Thread by @carolecadwalla

Parliamentary of @Arron_banks & @andywigmore kicking off now. And it's already very weird. Massive extra security precautions. No bags in room. Not even water. I've been to pretty much every hearing and this is a first..
theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2…

Arron confirms it was Steve Bannon who introduced LeaveEu to Cambridge Analytica. NOTE: This is not what Andy Wigmore told me 18 months ago. He said it was UKIP general secretary and Robert Mercer's lawyer, Matthew Richardson

So the usher is now trying to throw me out of the room. Says I'm not allowed to type. What?

So, Arron's first tactic: throw shade on Dom Cummings, Christopher Wylie, Brittany Kaiser...Walter Mitty-type characters. "Guardian have written fabulous stories off the back of them." (Observer, Arron, Observer...)

Andy: all we did was apply our knowledge from years of insurance work and applied it to the campaign. And the data, Andy? And the data?

.@DamianCollins asking now about AggregateIQ, the Cambridge Analytica affiliate, who worked for Vote Leave. Arron & Andy: "Never heard of them." Andy: "This idea you can hypnotise people is rubbish"

This is @alexhern on the start of the session quoting @Arron_banks on Vote Leave strategist, Dom Cummings. Also worth noting: Cummings says that Arron put a private investigator on him. Arron has said publicly that he's been doing "opposition research" on all MPs on the committee

Arron: There's not been a shred of evidence of anything so far. I mean...where do you begin with that? Let's start here: the invoice. That was paid. And not declared.

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This bit is interesting: "Alexander Nix said if you give us £1 million up front, we'll raise £5 million". Arron says that this is evidence that this is an ad agency that was overplaying its hand. Huh?

Arron admitting the invoice. Finally. But he's saying he never paid it. This isn't true. @GawainTowler from UKIP confirmed to us the he paid UKIP for it. If they paid it to Cambridge Analytica, is another issue...

.@ChrisM4Chester now asking about Wigmore's quotes to me 18 months ago: "We never employed Cambridge Analytica, they were happy to help for free". Then quotes evidence from @EmmaLBriant. "And now you're saying they're just an ad agency? Is that your final answer?"

Uh oh. More porkies? Arron just said none of their 40 actuaries worked on the Brexit campaign. This is precisely NOT what they've said before...and anyway evidence published in Observer makes it clear Eldon employees work for LeaveEU & vice versa

Arron: "I have international businesses. I do have complex business interests. I know this may be difficult for MPs to grasp." Nice way to get the MPs on side, Arron. Think this will go well...

Arron: "I"m not going to answer any more questions on my financial affairs."
IT'S ALL KICKING OFF! @andywigmore "What relevance does this have to the referendum"
(QUITE A LOT)

Arron accusing @IanCLucas of making "reckless allegations that are abusing parliamentary privilege."
@IanCLucas: "I'm merely asking you a question. (ABOUT HIS FINANCES)
Arron firing back with his oppo research: "Aren't you the MP who once got drunk at a karaoke bar?" WHAT?

The MPs are looking distinctly unamused. And Arron can't answer basic questions about his insurance company's finances. Arron: "What's this got to do with the referendum?" @ianlucasMP: "You are Brexit's biggest donor it has everything to do with the referendum"

Bullseye! "What do you think first attracted the Russian ambassador to Arron Banks, the biggest political donor in British history?"

.@IanCLucas now asking about the work that Cambridge Analytica did for UKIP. Arron acknowledges that he paid UKIP for the work that Cambridge Analytica did. "It was a source of some irritation that they didn't pay the bill." (Note doesn't matter who he paid: he didn't declare it)

.@JoStevensLabour "did you declare money spent on CA invoice?"
Arron: "Yes, as a donation to UKIP"
Jo: "But not as spending?"
Arron: "No. It was before the short campaign."
Not true! Donation was paid during regulated period. And work was used during regulated period.

Oh here we go, "The Sunday Times wrote 4 pages on the fact that I met the Russian ambassador." Important note: all of Sun Times coverage was based on material *he* *gave* them, framed the way *he* wanted...

Wigmore talking about how he got Kelly-Anne Conway's telephone number. And how when the Russian Ambassador asked for a contact number for Trump he passed it along. Like you do.

.@GilesWatling asks: "Did you ever accept money from the Russian govt?" This is not the way it works, chaps. It's never direct. It's always via proxies. It's Siman Povarenkin, the oligarch chum of the Russian ambassador, who's key here....

Now onto Big Data Dolphins. Court case ongoing now in Mississippi, story by @skirchy below. @BrendanOHaraSNP asks about evidence from @EmmaLBriant about the AI work on British data going on there.
Arron: "Andy got mixed up"
theguardian.com/politics/2018/…

Good q from @BrendanOHaraSNP, "So your intention was to scrape Facebook data in Mississippi?" Arron: "The project hasn't even started yet."
And then, the usual play: "Where's the evidence?" Translation: unless journalists can dig it up, we'll continue to deny...

I REALLY hope we get to the Russian questions soon. A whole load below. I assumed MPs were saving them for killer qs at the end...but now not so sure. They were running scared on @Nigel_Farage's show last night.
theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/j…

We have to know what on earth they were doing meeting the Russian ambassador TWICE in week of LeaveEU launch. At the second, the day after, they were introduced to oligarch who offered them a multi-billion $ gold deal. DID THEY TAKE IT?

Now Arron is lying. Again. He is claiming that Chris Wylie says he had Arron's emails three months ago. That is not what he said. Rea the tweet again, Arron.

Hilarious that Arron is throwing shade on other witnesses' testimony and claiming they lack credibility. Says the man who just lied to the hearing. Oh. And I would never say someone lied on Twitter, Legally very tricky. But Arron lied to me on Friday via email. So. Whatevs.

And now...for the Russia 🇷🇺 questions. Stand by...
‘If I was hiding my involvement from the Russians, I did a pretty bad job.’ Yep

Arron waving around his two passports & talking about his Russian visas. Here’s a question:What about your Belizean diplomatic passport, Arron???

Arron ‘My passports offer definitive proof of my tips to Russia’ But Arron is Belize’s trade envoy to Wales (yes, really) and he told me (when drunk) a year ago that he travels on a Belizean diplomatic passport.

Arron: ‘I wasn’t in Russia in 2016 & my passports prove it conclusively.’ He says emails from Andy which day he was in Moscow in Feb, 2016 is Andy being an ‘agent provocateur’ again..

Andy’s false flag operation ramping up again. It’s all about the Atlantic Council report that they sent legal letter about. This is all bollocks. Atlantic Council officially confirmed to me they never received that letter & claims about Farage, Andy is quoting were never in it

Arron claiming material was stolen & not appropriate to ask questions about them. (They weren’t). @DamianCollins: ‘Did you ever pass on documents to Russian embassy?’ Arron: ‘No!’ Andy: ‘No!’

Andy: ‘I talked to Russian ambassador about my childhood in Berlin. Gossip like that. Nothing sensitive.’ Arron: ‘I went to 2 lunches & 1 meeting.’ (Interesting how the number’s creeping up. 1 before. 2 yesterday. 3 today.

.@DamianCollins asking about George Cottrell, Farage aide & UKIP fundraiser, who was arrested by FBI. ‘Did you talk to Russian ambassador about that?’ ‘Yes. It had just happened.’ ‘Did you give them any docs?’ ‘No. And we only knew what in public domain’

Arron walking out! I’m sorry ‘I have another appointment!’ SCENES!

Well, well, well. Arron Banks & Andy Wigmore are on the run. LITERALLY