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<thread>

We just filed #FOIA requests with @DeptofDefense for troop numbers in #Afghanistan #Iraq #Syria.

Administrations gave Americans this info for DECADES.

SecDef #Mattis committed to even more transparency.

Then poof: late 2017, DoD went dark.

justsecurity.org/69808/why-we-f…
2. Read what former Defense Secretary (and former Republican Senator) Chuck Hagel said about our FOIA request for US troop numbers:
3. “Secretary Mattis is committed to developing a more transparent accounting of our troops in the field than he inherited.”

Pentagon’s chief spokesperson to @jamiejmcintyre August 29, 2017

washingtonexaminer.com/jim-mattis-pro…
4. The great @saftergood (government secrecy expert @FAScientists) comments on our FOIA request and the hidden Pentagon information:

“Of all the things that DoD has done to limit public access to information, this is probably the most egregious,”
5. Fascinating comments by retired Lt General @TomSpoehr in @julianborger's reporting on our #FOIA request.

“I could never find a written memo, but he [Mattis] essentially told all the services to clamp down on what they were releasing to the public.”

theguardian.com/us-news/2020/a…
6. "I've yet to hear anybody articulate one instance where those numbers led to an operational risk."

@Jason_K_Dempsey (former Special Assistant to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff) in 2018 @NPRwelna interview.

npr.org/2018/07/03/625…
6. @Jason_K_Dempsey: "What we're essentially saying is, we don't want an engaged public."

Same NPR segment: @LorenRaeDeJ (former NSC and DoD):

"Numbers are a kind of bad shorthand for talking about American commitments, but they're a useful starting point for a conversation."
7. Great analysis from 2018 by @LorenRaeDeJ @ahfdc:

"Perhaps the most consequential change has been an unstated decision to offer significantly less information to the American people on where, and for what purpose, U.S. troops are in combat overseas."

foreignaffairs.com/articles/unite…
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More from @rgoodlaw see all

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Ryan Goodman
@rgoodlaw
If Fox were a real news outlet rather than state-affiliated TV, the follow up question would be:

If there was nothing wrong with the call, why did you — KT McFarland — lie about the call to @IgnatiusPost (see Mueller Report), then lie to Congress and the FBI??
2. Mueller report:

“McFarland made the call as Flynn had requested although she knew she was providing false information, and the Washington Post updated the column to reflect that a ‘Trump official’ had denied that Flynn and Kislyak discussed sanctions.”
3. On McFarland’s lies to FBI:

“When FBI agents first visited her ... McFarland denied ever talking to Flynn about any discussion of sanctions between him and the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, in December 2016, during the presidential transition.”

washingtonpost.com/world/national…
Read 4 tweets
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Ryan Goodman
@rgoodlaw
<thread>

For newbies and for close observers of the Michael Flynn affair, this essay is as near to a definitive account as I've seen.

I track this issue closely, and I learned A LOT from @marty_lederman's analysis of the timeline and the law.

justsecurity.org/70431/understa…
2. In a devastating analysis, @marty_lederman shows how Bill Barr and acting attorney Tim Shea "egregiously and deliberately misstated the law" in motion to dismiss charges against Flynn.

Plus their motion contradicts a DOJ brief filed in another court just three days before!
3. Why would Flynn lie to FBI while knowing the FBI could easily prove he was lying?

Key fact: Trump told Flynn (via Priebus) to "kill the story." Flynn followed that directive by getting McFarland to lie to media (@IgnatiusPost) and to others about content of Russia phone calls
Read 6 tweets
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Ryan Goodman
@rgoodlaw
<thread>

On Friday, White House's McEnany engaged in ugly smear against @AmbassadorRice.

Why was Flynn unmasked by Susan Rice, McEnany asked?

We've not only been down this road before but in 2017 Republicans—including Trey Gowdy—came out in favor of Rice singing her praises...
2/7 Rice testified in closed door session before House Intelligence Committee in 2017 (Devin Nunes as Chair) about the Flynn matter of unmasking and leaks.

Here's what Republican lawmakers said following her testimony....
3/7 Trey Gowdy said, "There was nothing that came up in her interview that led me to conclude" that Rice improperly unmasked Trump advisers or disclosed classified information. "I thought she gave a very good accounting of herself, frankly, and I’d be the first to say otherwise."
Read 8 tweets

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