Thread by @moscow_project

.@RepJerryNadler makes the issue clear: The president's efforts to obstruct the Mueller investigation met all the legal requirements for obstruction of justice, and Corey Lewandowski was a key player in one of Trump's worst offenses.

@RepJerryNadler We broke down Lewandowski's role in that effort—and the collusion that happened under his watch when he ran the Trump campaign—this morning here: themoscowproject.org/dispatch/we-ne…

@RepJerryNadler .@RepJerryNadler calls out the president's obstruction for what it is: "This is a coverup, plain and simple. If it were to prevail ... it would upend the separation of powers as envisioned by our founders."

.@RepDougCollins wants to know where the bill is to protect the U.S. from foreign influence.
Several have already passed the House. #MoscowMitch is holding them up in the Senate. themoscowproject.org/dispatch/mosco…

As @RepJerryNadler introduces Corey Lewandowski, here's a reminder of some of what happened while he was running Trump's campaign:

Felix Sater and Michael Cohen spent months working on Trump Tower Moscow, reaching out to top Kremlin officials to get the job done. themoscowproject.org/dispatch/we-ne…

Kremlin-linked figures told George Papadopoulos that Russia was planning to release thousands of emails stolen from the Clinton campaign to help Trump. themoscowproject.org/dispatch/we-ne…

Paul Manafort and Rick Gates shared polling data and campaign strategy with a suspected Russian agent on the express understanding that he was in turn going to share them with Kremlin-linked oligarchs. themoscowproject.org/dispatch/we-ne…

And Carter Page, whom Russian spies tried to recruit three years before, got approval to travel to Moscow, where he'd eventually meet and talk politics with two high-ranking Kremlin officials. themoscowproject.org/dispatch/we-ne…

Corey Lewandowski's opening statement is stressing how "lean" the Trump campaign was while he ran it. So it's worth wondering: How much did Lewandowski know about the collusion going on right under his nose? themoscowproject.org/dispatch/we-ne…

Lewandowski says that "anybody who illegally worked to undermine an election should spend the rest of their life in jail."
The Department of Justice has already named Trump an unindicted coconspirator in a felony conspiracy to do exactly that. medium.com/@CAPAction/giv…

Sorry, Corey, but there was plenty of collusion documented in the Mueller report—and much of it happened while you were in charge of the Trump campaign. Here are some of the details: themoscowproject.org/dispatch/yes-m…

One question in and Corey Lewandowski is already stonewalling, asking for a copy of the Mueller report before he will answer even the most basic questions about how he helped Trump try to undermine the Mueller investigation.

Lewandowski is trying to make a mockery of the House Judiciary Committee—and its ranking member @RepDougCollins and his GOP accomplices are helping him, stalling with meaningless objections and absurd demands.

@RepDougCollins .@RepDougCollins says that "This past few minutes was avoidable and frustrating." That's because he's doing everything he can to derail the hearing rather than actually get to the truth.

@RepDougCollins Nothing to see here, just the president explicitly commending a witness for trying to undermine an investigation into his potentially criminal conduct.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1174017425068576769

@RepDougCollins .@JacksonLeeTX18 asks the important question: "If the president thought what he was doing was legal, why didn't he just pick up the phone and call Attorney General Sessions? Or why not ask any member of his staff who worked right down the hall to deliver a message?"

@RepDougCollins @JacksonLeeTX18 .@JacksonLeeTX18 cuts through Lewandowski's attempts at obstruction to get to the truth: Trump called in Lewandowski "to do his dirty work in secret because he knew it was wrong."

@RepDougCollins @JacksonLeeTX18 As @RepSteveChabot yet again brings in the House GOP's favorite conspiracy theory by accusing the FBI of anti-Trump bias, a reminder: The Mueller report explains the origins of the Russia investigation in literally its third paragraph. justice.gov/storage/report…

@RepDougCollins @JacksonLeeTX18 @RepSteveChabot .@RepCohen outlines Corey Lewandowski's qualifications for the job Trump asked him to do—not as a campaign chairman or a typical political operative, but as "some kind of a Forrest Gump relating to corruption."

.@Jim_Jordan clarifies when Lewandowski led Trump's campaign: From its inception to June 2016. Episode 7 of @AssetPodcast outlines just some of the collusion that happened while he was in charge.

https://twitter.com/AssetPodcast/status/1173981852727697408

.@RepKenBuck says the Obama administration didn't tell Trump about Russian interference in 2016.
That's patently false. On August 14, the intelligence community warned that "foreign adversaries, including Russia, would probably try to spy on his campaign." nbcnews.com/news/us-news/f…

And the Obama administration wanted to do more to warn Trump and the American people—only to be stopped by who else but #MoscowMitch.
washingtonpost.com/world/national…

"The president was trying to force the investigation to focus on the future so that it wouldn't look into him."
-@RepTedDeutch

Reminder: Less than two months ago, Trump tried to make @RepRatcliffe his Director of National Intelligence so he could further undermine the Russia investigation. Here's our breakdown of his "qualifications" from July: themoscowproject.org/dispatch/trump…

@RepRatcliffe .@RepRatcliffe helpfully lists out just a few of Trump's corrupt (and potentially illegal) actions for the House to continue investigating:

Lewandowski admits that he didn't want to meet with Sessions at the DOJ because he didn't want there to be an official record.
That's not what you do if you think what you're doing is innocent.
themoscowproject.org/dispatch/we-ne…

.@RepKarenBass: Even Jeff Sessions knew it was "entirely improper for a private citizen to go behind the backs of the White House Counsel and secretly meet with him somewhere without any record of your meeting ... to try to persuade the attorney general to protect the president."

Another blatant falsehood from @mattgaetz, once again claiming that the FBI didn't brief the Trump campaign on Russian interference. Here's our timeline laying out what the Trump campaign knew and when they knew it: themoscowproject.org/explainers/aid…

Lewandowski says he's baffled that the Obama administration didn't warn Trump's team about Russian interference (even though they did).
What's actually baffling: 272 contacts between Trump's team and Russia, none of which were reported to the authorities. themoscowproject.org/explainers/tru…

.@RepJeffries: "You are here to participate in a continuing cover-up. Russia interfered with this election in sweeping and systematic fashion. The Trump campaign welcomed that assistance at the highest level. There were subequent acts of obstruction of justice."

@RepJeffries .@RepCicilline connects the dots: Trump asked Lewandowski to pressure Sessions to un-recuse at the same time that he had Priebus pressure Sessions to resign. The result: "Obstruction of justice, plain and simple."

@RepJeffries @RepCicilline .@RepJerryNadler: "The president is intent on obstructing our legitimate oversight. You are aiding him in that obstruction."

@RepJeffries @RepCicilline @RepJerryNadler Corey Lewandowski apparently hasn't read the Mueller report. So @RepTedLieu broke it down for him: An attack on the election, collusion by the Trump campaign, and repeated attempts to obstruct justice—at least one of which involved Lewandowski himself.

@RepJeffries @RepCicilline @RepJerryNadler @RepTedLieu At least four Republicans have now claimed the Steele Dossier kicked off the Russia investigation.
That's blatantly false—and debunked on the very first page of the Mueller report. justice.gov/storage/report…

@RepJeffries @RepCicilline @RepJerryNadler @RepTedLieu House Republicans continually accuse Democrats of not doing enough to protect future elections.
@RepRaskin points out that pretty much all of them have voted against the actual legislation to secure our democracy.

.@RepValDemings notes that the Mueller report identifies more than 100 contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia. We have the full list here—along with dozens more not mentioned in the report: themoscowproject.org/explainers/tru…

At least 130 of those contacts happened while Lewandowski was on the campaign. We broke down what he knew—and the questions he still needs to answer: themoscowproject.org/dispatch/we-ne…

.@RepLouCorrea notes that Lewandowski knew George Papadopoulos was trying to orchestrate a Trump trip to Russia, and even seemed to encourage Papadopoulos's efforts.
The Kremlin really, really wanted that trip to happen. Read our full breakdown here #BDMR
themoscowproject.org/breaking-down-…

Lewandowski acknowledges that he saw Papadopoulos's contacts as "outreach from a potential foreign agent to a senior policy adviser"—but has no answer for why he didn't inform law enforcement, the intelligence community, or the American people. themoscowproject.org/dispatch/what-…

@RepZoeLofgren grills Lewandowski about Manafort and Gates sharing polling data and campaign strategy with Konstantin Kilimnik while Lewandowski was running the campaign—and shows how his claims that he and Trump knew nothing about it strain credulity.
themoscowproject.org/dispatch/break…

Trump called on Russia to steal Clinton's emails during the campaign.
That night, Russia tried to do exactly that.
He spent the final month of the election promoting emails stolen by Russia.
That's collusion.
thinkprogress.org/trump-mentione…

Trump knew Russia had stolen emails from his political opponents.
He tasked his team with forming backchannels to learn more about future releases.
That's collusion.
themoscowproject.org/dispatch/yes-m…

The Mueller investigation indicted 37 people and companies.
That includes Trump's campaign chairman, deputy campaign chairman, personal lawyer, national security adviser, and one of his longest-time political advisers. themoscowproject.org/dispatch/inter…

.@gregstantonaz notes that the Kremlin repeatedly invited Trump to visit Russia, including to complete the Trump Tower Moscow project—and that Lewandowski was looped in on multiple of those invites. themoscowproject.org/breaking-down-…

... and that Papadopoulos, Page, and Cohen all informed Lewandowski about contacts they'd had with Russians that he now claims not to remember. themoscowproject.org/dispatch/what-…