Not only did AG Barr embarrass party leaders like Adam Schiff, as well as their allies in the cable news media, when he revealed that Robert Mueller's nearly two-year investigation into the Trump campaign had turned up zero evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, but now, despite a spate of lawsuits and bipartisan resistance in Congress, Trump has received the first tranche of Pentagon funds that will be used to build more than 230 miles of the border wall - helping to fulfill one of his most popular campaign promises.
According to CNN, the Pentagon notified Congress Monday night that it had authorized $1 billion to begin construction of a new segment of the wall along the US-Mexico border. The notification elicited a wave of outrage from Democratic lawmakers.
The approved money will help build 57 miles of border fencing, improved roads, and other measures. Construction is expected to begin immediately.
Pentagon budget reprogramming notification sent to Capitol Hill on Monday and obtained by CNN indicates that up to $1 billion will go toward building 57 miles of fencing, improving roads and other measures on the southern border.
The Department of Defense authorized the Army Corp of Engineers to begin planning and construction for the project Monday night. The department will direct the funds toward 18-foot-high fencing along the Yuma and El Paso sections of the border, according to a letter acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan sent to Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.
The money is part of about $2.5 billion from the Defense Department’s drug-interdiction program authorized by Trump's emergency order. All told, the order reappropriated (Trump's opponents would say 'raided') some $7 billion from various sources, which will instead be used for the wall.
Monday's announcement was just the first $1 billion the administration is making available for wall funding. The administration said previously it plans to shift an additional $1.5 billion at some point in the future.
These initial counterdrug funds will ultimately flow from the Department of Homeland Security to the Army Corps of Engineers to begin construction.
- Source, Zero Hedge, read more here