???: DNI Ratcliffe has declassified a Russian intelligence assessment — which Ratcliffe says could be false or exaggerated — to suggest Clinton hatched a plan to pin Russian hacking onto Trump.
I'm still wrapping my head around the idea that DNI just publicly released what it acknowledges in untested 2016 Russian intelligence chatter to raise derogatory questions about Hillary Clinton — which of course was Russia's goal when it was doing the chattering.
The substance aside: It's more evidence that Durham is not preparing to bring charges related to any of this. Anything is possible, but it would be extraordinary for Durham to allow evidence like this to go onto the public record if he was preparing related indictments.
NEWS from @AndrewDesiderio: Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Intel Committee had previously rejected the information just declassified by DNI Ratcliffe, characterizing it as Russian disinformation.
@AndrewDesiderio When you have to issue a statement clarifying that you didn't just publicly disseminate Russian disinformation because your first statement made it sound like you did just publicly disseminate Russian disinformation >>>
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
MORE: The department's sweeping effort to identify a classified info leak — which included seeking phone/email logs for Schiff/Swalwell and 43 staffers — was done without proper oversight and risks chilling Congress' legitimate work, the IG found. politico.com/news/2024/12/1…
Kash PATEL was among those swept up in this search, and he unsuccessfully sued over it last year. But the IG found that the 43 searched staffers were split along partisan lines w/ no evidence of political motivation. politico.com/news/2024/12/1…
Judges are pushing back on efforts to sweep Jan. 6 under the rug but worried that a large swath of the public has moved on. politico.com/news/2024/12/0…
Judge Lamberth ordered a misdemeanor defendant — previoulsy convicted of a felony that was tossed because of SCOTUS — immediately jailed for a 12mo sentence.
And Judge Jackson worried that the "volume's getting turned up" on disinformation about 2020. politico.com/news/2024/12/0…
HAPPENING NOW: Enrique Tarrio, testifying at the trial of MPD officer Shane Lamond, has been combative, evasive and, at times, contradictory.
He seems to be relishing his attempt to fluster prosecutors. Drew a contempt threat from Juge Jackson when he refused to discuss Jan. 6.
The contempt threat for the former Proud Boys leader came on the first question from DOJ, when the prosecutor asked him if Proud Boys traveled to Washington on Jan. 6. Tarrio refused to answer and suggested he would plead the 5th even though he waived his 5th yesterday.
Tarrio also talked about timing his trip to Washington, D.C. for Jan. 4, 2021 because he knew he would be arrested for burning a BLM banner the month before and wanted to ensure he could be arrested and processed in time to be out for Jan. 6 events.
BIDEN calls Hunter’s case “selective prosecution” instigated by his political adversaries. Not exactly the ringing endorsement of the special counsel process his DOJ has long made.
Biden says “raw politics” infected the case, causing a “miscarriage of justice.”
NEW: Donald Trump hasn’t said a word since the election about his intent to pardon Jan. 6 defendants. It’s prompted some anxiety among supporters and a raging debate about his intentions.
That debate has been compounded by the replacement of Matt Gaetz — a fervent ally of Jan. 6 defendants — with Pam Bondi, who has maintained radio silence on the issue for four years. politico.com/news/2024/11/3…
Trump’s transition team exacerbated the issue by vowing Trump would consider pardons “case by case,” a signal that he might not implement the sweeping blanket pardon many J6 defenders have called for. politico.com/news/2024/11/3…
NEW: Few people have been more integrally linked to Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 gambit than Matt Gaetz.
Now, a man who has done as much as anyone to rewrite the history of that effort, could lead the prosecutors who have called it a stain on our democracy. politico.com/news/2024/11/1…
Before Jan. 6, Gaetz fomented false claims of voter fraud, then joined strategy sessions with Trump and other GOP lawmakers about overturning the election. He was in a meeting with Pence before Jan. 6. politico.com/news/2024/11/1…
GAETZ would later ask repeatedly for a pardon, one Eric Herschmann described as so broad and unbounded it would be unworkable. politico.com/news/2024/11/1…