BORDER CRACKDOWN: Trump signs memo ending ‘Catch and Release’ policy; DOJ announces ‘Zero-Tolerance’ policy on illegal border crossings

Yesterday was a VERY busy day, when it comes to our National Security at our southern border!  While the pundits were busy complaining about the National Guard being deployed to the border, and pointing out that the National Guard couldn’t really DO anything of substance, due to the “Catch and Release” policy that was put in place by President G.W. Bush, many wondered what could actually be done to stop this massive uptick in illegal border crossings.

There have been numerous calls for Congress to change these ridiculous laws and close the nonsensical loopholes, but Congress is on vacation right now…. or I guess the correct phrase is “back in their districts talking to their constituents,” if that’s what you choose to believe.  With attempted illegal border crossings increasing at an alarming rate, President Trump couldn’t wait for Congress to get back from vacation.

The time to fix this problem is NOW!  (Actually, we should have fixed it decades ago… but since time machines haven’t been invented yet, NOW is our next best time reference.)  Yesterday, President Trump took matters into his own hands to keep all of us safe, and wrote a Memorandum to end the “Catch and Release” policy at the border!!!  As a Reuters article states,

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Friday ordering the end of a policy, known as “catch and release,” in which illegal immigrants are released from detention while awaiting a court hearing on their status.

As part of the memo, Trump asked Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to produce a list of military facilities that could be used to detain illegal immigrants.

In addition to the change in policy at the border by President Trump to DETAIN illegal immigrants (instead of releasing them to go wherever they wish in our Country until their court date that they rarely show up for,) Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced yesterday that illegal entry into the U.S. will be “met with the full prosecutorial powers of the Department of Justice.”  According to a Fox News article,

The Justice Department announced Friday that it is implementing a “zero-tolerance” policy for prosecuting those attempting to enter the U.S. illegally — the latest in a series of measures by the Trump administration to combat illegal immigration.

“The situation at our Southwest Border is unacceptable,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement announcing the policy. “Congress has failed to pass effective legislation that serves the national interest — that closes dangerous loopholes and fully funds a wall along our southern border. “

“As a result, a crisis has erupted at our Southwest Border that necessitates an escalated effort to prosecute those who choose to illegally cross our border,” he said.

On Friday, Sessions — who has a long-standing reputation for his tough stance on illegal immigration — warned that illegal entry into the U.S. will not be rewarded and will be instead “met with the full prosecutorial powers of the Department of Justice.”

“To the Department’s prosecutors, I urge you: promoting and enforcing the rule of law is vital to protecting a nation, its borders, and its citizens,” he said.

This is AWESOME NEWS!!!  If we detain the illegal immigrants, instead of releasing them, and then prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law…. THAT’S A WINNING RECIPE FOR SUCCESS!!!  (At least until the wall is built!)

Obviously, this is a developing story, as we still don’t yet know if California Governor Jerry Brown will send their National Guard to the border, or even allow the National Guard from other states to be on their border.

At this exact moment in time, Texas has sent 250 National Guard troops to the border (with up to 250 additional National Guard troops coming soon,) and Arizona has sent 400 National Guard troops to the border.  President Trump’s estimated number of National Guard troops desired at this time is 2,000-4,000, so hopefully many more states will be sending their National Guard troops soon!

Stay tuned!   #MAGA!  🙂

FBI #2 Andrew McCabe FIRED! Here are the Statements from AG Sessions, McCabe, and President Trump

Late last night, AG Jeff Sessions made the determination to follow through on the OPR’s recommendation to fire Andrew McCabe. Here is the statement from AG Jeff Sessions:

Andrew McCabe issued his statement, minutes later:

What comes across the most, in my opinion, is that he was OBVIOUSLY very partisan, and biased in his views. Instead of taking responsibility for his actions (the actions that led to the OPR’s recommendation of firing him,) he instead blamed the Trump administration.  For the record, the OPR is an independent office within the FBI itself, not the Trump administration.  Someone as high up as McCabe should know that, right?

Also, given the lengthy response of McCabe, and given that the statement was issued within minutes of AG Jeff Sessions’ statement, it seems it was prepared WELL ahead of time.  Perhaps it was written to rebut and challenge the upcoming IG Horowitz report, and repurposed for the event of his firing?  Hmmm….

Meanwhile, President Trump tweeted out his statement a few hours later:

I completely concur, Mr President!  It IS a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI, and a GREAT DAY for Democracy as well!  Well Said!! 🙂 #MAGA

Newly released texts show Strzok/Page conspired to create “cover” to talk to FISC judge – DOJ/FBI tried to cover it up!

There is a LOT to unpack in this story… so much, that you could probably fill a movie with all of it.  And there is still MUCH more that we will (hopefully) find out, as the dots keep getting connected.

Before we jump to the complicated web of corruption, let’s view the cast of characters, and what we know about them so far:

Peter Strzok – One of the Heads of Espionage at the FBI.  Also main interviewer with Gen. Michael Flynn, and attended meeting with Andrew McCabe (#2 at the FBI) about “back up plan” in case Trump won the election.  (Was also interviewer in Hillary Clinton email investigation.)

Lisa Page – Lawyer at the FBI, and was having an affair with Strzok. Also attended the Andrew McCabe meeting about backup plan.

Rudolph Contreras – FISC (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court) judge appointed by Obama, who was set to oversee the Gen. Michael Flynn hearing, until he recused himself a week after Gen. Flynn plead guilty to lying to the FBI.  Also, he is reported to be the FISC judge that issued a warrant to spy on Carter Page (and therefore the Trump Campaign.)

Now we get to the “good stuff.”

In an explosive article by Mollie Hemingway at the Federalist, we discover that Strzok had a personal relationship with this FISA judge, and Strzok/Page were trying to create “cover” to talk to him, by setting up an intimate dinner party.  As the article states,

Newly discovered text messages obtained by The Federalist reveal two key federal law enforcement officials conspired to meet with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) judge who presided over the federal case against Michael Flynn. The judge, Rudolph Contreras, was recused from handling the case just days after accepting the guilty plea of President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser who was charged with making false statements to federal investigators.

The text messages about Contreras between controversial Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) lawyer Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, the senior FBI counterintelligence official who was kicked off Robert Mueller’s special counsel team, were deliberately hidden from Congress, multiple congressional investigators told The Federalist. In the messages, Page and Strzok, who are rumored to have been engaged in an illicit romantic affair, discussed Strzok’s personal friendship with Contreras and how to leverage that relationship in ongoing counterintelligence matters.

“Rudy is on the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court]!” Page excitedly texted Strzok on July 25, 2016. “Did you know that? Just appointed two months ago.”

“I did,” Strzok responded. “I need to get together with him.”

“[He] said he’d gotten on a month or two ago at a graduation party we were both at.”

Contreras was appointed to the top surveillance court on May 19, 2016, federal records show.

The pair even schemed about how to set up a cocktail or dinner party just so Contreras, Strzok, and Page could speak without arousing suspicion that they were colluding. Strzok expressed concern that a one-on-one meeting between the two men might require Contreras’ recusal from matters in which Strzok was involved.

“[REDACTED] suggested a social setting with others would probably be better than a one on one meeting,” Strzok told Page. “I’m sorry, I’m just going to have to invite you to that cocktail party.”

“Have to come up with some other work people cover for action,” Strzok added.

“Why more?” Page responded. “Six is a perfectly fine dinner party.”

It is not known whether the proposed party happened as planned.

While working as one of the top counterintelligence officials at the FBI, Strzok reportedly took part in the FBI’s interview of Flynn on January 24. Flynn later pleaded guilty to one charge of providing false information to federal investigators. Strzok later left the FBI to join Mueller’s special counsel team, which obtained the indictment of Flynn.

Flynn’s guilty plea was accepted in federal court by Contreras on December 1, 2017. The New York Times reported the next day that Strzok, who left the FBI to work for special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, had been removed from the case by Mueller due to inappropriate text messages between Strzok and another federal official, now believed to be DOJ attorney Lisa Page. On December 5, 2017, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter to FBI director Christopher Wray demanding text messages from Strzok as well as any notes he took regarding his interviews with Flynn. Contreras was recused from the Flynn case on December 7, 2017, and the case was reassigned to Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, according to federal court documents.

Neither Contreras nor federal judiciary officials have publicly indicated the reason for Contreras’ removal from the case. Contreras’ office declined to comment on inquiries asking about his relationship with Strzok, or why he was not recused from the Flynn case until after he had accepted Flynn’s guilty plea.

The pre-existing relationship between Strzok and Contreras and Contreras’ mysterious recusal from the Flynn case, forced or otherwise, raise serious questions about whether Flynn’s case, among others, was properly conducted.

The text messages that show Page and Strzok conspiring to meet with Contreras were originally hidden from Congress. In records provided by DOJ to Congress, the exchanges referencing Contreras, and plans to meet with him under the guise of a cocktail party, were completely redacted by federal law enforcement officials. The exchanges obtained by The Federalistinclude information that was never turned over to Congress.

Congressional investigators told The Federalist that only 3,162 of the more than 1.2 million documents retained by the DOJ Inspector General (IG) have been turned over to the committees specifically tasked with oversight of the Department of Justice and FBI.

Ongoing DOJ obstruction of congressional oversight has only increased the calls for a special counsel to investigate criminal leaks, federal surveillance abuses, and other alleged improprieties within the agencies. On Thursday, Grassley and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions to name a special prosecutor to work independently with the IG to investigate the law enforcement agencies.

“They cannot be counted on to investigate themselves,” Grassley said in an interview. “If you do something wrong, you don’t have the fox guard the chicken house.”

Sessions has not yet publicly said how he plans to tackle the problems in his department.

So… what we have discovered, is that Strzok/Page came up with a plan to arrange a dinner party (as a cover story,) so that they could hob-nob with an acquaintance of Strzok’s, who just happens to be a FISC judge… and then the FBI and DOJ made repeated attempts to hide this information from Congress and investigators.

It SEEMS that the pair of lovers were “judge shopping” to help ensure the plan (concocted in Andy McCabe’s office,) could be carried out all the way to the end, without obstruction.

For DAYS now, we have been hearing about the calls for a 2nd special counsel, to investigate the investigators.  AG Jeff Sessions has seemingly held off his decision on that, until after IG David Horowitz issues his final report…. but with this new revelation involving a FISC judge, it is PAINFULLY obvious that we need a 2nd special counsel – and we need it NOW!!!

So AG Jeff Sessions, please wake up from your nap and DO YOUR JOB!  Otherwise, you are proving to the American people that you are part of this corrupt swamp too.  (And I, along with millions of Americans that have been in your corner for a very long time, will be very, very disappointed.)