Thread by @windthin

1/17 This is nuts.

Michael Caputo is the man who seems to be everywhere, a true agent of #TrumpChaos.

He's a long time partner with Roger Stone, including some involvement in Wikileaks and spreading conspiracies about Ukraine and Hunter Biden: washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/w…

2/17 Caputo went on to become spokes the US health department's new communications chief: businessinsider.com/michael-caputo…

3/17 For a time Caputo was forgotten, until this past week or two when all hell broke loose.

First came the news that he had personally been interfering with vital CDC reports on COVID-19: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…

4/17 Trump loyalists at the Health and Human Services Department have been exerting influence on the Centers for Disease Control’s weekly reports on all disease outbreaks, the coronavirus and beyond. nytimes.com/2020/09/12/us/…

5/17 Then came the rant: a vicious screed where he accused left-wing militants of hunting him, urged Trump supporters to stock up on ammo in preparation of an armed insurrection, and accused the CDC of harboring a "resistance unit" with "sedition" in mind.
nytimes.com/2020/09/14/us/…

6/17 “I don’t like being alone in Washington,” Caputo said in the video, describing “shadows on the ceiling in my apartment, there alone, shadows are so long.”

washingtonpost.com/health/2020/09…

7/17 He also accused scientists “deep in the bowels of the CDC” of giving up on science and becoming “political animals.” cnn.com/2020/09/14/pol…

8/17 Caputo has just apologized to the HHS staff and signaled a desire for medical leave.

His departure as top HHS health spokesperson will be a major blow to Trump's "messaging strategy on coronavirus".

In other words, it'll be harder to "play it down." politico.com/news/2020/09/1…

9/17 Caputo called an emergency meeting, spoke to Azar, and in apparently stepping down has urged his staff to "listen to the Grateful Dead."

https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/1305915460991541248?s=20

10/17 But the crazy doesn't end there.

Michael Caputo was also an ally to of Michael Scheuer, a former senior CIA official who once lead the effort to track Osama bin Laden from 1996 to 1999.

In 2004, it came out that he actually supported bin Laden.
wonkette.com/michael-caputo…

11/17 Scheuer depicted bin Laden as a rational actor who was fighting to weaken the United States by weakening its economy, rather than merely combating and killing Americans.

Needless to say, this didn't fly well under Bush and he left the CIA in 2004.
alternet.org/2020/09/new-re…

12/17 Michael Scheuer wholeheartedly embraced QAnon and has spent the summer calling for the slaughter of his fellow Americans. thedailybeast.com/michael-scheue…

13/17 Michael Scheuer calls Black Lives Matter a “terrorist organization” and a “semi-human mob", has praised Kenosha killer Kyle Rittenhouse, and urges the formation of militias with the express purpose of hunting and killing Trump's enemies.

14/17 And just to bring us full circle, let's see what Roger Stone's been saying lately:

Roger Stone calls for Trump to declare 'martial law' if he loses the election — and order arrests of Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, and the Clintons businessinsider.com/stone-calls-fo…

15/17 “The ballots in Nevada on election night should be seized by federal marshals and taken from the state,” Stone said.

independent.co.uk/news/world/ame…

16/17 He also suggests “forming an election day operation using the FBI, federal marshals & Republican state officials across the country to be prepared to file legal objections & if necessary to physically stand in the way of criminal activity”. theguardian.com/us-news/2020/s…

17/17 Caputo, Stone, and Scheue are a snarling Cerberus, seeking to guard the gate to Trump's corrupt domain.

Their snarls are just echoes of their master.

The choice really is #AmericaOrTrump, because like this three-headed monster, all Trump has to offer is death and hate.

*spokesperson.

Top HHS official takes leave of absence after Facebook rant about CDC conspiracies

The move came days after an HHS spokesman, Michael Caputo, warned of a CDC plot against the president and urged Trump supporters to "buy ammunition." nbcnews.com/politics/2020-…

By the by, while Caputo may be back, his "science adviser", Paul Alexander, has been let go permanently from the HHS.

Alexander helped Caputo in his efforts to override the CDC and alter or delay reports from real scientists.
washingtonpost.com/health/2020/09…