Share this page!

Chris Murphy Profile picture
Twitter logo
9 Nov, 6 tweets, 2 min read
1/ The disarray of the lame duck Trump White House, especially in the national security space, could be staggering. And our adversaries may try to take advantage.

A short THREAD on what could go wrong in the next 60 days, and how Congress can help fill the void.
2/ Reports suggest Trump's post-defeat rage could lead to the firings of Esper or Haspel. DoD and/or CIA could be leaderless by Thanksgiving. And if Trump refuses to concede, other national security officials could bail to try to save their careers.
thehill.com/policy/defense…
3/ Emerging global powers could try to take advantage of the vacuum. At the top of that list is China. They could finish their crack down in Hong Kong, or they could make a move on the disputed islands with Taiwan.
taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4038660
4/ China's bet would be that a) Trump would be distracted by his election grievances, and b) his national security infrastructure might be hollowed out. They would gamble that by the time Biden was sworn in, their move would be a fait accompli and impossible to reverse.
5/ Russia and Turkey will also be watching. In Donbass, one aggressive move by Russian forces could destabilize the contact line. In the Armenia/Azerbaijan conflict, a distracted U.S. might be unable to prevent a dangerous escalation by Turkey or Russia.
aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/8…
6/ These are just a few of many simmering crises.

Congress can fill part of the void. Bipartisan statements, resolutions, and legislation can make clear there will be a cross-party consensus around consequences for any escalatory actions by other powers in the transition period.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Chris Murphy

Chris Murphy Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @ChrisMurphyCT

Chris Murphy Profile picture
3 Nov
I want to tell you a story - one I don’t think I’ve ever told publicly before - about the man we have a chance to elect President of the United States today.

1/ A story about the day Joe Biden came to Connecticut - 2 months after Sandy Hook.

I hope you’ll read this.
2/ Biden came to give a speech at a forum on gun violence that we had organized at a state college just outside Newtown.

It was just 60 days after the shooting and the event was intended to help us push for the changes in gun laws we wanted at the federal and state levels.
3/ He stayed after his speech to meet with the Sandy Hook parents. In a somber room off the main hall, he spent about 2 hours with about 10 families. He told stories of his own loss, he explained how he rebuilt his life, he gave a lot hugs.

Then he did something else.
Read 7 tweets
Chris Murphy Profile picture
17 Oct
Joe Biden - and all of us - SHOULD be furious that media outlets are spreading what is very likely Russian propaganda.

1/ I’ve seen the intel. The mainstreaming of misinformation is Russia’s 2020 goal. Here’s what we know, and why we can’t take it lying down.
2/ Russia knew it had to play a different game than 2016. So it built an operation to cull virulently pro-Trump Americans as pseudo-assets, so blind in their allegiance to Trump that they’ll willingly launder Kremlin constructed anti-Biden propaganda.

Guiliani was a key target.
3/ Andriy Derkach was a top Russian agent. He was unmasked by the Treasury Dept this summer. Derkach and his team recruited Guiliani and have been feeding him info all year. The White House knew this.
google.com/amp/s/www.wash…
Read 8 tweets
Chris Murphy Profile picture
12 Oct
1/ Republicans are suddenly trying to pretend that their rush to confirm Amy Coney Barrett isn't about ACA repeal.

They are lying.

I've put together in one thread the story of their 10 year plan to get rid of the ACA. It all leads to this moment.

Please read the whole thing.
2/ From the start, Republicans were obsessed - I mean OBSESSED - with getting rid of the ACA. Nothing mattered more.

From 2010-2017, they tried to repeal all or part of the ACA 70 times. Their most high profile failure was, of course, in summer 2017.
newsweek.com/gop-health-car…
3/ At first, Republicans' chanted "repeal and replace" - but they NEVER had a plan to replace it.

In 2017, with much fanfare, Paul Ryan unveiled the most serious replacement bill Republicans had ever offered. It ended health care for 23 million Americans.
npr.org/2017/05/24/529…
Read 11 tweets
Chris Murphy Profile picture
8 Oct
1/ In light of Amy Coney Barrett's dangerous views on choice and the ACA, her views on guns haven't gotten much attention.

But she's a radical - a blinking red outlier - on how she interprets the 2nd Amendment. Like, she wants felons to buy guns.

And you need to know. A THREAD:
2/ Like Gorsuch/Kavanaugh/Alito/Thomas, she is an "orginalist" on guns. It's total BS - just a way to legislate from the court and invalidate modern gun laws.

But basically, she believes that if the regulation didn't exist in 1787 then it's unconstitutional.
3/ So, for instance, that makes it easy for her to rule against bans on weapons that didn't exist in the 1700s (like semi-automatic weapons), or restrictions on guns in places that didn't exist (like airplanes), or background checks for felonies that post-date 1787.
Read 8 tweets
Chris Murphy Profile picture
1 Oct
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…
Read 10 tweets
Chris Murphy Profile picture
30 Sep
1/ Let's be clear - Trump had a goal last night to get his right wing, white supremacists to organize an election day intimidation effort. He succeeded. Recruitment by Proud Boys and others is underway. Here's why this is especially worrying this year - and what you can do.
2/ In 2018 a federal judge ended a three decade long court order on the Republican National Committee that placed restrictions on the RNC's "ballot security" measures and Election Day activities at the polls. Why were these restrictions in place?
3/ In 1982, Republicans used illegal harassment and voter intimidation to discourage Black Americans from voting. They sent targeted mailings warning about the consequences of voter fraud & posted armed guards at polls in minority neighborhoods. Thus, the court intervened.
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get email notifications when new thread is out from this Author!

Check out other threads from this Author!

Read all threads by @ChrisMurphyCT