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Benjamin Wittes
@benjaminwittes
, 9 tweets, 3 min read Read on Twitter
Yeah, @gtconway3d's clients over many years will be far closer to Winter than to POTUS on this. #JustSaying
Also, that's really not what happened with @gtconway3d and the DOJ job....
Here is how @anniekarni described it last May:
politico.com/magazine/story…
This is accurate. But some other things are worth mentioning too. Geoge's withdrawal came immediately following @Comey's firing. I have no doubt that the president's unhinged behavior in that episode was a significant factor in his thinking.
Second, and I will be circumspect in how I say this, but I know that George's withdrawal disappointed folks in the Trump administration.
Finally, I just want to say that finding your voice in this environment is extremely hard. I have a lot of admiration for the voice @gtconway3d has found--and the courage he has shown in finding it. That it bothers the president as much as it does is an important proof of concept
The much more important feature of George's voice, however, is the substance of what he's saying and representing: a humane, serious-minded legal conservatism that is true to principles and unswayed by the call of bigotry and personity cults.
It would be very easy for him to shut up and make money. Instead, he's speaking up for the rule of law and respecting our institutions.
A lot of people with a lot less at stake can't be troubled.
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Benjamin Wittes
@benjaminwittes
I have made a point of not responding to the many people on Twitter who are attacking me for my supposed "support" of and "defense" of Bill Barr and for giving him the benefit of the doubt on the release of the Mueller Report until I see what he actually does release.
The vast majority of people who are yelling at me have clearly never read anything I have written on the subject. Some may also be bots stoking attacks.
But there are some people who seem genuinely confused. So here is what I've written on the subject of Bill Barr. I stand by all of it.
Read 8 tweets
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Benjamin Wittes
@benjaminwittes
In a conversation with ⁦@Susan_Hennessey⁩ at ⁦@Hewlett_Found⁩ #Verify2019 conference, ⁦@Comey⁩ says he has no idea what Bill Barr was talking about yesterday but still gives him the benefit of the doubt.
My less temperate reaction: lawfareblog.com/bill-barrs-low…
We will be podcasting the entire conversation as soon as we get the audio.
Read 4 tweets
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Benjamin Wittes
@benjaminwittes
This is a very good question, and the short answer is that we just don't know. I'll be curious whether @PreetBharara agrees with me on this but here's my sense of it.
The most logical explanation for wrapping things up with a lot of loose ends is that Mueller...
...has construed his role very narrowly. Everything that does not need to be handled by the SCO is being kicked back to DOJ. The most dramatic example of this is Corsi, where OSC engaged in a plea negotiation but appears to have not followed through on an indictment threat.
Mueller has been behaving this way for a while: Even cases of Russian interference in electoral matters like Butina and Khusyanova have gone back to DOJ. And electoral matters like Cohen have been referred elsewhere as well. So have FARA matters like the Manafort spinoff cases.
Read 6 tweets

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Tom G Stark ⭐⭐⭐
@TomStark913
By no means is this new, but our institutions are under attack again. There is yet another push to eliminate the Electoral College. This effort seeks to undermine the constitution at the state level.
The EC has been under heavy scrutiny by the left for a couple decades. The growing popularity has me troubled. If there was no EC, why have states?
It’s like pulling a thread on a knitted sweater, the whole thing can unravel.
Why do we have a senate? They’re elected the same as the house, just smaller body with longer terms. These are ideas the left has floated in the past and will again.
The disastrous ideas to “fix problems” is not limited to just the left. Not by a long shot.
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John Oberlin
@OMGno2trump
Here's a short lesson on weather, climate & climate change. The first thing to know is the difference between weather & climate.
Weather:
- it's what happening environmentally at a "particular place" at a "particular time"
- the weather today is hot, cold, rain, snow, ....
1/
Climate:
- climate is the "average" of the weather
- take the weather at particular place and average it over time (often a year)
- a hot climate is, on average, hotter than a cold climate
- example, the climate in Phoenix, Arizona is hot & dry, even if it's raining or snowing
2/
Climate change:
- this is when you take the average yearly climate and analyze it over many years
- weather information is easy to collect, and gets better every year with new technology
- climate is easy to calculate, it's just an average
- climate change is easy to graph
3/
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Brody Leven
@brodyleven
Here are my parents at dinner last night in Ethiopia. They are nearing the end of their 10-day stay. It's the first overseas trip they've taken since their honeymoon, to Italy and Greece, 45 years ago. Now they're in Africa, Thanks to Margie. Who's Margie?
Margie is my parents' neighbor in the woods of rural northeastern Ohio. My parents have lived in the same house for 35 years. It's the house I was raised in. And Margie lived next door all through my childhood. When I go home for Thanksgiving, she's still there.
Their houses are in the woods, so it's not like they can see one another out the window. But they're still neighbors. And ever since Margie's husband died, probably 15 or 20 years ago, my parents have really stepped up to help her around her house. Margie is at least 80.
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@JulieZebrak
@YesMomsCan
Let me remind you what I know about the women/men who work as attorneys (and agents) at #DOJ, based on my 18 yrs as an Attorney there. Even if Rod resigns or gets fired, I am confident that career men & women (many of whom are on Mueller’s team) will manage to pull us through./1
1st: Rod & Mueller have a plan for if one or both get canned. Remember how Rod deftly went around Sessions and the WH to appoint Mueller way back in 2017? He is no dummy. And neither is Mueller or any member of his team. So remember they have a plan in place. That plan will /2
Involve preserving documents, emails, texts, etc. 2nd: The plan will involve FBI & Director Chris Wray, plus General Counsel Dana Boente. It’ll involve long-time career prosecutors like Scott Schools, who sits next to Rod. You can read here abt Scott. slate.com/articles/news_… /3
Read 8 tweets
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zeynep tufekci
@zeynep
Many people asked me what lawmakers should ask Mark Zuckerberg. Here's my answer: Nothing. Instead, they should get to work and pass legislation to fix the reckless surveillance in the digital economy. In my latest NYT oped, I suggest four concrete steps: nytimes.com/2018/04/09/opi…
Right now, data about us is collected recklessly without reasonable limits, aggregated without controls, bought and sold, occasionally breached, harvested, siphoned and leaked—and used without oversight. Maybe data is the new oil, but like oil, it can pollute, spill and poison.
Now, I wouldn't mind more details on everything but I'm an academic & a curious person. But I don't see what there is for Zuckerberg to answer that will substantively clarify anything. Was it 50 million or 87 or a more than billion? (likely latter, by the way but who's counting?)
Read 31 tweets
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Helios Helium
@heliosiamallfa1
Additionally, Trey can investigate to the end of time, uncover the most heinous of crimes. The Jeffery DOJ will not touch anything to do with queen Hillary. There are perjury complaints waiting a full year @ DOJ, no action was taken by Jeffrey.
Here is one of Hillary's perjuries. The FBI report and her released emails prove this statement is a lie under oath. Hillary's emails that have been released by the government have redaction codes for classified content.
Sam, these government documents prove Hillary has committed perjury many times before Congress. It also proves @Comey committed perjury when he said, "Hillary Clinton did not break the law in my judgment."
Read 45 tweets

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