This hasn't gotten enough attention, but you need to know. Everybody needs to know.
1/ It's about the massive coverup campaign underway to disguise the octopus-like Russian election interference operation being run on Trump's behalf.
Please read this whole thing.
2/ Earlier this year, reports start coming into Congress about a giant, multi-layer Russian effort to help Trump in 2020. Bigger than what they did in 2016. Looks like Russians are trying to get U.S. persons - especially those close to Trump - to help.
3/ On July 13, Dem leadership writes a letter to FBI Director Wray, asking for an all-Congress briefing, especially because the reports we're reading suggest Russian agents are trying to find Members of Congress to assist their interference operation. speaker.gov/newsroom/72020…
4/ On 7/24, Bill Evanina, Trump's counter-intel chief, releases a super vague statement. 72 words on Chinese/Iranian interference, and 54 words on Russia.
Very puzzling. Congress has never been briefed on any meaningful Chinese/Iranian interference plans. dni.gov/index.php/news…
5/ On 8/7, an update. This one has 219 words on China/Iran, 105 on Russia.
But read it closely - though China gets the lead and the most attention, Evanina just says they are "weigh[ing] the risks" of election interference - NOT that they are doing it. dni.gov/index.php/news…
6/ Then, on 9/9, a bombshell that few noticed. The head of intelligence at DHS (the top guy!) files a whistleblower complaint.
He says the White House instructed him to bury info on Russian interference because it "made the President look bad."
7/ A day later (coincidence!), the Treasury Dept. sanctions Andriy Derkach, a Ukrainian politician in charge of spreading Biden conspiracy theories, and notes, offhand, that Derkach is indeed a Russian agent. politico.com/news/2020/09/1…
8/ No press conference from Intel or the FBI or DHS that they've caught a Russian agent who has been in regular contact with the President's inner circle.
Nope. Just buried in a sanctions announcement. Likely because so many people knew the intel, they knew it would come out.
9/ What's happening is clear. American intel agencies, that are supposed to be totally apolitical, have been folded into Trump's campaign.
They are keeping info about Russian interference hidden, and overhyping info about China and Iran helping Biden.
10/ It's why Trump's former National Security Advisor, H.R. McMaster, said something today that is as shocking as it unsurprising.
He said Trump is "aiding and abetting" Putin's interference campaign.
Wow.
But of course he is. And now you know the details.
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We aren't on the verge of an authoritarian takeover. We are in the middle of it.
But I worry people don't see the whole scheme. They just pay attention to each new daily outrage. So I went to the Senate floor to explain Trump's plan.
Here's a 🧵of the speech. It's important.
Step 1 of the plan:
Turn the justice system into a political witch hunt operation that punishes critics for free speech and immunizes loyalists for actual criminality.
Step 2 of the plan:
Use government power to compel the media to tell only the regime's narrative and to silence critics.
The Kimmel suspension is a much bigger deal than you know.
It's really about a growing alliance between Trump and the companies that own America's local TV stations - like Nexstar - to turn local TV into Trump propaganda.
1/ Let me tell you the short story. It's chilling.
2/ In August, Nexstar announced they wanted to buy another TV station company, Tegna.
But that's illegal - because it would give Nexstar control of stations in nearly half the country. FCC rules prohibit ONE company from having THAT much control over local TV content.
3/ Why? Because one company shouldn't control local speech in half the country.
Also, we want our local TV stations to be run by local actors to preserve local identity and prevent our culture from becoming soullessly flattened - which Nexstar was already doing!
The murder of Charlie Kirk could have united Americans to confront political violence. Instead, Trump and his anti-democratic radicals look to be readying a campaign to destroy dissent.
2/ Leaders across the political spectrum have spoken out about the need to depoliticize our fight against violence. GOP Governor Spencer Cox has led the way.
3/ Here is the latest post from Laura Loomer, who clearly has the ear of President Trump, calling on Trump to use dictatorial powers to destroy his political opposition. This kind of rhetoric is gaining traction in MAGA world, and Trump is now echoing it.
1/ The beating heart of a free society is the ability for citizens to engage in political life with no fear of violence. Once we lose this freedom, few will step forward, and our entire democratic experiment unwinds into chaos and recrimination.
2/ Political violence in America is spiraling - January 6th, the attempting assassination of President Trump, the beating of Paul Pelosi, the murder of the Minnesota legislators, the shooting of Brian Thompson, and now the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
3/ We can spend today arguing who is at risk more - the right or the left. Or we can decide that our entire democratic enterprise is at risk if we don't draw a line in the sand today. What does that exercise look like?
1/ Republicans think they are going to hide all the hospital and clinic closures due to throwing 17M off their health care to pay for their billionaire tax cuts.
We won't let them.
I'm starting an effort to track all the closures - @HospitalsCrisis. We launched it this week.
2/ My organization, American Mobilization Project, is funding and working with @ProtectOurCare to build this tool tool that tracks the damage done to health care centers in real time.
Every time a hospital closes or is at risk of closing because of the GOP bill, we'll know.
3/ When your local hospital eliminates its maternity delivery unit, or your parent’s nursing home closes, you should know why.
It's the direct result of a choice that Republicans and Trump made to choose tax cuts for the rich over health care for normal Americans.