Thread by @jtlarsen

We have new details about Acting Assistant General Matthew Whitaker, including the existence of redacted and unreleased DOJ documents that could show whether Whitaker politicized his office as U.S. attorney.

Thread with details to follow.

In our exclusive report, @kenklippenstein and I lay out previously unreported financial ties Whitaker's group had with GOP political operatives, including some involved in rooting out disloyal EPA staff.

Read our report from @tytinvestigates here:
tyt.com/stories/4vZLCH…

Whitaker served as US attorney in Iowa during the same period Bush appointees were later found to have rated US attorneys based on "exhibited loyalty to the President."

Most of their ratings, including Whitaker's, were redacted and have never been released.

Two years later, DOJ's political appointee made a spreadsheet tracking whether the US attorneys were active in GOP politics.

Whitaker was noted for his treasurer campaign in Iowa.

We found multiple examples of Whitaker pushing agendas tied more closely to the GOP than to Iowa. One month after taking office, Whitaker advocated against a proposed Des Moines City Council resolution opposing the USA PATRIOT Act, which the Bush administration hoped to extend...

Whitaker said passing the resolution "will send the wrong message to people who want to harm you, me and our children."

The Des Moines City Council passed it anyway.

And then there was voter fraud...

A month before the November elections, Whitaker told the Des Moines Register, "We're going to have people on staff that day and into the night and beyond that, for anyone who believes voter fraud or election discrimination has occurred.”

This is potentially important because...

...multiple US attorneys were fired after (it was later revealed) they had failed to crack down on voter fraud in response to GOP complaints about it... because it was virtually non-existent.

We don't know why Whitaker toed the line; DOJ hasn't released his emails.

DOJ has also never released Whitaker docs related to an Iowa case he was accused of politicizing.

In this case, Whitaker's office prosecuted an openly gay, Democratic politician in Iowa for extortion. Here's what happened...

Matt McCoy was an Iowa businessman and politician. Another businessman told cops that McCoy tried to get him to pay McCoy in return for getting state business.

McCoy said the allegations arose from a business relationship gone sour. Here's where it gets interesting.

The witness was a prosecutor’s nightmare: Credibility issues.

But McCoy’s lawyer told us Whitaker’s office wouldn’t even engage in standard dialogue or negotiations with the defense.

Federal prosecutors generally have astounding conviction rates, but...

The jury acquitted McCoy after deliberating less than two hours.

A Des Moines Register columnist wrote a piece asking whether Whitaker’s prosecution of the case was related to the Bush politicization of the US attorneys.

In fact, McCoy’s attorneys asked DOJ...

...to release emails about the case between Whitaker, FBI and DOJ.

DOJ refused.

Register columnist said Grassley and Harkin should get the emails.

Hasn’t happened yet.

End of thread!