to take actions at least as severe when confronted with problems now – including the very media outlet that broke this story. They recently opted to suspend and reinstate one of their journalists who exhibited similarly inappropriate behavior, rather than terminate him. A decade from now, that decision may not look as tough as it feels today.

http://freebeacon.com/blog/hillary-clintons-1500-word-news-dump/

When Will Trump Release The FISA Memo?

President Donald Trump has approved the release of a classified memo compiled by House Republicans on the intelligence committee, clearing the way for its release Friday, multiple outlets report.

House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes assembled the memo with fellow Intel committee members and staff based on classified information turned over by the FBI and the DOJ. NEW: President expected this morning to approve release of controversial Nunes memo challenging origins of Russia investigation.

The memo will be released with some technical redactions requested by the FBI who continue to object to the document's release.

House rules dictate that the legislature can vote to declassify material in the public interest stipulating the president must approve its release within 5 days.

After the president's approval the memo will be transferred back to the House permanent select committee on intelligence who will then publicly release it.

Trump reviewed the memo after the committee voted to declassify the memo Monday.

Administration officials insisted the memo was undergoing a thorough national security review before any decision on its release.

http://dailycaller.com/2018/02/01/when-will-trump-release-fisa-memo/?utm_medium=push&utm_source=daily_caller&utm_campaign=push