Newt: Special Counsel On Russia Should Be Shut Down Based On Comey’s ‘Deliberate Manipulation’

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich had some harsh words for former FBI Director James Comey, and called for the dissolution of the special counsel on the Russia investigation on the grounds that it was based on Comey’s ‘manipulation’ – calling it ‘poisoned fruit.’

The idea that the Federal Bureau of Investigation – [the] top person, man who’s in charge of criminal investigation for the entire federal govt. That he would go outside the system deliberately manipulate the system, and that’s what he’s done.

And I think what that brings into question is whether or not the congress should shut down the independent counsel because it is poisoned fruit.

Gingrich paints Comey as a bitter man out for revenge

The independent counsel, by Comey’s own testimony yesterday, was created because of his manipulation, because of his leak, because of his deliberate intent to force it to happen.

Now since we now know that he’s a very bitter person, and we know how deeply he disliked Trump, doesn’t that sound more like this is not about law and order? This is not about justice? This is not even about investigating potential crimes. This is a bitter man trying to get even by trying to cause as much pain for the President as he can.

Trump Exonerated – even Chris Matthews agrees

…Comey’s testimony ironically completely exonerated President Trump on the Russian question. When you have people who are clearly the President’s opponents come out and say flatly – Chris Matthews – hardly a supporter of Donald Trump, came out yesterday and said ” you know, after this testimony no reasonable person can believe that Donald Trump had anything to do with the Russians.

That’s a pretty big breakthrough in Trump’s favor.

See Below

Newt Gingrich: Special counsel on Russia should be shut down based on Comey's 'deliberate manipulation' https://t.co/oVMxvVQtWh pic.twitter.com/QNgW9OPYWu

— ZeroPointNow (@ZeroPointNow) June 10, 2017

During today’s joint press conference with the President of Romania, President Trump was asked several questions about yesterday’s testimony of former FBI Director James Comey in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. As reported by iBankCoin earlier, Trump was quick to point out that Comey confirmed “No collusion. No obstruction. He’s a leaker.”

A few questions later, Trump hesitantly calls on an MSM “Fake News” reporter, who asks again about Comey. Trump insisted he never asked Comey to “let the Flynn thing go.”

The reporter then presses Trump on the existence of the Comey tapes…

Reporter: “And you seem to be hinting that there are recordings of those conversations.”

Trump:  “I’m not hinting anything.  I’ll tell you about it over a very short period of time….Oh, you’re going to be very disappointed when you hear the answer. Don’t worry.

Translation: The tape exists…

Trump Teases Comey Tape To MSM – "You're Going To Be Very Disappointed, Don't Wor… https://t.co/KxVxzjjqoy pic.twitter.com/HD5kUW4Agh

— ZeroPointNow (@ZeroPointNow) June 10, 2017

Canary watch 2017…

——–

Business Insider | Alex Morrell

The American economy has looked pretty robust of late — unemployment just hit a 16-year low, and stocks recently reached an all-time high.

This makes it all the more curious that Americans have suddenly stopped paying off their credit-card bills at a rapid rate.

In the past two fiscal quarters, banks reported a steep rise in credit-card charge-offs — debt that companies can’t collect from their customers — according to a report from Moody’s.

This chart from the report shows how each bank has fared on charge-offs, with Capital One, First National of Nebraska, and Synchrony showing the worst performance over the period:

The sharp increase, the largest since 2009, is especially unusual given how strong the US employment market has been, Moody’s noted. It suggests that American consumers haven’t fallen on hard times so much as banks have started to loosen their standards and issue credit more aggressively.

Card issuers have been much stricter since the financial crisis and the passing of the Card Act in 2009, which added an array of protections for consumers. Getting a credit card got a lot tougher, especially if you had subprime credit.

Charge-offs and unemployment tend to be related: When people lose their jobs, credit cards tend to be one of the first bills people stop paying, as compared with loans for a home or a car in which people risk losing those crucial assets.

So, charge-offs spiking when unemployment claims are low indicates that banks have lowered their standards and are approving people for cards who aren’t as creditworthy.

The ratio of charge-offs to unemployment claims had been hovering near all-time lows, but this chart shows that it’s shot back up to the historical average in the past two quarters — meaning standards may have deteriorated “rapidly,” according to Moody’s.

In the bigger picture, charge-offs still remain at pretty low levels. This chart shows that we’re still well below the historical average rate:

But if lending standards continue to degrade, things could get messy in a hurry if the economy takes a turn for the worse, according to Warren Kornfeld, a senior vice president at Moody’s.

“Although card standards were extremely tight in the years following the financial crisis, if underwriting then loosened materially, as the rise in charge-offs suggests, asset quality could continue to deteriorate rapidly going forward, especially in the event of a recession,” Kornfeld said in a statement.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s gambit to secure more Conservatives in parliament via ‘snap’ election has backfired, and with it the chances of the expedited Brexit she was hoping for.

On the news of May’s drubbing, and the prospect of a worst case ‘hung parliament’ which means there is no majority party – the British Pound (GBP) fell over 2% against the US Dollar, while the UK’s FTSE 100 Index opened strong – up 1% before moderating. The broader FTSE 250 is down, and US futures are up slightly as of right now.

Shorter duration UK bonds have gone crazy – with the yield on the 2 year note down over 28%.

British Pound (GBP)

FTSE 100

FTSE 250

2 year bond yield

No red tape (for now) = green market?

While Brexit was set to liberate the UK from the shackles of bailing out Greek tax cheats and other EU Ne’er-do-wells, it’s clear that investors weren’t looking forward to the complicated breakup.

Not only have several UK industries begged the government to stay in the EU, there are miles of red tape in just about ‘every sector’ according to the Financial Times.

Almost every sector you can think of. Take for example the chemicals industry that is heavily regulated by Brussels, with a huge EU rule book covering tens of thousands of substances. Since the regulations in effect allow producers to trade in Europe, industry watchers say a tailored British equivalent of the EU rule book will eventually be needed — with a new regulator to oversee it.

However, that is just one sector. In banking, the government will have to decide who rules on capital definitions for UK banks — the Bank of England, the Treasury or parliament. In agriculture, who will be responsible for approval of genetically modified crops or other products? Will the UK abide by all EU pharmaceuticals approvals? Will it maintain the same patent protections for drugs, even if it pushes up costs for the National Health Service.

So while Brexit is clearly good for borders, language, and culture – it appears the market is presently looking forward to the prospect of continued economic integration with the European Union and the stability that accompanies bending over just a little longer.

If the Brexit Secretary is considering putting the single market back on the table then the whole process is now seriously damaged. pic.twitter.com/vQccR0xesU

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) June 9, 2017

Sorry UK Conservatives…

UK Prime Minister and Conservative party leader Theresa May just fucked up royally. She thought she could capitalize on the wave of nationalism responsible for Brexit – for which the negotiations have been slow going.

In order to expedite the process, May thought she was super cool in April by announcing a “shock” election for today. Her expectation was that MOAR conservatives would snatch up seats in Parliament.

NOPE

Exit polls are showing May’s plan has backfired. Not only is it looking like the conservative party has lost 17 seats, Theresa May is at risk of losing her position as Prime Minister. It’s now looking like the election may result in a “Hung Parliament,” which means – more or less, nothing’s getting done in Parliament for a loooong time. Bad day at Red Rock for Brexit fans.

THE FARAGE

To that end, Nigel Farage – Brexit’s death defying bad boy just said Brexit is at risk, and that the UK faces a second referendum if Jeremy Corbyn pulls off an unlikely election victory.

POUNDED

In reaction to the exit polls, the British pound is getting tentacle raped (full Eichenwald).

If correct, pollsters say biggest ever surge in polls during a #GeneralElection campaign by Corbyn's Labour – popular policies & leadership.

— Diane Abbott (@HackneyAbbott) June 9, 2017

There may be an even BIGGER upset is in the cards…

Oh my. The official UK #GeneralElection exit poll has now been released by the BBC, and it's a stunning, unexpected landslide. pic.twitter.com/9RYwX496vQ

— Jeff B/DDHQ (@EsotericCD) June 8, 2017

Oh boy…

Senior Newsweek writer and MSNBC contributor Kurt Eichenwald was caught red handed Wednesday night after posting a screenshot to Twitter which happened to include several open tabs in his browser…

Users on 4chan noticed the tabs immediately and ENHANCED

And what did that lead to? Why – Japanese tentacle porn (Hentai)!

Kurt’s response

“I was looking up tentacle porn with my kid in order to prove to my wife it exists…”

Ok… however even if true – looking up tentacle porn with your adult offspring is beyond creepy.

Tucker’s on the case…

Tucker Carlson, who presided over Eichenwald’s “self immolation” last december as a guest of Tucker Carlson Tonight, couldn’t resist covering the latest in the saga of Kurt Eichenwald.

“Well of course! Just another afternoon of surfing the internet for hardcore porn with your kids!” -Tucker

VIDEO HERE (sorry for quality, will update):

Tucker Carlson worried about Kurt Eichenwald for surfing tentacle porn hentai with his kid. pic.twitter.com/CZaVAbdfSM

— ZeroPointNow (@ZeroPointNow) June 9, 2017

Reactions have been brutal

pic.twitter.com/CIGpOdpEyz

— Rodin (@DatRodin) June 8, 2017

You have good taste, Kurt pic.twitter.com/VkoorNmRAO

— Kurt's Anime Tiddies (@AnimeKurt) June 8, 2017

pic.twitter.com/R0UF0Wqtn7

— Silas Smith (@SiFitheguySmith) June 8, 2017

My judgment was, I needed to get that out into the public square, and so I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter,” Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee. “[I] didn’t do it myself for a variety of reasons, but I asked him to, because I thought, that might prompt the appointment of the special counsel –James Comey

During his testimony before the Senate committee investigating Russian interference, former FBI Director James Comey said that Loretta Lynch pressured him to use the Clinton Campaign’s language in order to manage the optics of the FBI’s active investigation into Clinton’s email server.

Instead of using the phrase “investigation,” Lynch asked Comey to instead say that the FBI had opened a “matter.”

It concerned me, because we were at the point where we had refused to confirm the existence of an investigation, for months. And it was getting to a place where that looked silly, because the campaigns were talking about interacting with the FBI.

The Clinton campaign at the time was using all kinds of euphemisms; security review, matters, things like that – for what was going on.

Was she [Lynch] gonna to authorize us to confirm that we had an investigation? And she said “Yes, but don’t call it that. Call it a ‘matter.’ And again, you look back in hindsight – you think, ‘should I have resisted harder? I just said, ‘alright, this isn’t a hill worth dying on.'”

It gave me a queasy feeling.

So the sitting Attorney General of the Untied States instructed the head of the FBI to use specific language that would help a candidate running for president.

The FBI director was uncomfortable with this because the language differed from FBI nomenclature, and perhaps because it could be considered influencing the election – yet Comey decided it ‘wasn’t a hill worth dying on.’

One wonders if Comey’s recommendation not to prosecute in the Clinton email investigation last July also not a hill worth dying on?

VIDEO BELOW:

James Comey testifies Loretta Lynch pressured him to use Clinton campaign language; "It gave me a queasy feeling."#ComeyTestimony pic.twitter.com/hpJQ0MsWh5

— Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) June 8, 2017

After NBC’s Megyn Kelly sat down with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an interview which Oliver Stone said sucked, NBC cut out a joke made by Putin in response to a question about his relationship with former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn – who Putin was pictured with at a state dinner.

Quite frankly, the entire interview was a disaster – with Putin basically destroying Kelly on every question.  (Full interview below)

The joke

When asked “What is your relationship with Mr. Flynn?” Putin responded with:

With you, with you personally, I have a much closer relationship than with Mr. Flynn. We met yesterday evening. Today we worked all day together, we are meeting again right now.

Putin then joked that because of how much closer Megyn was to him than Mike Flynn, by American standards she should be punished:

Flynn was fired from work. You need to be simply arrested and put in jail!

That was apparently too spicy for NBC…

See here:

NBC deletes scene of Putin joking w/ Megyn Kelly that she would be jailed by standards used to investigate Flynn's ties to Russia.

Amazing! pic.twitter.com/UK3d4Ekq9R

— Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) June 7, 2017

Now see the NBC version which cuts out Putin’s joke

According to CNN – so maybe not, Qatar has placed it’s military “on the highest state of alert” over fears of a military incursion – following yesterday’s ultimatum by Saudi Arabia to sever all ties with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

16 leopard tanks have reportedly been brought out of storage in Qatar’s capital city Doha [which doesn’t seem like a ton of firepower], while the Qatari Minstry of Defense shot off a letter to the Saudis, UAE, and Bahraini governments, warning them that any ships entering Qatari waters would be fired upon.

To try and diffuse the situation President Trump has “extended an olive branch” in a phone call with Qatar’s Emir – offering to help all parties resolve their differences at the White House. In other words, Don’s not getting on a fucking plane for this shit.

In a description of the Wednesday call, the White House said Trump “emphasized the importance of all countries in the region working together to prevent the financing of terrorist organizations and stop the promotion of extremist ideology.”

Referring to the regional group that includes Qatar, the President also “reiterated that a united Gulf Cooperation Council and a strong United States-Gulf Cooperation Council partnership are critical to defeating terrorism and promoting regional stability.” Trump spoke to the Saudi king Tuesday, the White House said, delivering a very similar message. –VFN

The Wall St. Journal confirmed earlier reports that Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and their allies are seeking guarantees that Qatar will stop financing Islamic extremist groups and sever relations with the Muslim Brotherhood – and have demanded Qatar ‘scale back’ the Al Jazeera media network.

And per ZeroHedge – Giorgio Cafiero of geopolitical risk consultancy Gulf State Analytics stresses the danger of deteriorating relations between Middle Eastern nations:

“There are many analysts who believe that a potential break-up of the GCC has to be considered right now. If these countries fail to resolve their issues and such tensions reaches new heights, we have to be very open to the possibility of these six Arab countries no longer being able to unite under the banner of one council,” said Cafiero.

He added that if tension escalates, there could be a “military confrontation.”

I look forward to nothing happening whatsoever and this turning out to be a gigantic waste of time.