Thread by @Amy_K_Nelson

Corruption at the FBI isn't a myth. And it impacts real Americans, like my family.

Take for example this warrant to raid my home. An agent swore to the truth of the facts in the affidavit.

He lied. I can show - but only b/c this document was accidentally unsealed. /1

The agent told WDWa judge Mary Alice Theiler that $ my husband was allegedly paid was "fraudulent" for one reason.... /2

He swore that Amazon employees weren't authorized to receive referral fees/any compensation paid by developers related to Amazon real estate.

Lots of jobs allow such payments - commissions, referral fees, bonuses. This agent swore under oath that this was forbidden at Amazon/3

This is the SOLE reason the alleged payments were deemed "fraudulent" and the sole basis the alleged payments made up probable cause of a crime. Otherwise, the $ would have just been ... a payment.

Here is the agent swearing to the truth of the affidavit. /4

Federal prosecutors ALSO swore to the truth of this "fact" in a statement of facts used to elicit a plea agreement from a guy who didn't work at Amazon & didn't know what Amazon's contract allowed - or didn't allow. But he pled guilty to helping my husband violate that contract by receiving the "forbidden" payments.

Here is the statement in the plea/ 5

Another agent used this "fact" to file a verified civil forfeiture complaint against every $ my family had in the world - which DOJ seized. The agent said he knew this "fact' PERSONALLY and swore to it under penalty of perjury.

Only basis for fraud = payments not authorized/6

DOJ later confessed they hadn't reviewed my husband's employment terms before seizing $/raiding our home.

Judge Rossie Alston ruled that the "explicit terms" in Amazon's contract AUTHORIZED my husband to receive $ from companies doing biz with Amazon. /7

So, someone told 2 FBI agents and 2 prosecutors - who all made sworn statements to federal judges - a lie about Amazon's employment terms, and used that lie to seize all of our $, raid our home, and dismantle our lives.

What do you think happened next? /8

US Attorney Jessica Aber vacated the pleas obtained with the lies.

DOJ returned the seized $ - after we'd spent hundreds of thousands to get them back. We lost our home (worth 2x now), our retirement, and millions in business contracts. /9

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But DOJ didn't make a move to hold Bezos or his lawyers accountable. They'll put Martha Stewart in prison for allegedly lying to DOJ, but I guess if you work for Jeff Bezos it's okay. My life is an okay sacrifice for Jeff and Amazon. /10

Instead, EDVa DOJ (under Aber) moved to forever seal docs related to the civil forfeiture - after earlier promising Judge Alston they would be unsealed by April 1, 2024.

As pulitzer prize winning journalist Seamus Hughes wrote: /11

So not only is DOJ not holding Amazon accountable - a clear signal that if you're rich enough, you can say whatever you want to prosecutors, force them to lie under oath, and it's totally cool - they're trying to hide the lies.

Trump, Bondi and Patel have vowed to end this kind of behavior. I hope they're good to their word. This is a clear and simple test. /12