a common sense approach to a liberal world
My apologies for the lack of recent posts. We are in the midst of a meaningful extended family event that has been planned for well over a year. Family remains more important than politics.
Inspector General Horowitz testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. His Opening Statement can be found here.Continue Reading
Here is the Inspector General’s long-awaited Report:Continue Reading
If a country is buying more goods and services from the rest of the world than it is selling, the country must also be selling more assets to the rest of the world than it is buying. – Douglas Irwin
While awaiting the Inspector General’s Report, I came across an interesting exchange regarding trade and foreign investment.Continue Reading
No one is entitled to surreptitiously fight their battles in the media by revealing sensitive government information. – AG Jeff Sessions
The indictment of former Senate Intelligence Committee staffer and long-time Security Director for the Committee, James Wolfe, is a welcome event. His indictment and arrest was the culmination of a lengthy investigation.Continue Reading
There are two legal version of events relating to George Papadopoulos.
One from the July 28, 2017 Affidavit signed by FBI Agent Robert M. Gibbs (Gibbs Version). Gibbs notes this interview is recorded. It is not clear that Gibbs is conducting the interview. There are at least two FBI Agents present.
One from October 5, 2017 Statement of the Offense signed by Robert Mueller – undersigned by Jeannie S. Rhee, Andrew D. Goldstein and Aaron S.J. Zelinsky – The Special Counsel’s Office (Mueller Version).
To the casual eye these documents appear to provide a relatively similar version of events. But there are some differences.Continue Reading
There are two ways to do something…the right way, and again – Navy SEAL saying
The Inspector General’s Report will now be released on June 14, 2018. The Inspector General will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 18, 2018.
Note: This is the first time Inspector General Horowitz has provided a hard date for release of his Report. Previously, everyone has been forced to infer release dates based on testimony scheduling.Continue Reading
6-7-18 UPDATE:
Grassley’s office says DoJ Inspector General IG report on presidential election will be released on June 14. Inspector General Horowitz will testify before Senate Judiciary Cmte on June 18
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 7, 2018
The Inspector General’s Report should be released imminently. Anytime between now and Friday – absent further postponement of the Inspector General’s scheduled testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Examining the Inspector General’s First Report on Justice Department and FBI Actions in Advance of the 2016 Presidential Election is currently scheduled for June 11, 2018 at 2:00pm EST.Continue Reading
There’s been a lot of speculation about the role of George Papadopoulos. Especially in light of new information covered yesterday.
Initially, I was convinced that Papadopoulos was a nothing more than a pawn in a much larger game. But as new information and a continuation of ever-increasing coincidences came forth, I began to reassess that position.Continue Reading
An older post of mine from December 15, 2017, The Inspector General’s Implied Oversight has been receiving some attention recently.
Several different points were made in the piece but three primary ones are as follows:
Many observers have noted that populism is inherent to representative democracy; after all, do populists not juxtapose ‘the pure people’ against ‘the corrupt elite’? – Cas Mudde
On April 25, 2017, I wrote the following words in an article titled The EU’s Two Intractable Issues & Election Anxiety:
Brussels is breathing a sigh of relief. Macron is heavily favored to win the runoff election according to polls.
But Brussels should not feel overly confident with this short-term respite. While Le Pen is likely to lose the runoff election, it’s telling that candidates from the French establishment parties were defeated.
Italy may be the true test for the European Union. Indeed, Italy may be the place where the fate of the European Union is decided.Continue Reading
