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Eric Geller Profile picture
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6 Jan, 114 tweets, 29 min read
Guarantee you that all of these violent extremists are on Team Just Comply With Police when officers kill Black people.
Really feels like we're approaching violent insurrection territory here.
Genuinely chilling stuff.
What a disgrace.
In the past few years we've seen a huge contrast between how liberals show their outrage (largely peaceful racial-justice protests) and how conservatives do so (this, and Cesar Sayoc).
There's just no way to disagree with this.
Christ almighty.
These are scenes from a dystopian thriller. ImageImage
Absolutely unbelievable failure by the Capitol Police. What are they for if not to repel this kind of thing?
The people who describe the "defund the police" movement and racial-justice protests as attacks on law enforcement are the ones actually attacking law enforcement.
My brain is melting right now. This is unreal.
Just a reminder, as Trump's army breaks through the glass windows of doors on Capitol Hill, that Trump told them to go there.
This scenario is literally the exact reason why we have federal security forces. Where the hell are they? What is going on?
At what point do the Capitol Police start threatening to use the guns they're issued for situations like this? Could we actually get to that point? Is there a way to shut this down without that? ImageImage
Just. I mean. I don't even know what to say.
Every single one of these people would be dead or wounded right now if this were a BLM protest. Image
Every single BLM argument about white privilege and double standards in law enforcement is being validated in real time right now, as the world watches.
Not Kabul. Not Baghdad. Washington, D.C.
My god. My god.
Terrorists.
Schumer and Pelosi need to order a thorough audit of USCP after this crisis is over. One of the most galling failures in recent history.
This is literally one of the nightmare scenarios described by everyone who has ever advocated for a massive, heavily armed federal security apparatus, and that apparatus is completely failing to confront it.

I understand desire to avoid excessive force. But we're at DEFCON 1.
What?
My mind is reeling. We've spent trillions of dollars since 2001 on security plans to respond to terrorists attacks on high-value targets, and this one is playing out with practically no resistance.
Terrorist attack.
Terrorists.
all the "leopards ate my face" jokes just seem too real right now
I would think so, yeah.
Are the police just ... standing there?
Terrorist attacks taking place across the U.S. right now.
The most gut-wrenching thing about this terrorist attack is that the elected officials who encouraged and enabled it will never accept responsibility for doing so and will continue to be treated like respectable public figures by the media.
No question. They're testing the limits and there appear to be no limits.
Again, I just cannot fathom the value of the federal agencies tasked with protecting our capital city if they can't respond within minutes to a terrorist attack like this.
Mind-boggling dereliction of duty by the federal government.
Absolutely shameful that it took this long.
Noticed this too.
Major news organizations are extremely reluctant to use labels like this, but if it's not appropriate now, when will it ever be appropriate?
Yup. Plain and simple.
Terrorists.
Biden is speaking now.

"At this hour, our democracy's under unprecedented assault, unlike anything we've seen in modern times." Image
Biden: "I call on President Trump to go on national television now to fulfill his oath and defend the Constitution and demand an end to this siege."
Never a good sign when the police are part of the problem.
Meanwhile: Ossoff race was called as Biden spoke.
My goodness, this video.
There are no words to convey how absolutely WILD this is.
surreal
says it all
better late than never?
Any arrests? We just gonna let all them go or what?
normal healthy democracy
Savages.
These thugs are enemies of democracy. No other way to put it.
Straight-up terrorism. No other word for it.
The Capitol Police let this happen.
My god.
big today energy
America under attack.
Only 13 arrests. Mind-boggling.
Just a reminder, as we continue to process horrifying images like this, that we know who was responsible for what happened today.
First death from today's terrorist attack.
Terrorist. Attack.

Hope our elected officials treat it as such.
What???
We need to figure out what happened here and we need to do it in the next two weeks. Image
Did the president just effectively condone a terrorist attack on the Capitol?
Not sure what to say except that these are sick, sick people.
Even at this moment, it seems almost impossible to imagine the Cabinet invoking 25, but this is not the kind of statement that the national security adviser makes when he has great confidence in the president.
Absolutely outrageous. They are encouraging follow-up attacks.
Step back and consider how monumentally embarrassing this is. A truly unprecedented failure by our government.
Terrorists.
uhhhhhhhhhhh
So much love and respect for the reporters, producers, camera operators, and other journalists risking their lives to report on this terrorist attack.

Please be safe.
Literally indistinguishable from the dystopian "Trump presidency front pages" mockups that were so widely mocked in 2015 and 2016. Image
Twitter locking Trump's account. When it mattered most, the company was incredibly slow to act.
Just can't get over how law enforcement treated this terrorist attack like a harmless temper tantrum.

Footage of the terrorists being allowed to walk out of the Capitol & go free reminds me of parents letting children out of time-out.

The police response is part of the problem.
Remember: We know who incited this. We know who's responsible for forcing members of Congress to hide in their offices as terrorists stalk the halls.
Great to see.
More terrorist attacks around the country.
Hope the FBI is paying attention.
Absolutely unforgivable.
So sickening that this is necessary.
If there's one thing we've learned today, it's that these terrorists don't just talk tough. We need to take this threat seriously.
Correct. Now what will we do about it?
woof
oh
What happened today was one of those things that, if you described it to the average person, would prompt them to say, "Oh, well sure, if THAT ever happened, Congress would obviously snap out of it and act."

Turns out: nope.
Is there any chance that D.C.'s inability to immediately dispatch its National Guard to respond to today's terrorist attack will change Joe Manchin's mind?
Wow.
Which Cabinet members? This is pretty surprising tbh.
We are a deeply broken country.
Interesting choice by Sasse on a day when his life was imperiled by D.C.'s lack of control over its own National Guard, a consequence of its lack of statehood, which deprives its residents of full civil and political rights even as they suffer under a curfew and mob violence.
What a sad, infuriating day this is.
This is who these people are.
Lots of sudden crises of conscience tonight from people who will be out of jobs in two weeks no matter what and may want to cloak themselves in virtue on the way out.
I don't even know what to say anymore. I'm so tired.
Seems like it might be time to change these things!
That was ... quite the speech.
Indeed.
The desecration of a shrine to our civic religion of democracy.
Seems justified!
What happened today would have chastened so many critics of local Washington if they were operating in good faith.
This whole thread.
while they're voting on Arizona's slate of electors, take a moment to enjoy a laugh that you desperately need today
One down...
You learned the wrong lesson and now someone is dead.
Law enforcement is part of the problem.
The fever will never break.

They will never pull back from the brink.
Cyber reporters have watched for years as McConnell has blocked Senate consideration of election security bills from Wyden, Klobuchar/Lankford, and House Democrats.

It's surreal to now hear the phrase "election security" from the mouths of ppl who basically never used it before.
I've been pretty critical of the Capitol Police today, but it's clear that the biggest issue was not isolated instances of cops going easy on the terrorists or taking selfies with them but agency leadership's failure to secure the entrances and interior with enough officers.
"The CVC...cost roughly $700 million and has multiple secure rooms and blast-resistant doors. An officer, holding back two doors, ordered us to head toward the Russell Senate Office Building because the pro-Trump mob had also breached the CVC." washingtonpost.com/politics/repor…
"One senior GOP aide, who has an office not far from the Senate floor, said he took a steel rod and barricaded his door when the pro-Trump mob approached. For what seemed like 20 minutes, he said, rioters banged on his door, trying to break in." washingtonpost.com/politics/repor…
Another reminder of the grave consequences of D.C.'s lack of statehood. If D.C. had been able to activate its own National Guard (1,350 soldiers), the Capitol Police would have had more than enough backup to apprehend the terrorists.
The death toll rises to four.
One wonders if what we saw today (and are still seeing right now) will prompt any soul-searching at the top of major news organizations.
It's been stunning to watch the D.C. government have to single-handedly shoulder the public communications burden today, on behalf of a federal government (and especially legislature) that so often maligns its host city and the people who live in it.

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More from @ericgeller

Eric Geller Profile picture
7 Jan
So far, hearing that cyber risks of the Capitol attack were low.

* Congress isn't one big network
* Vulnerable machines held unclassified files
* Hill leaks so much already that truly sensitive stuff is walled off
* Rioters weren't there long enough for thorough, careful access
The only computer reported stolen so far was from Senator Merkley’s office. His staff declined to share details, citing an ongoing investigation.
For those wondering about the SCIFs, used for classified files and conversations, their doors were built to withstand embassy sieges, and they’re swept for bugs before every use.

We haven’t seen any indication that they were even targeted, much less seriously attacked.
Read 10 tweets
Eric Geller Profile picture
5 Jan
More Trump admin CISA drama: DHS recently asked CISA to provide confidential SolarWinds data shared by private companies. CISA refused, fearing harm to industry partnerships if companies don't trust its confidentiality promises.

subscriber.politicopro.com/cybersecurity/…

First reported by @dnvolz
When companies share technical data about cyber intrusions to help CISA understand the activity, the data sometimes contains proprietary business information.

To encourage companies to feed it insights, CISA promises not to share confidential data with other agencies.
Neither DHS nor CISA denied our reporting, although both agencies emphasized that CISA regularly shares cyber info with DHS.

Add this to the list of strains that have emerged in the relationship between CISA and WH/DHS political appointees late in the Trump administration.
Read 4 tweets
Eric Geller Profile picture
4 Jan
So I'm just now seeing that @OversightDems has published the latest Plum Book (govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GP…), and there are a bunch of errors. Most are attributable to the June 30 "as of" date, but not all — it says we don't have an NSA director! Image
Unsurprisingly, it still lists Krebs & Travis at CISA. It also lists Suzette Kent, who resigned as federal CIO in July (though she announced it before the Plum Book's "as of" date).

Maybe I'm missing something, but shouldn't it list the assistant directors at CISA? They're PAs.
Organizationally, there are some interesting choices, like listing the CISA director at the end of the agency's section and doing the same with the federal CIO in the relevant OMB section.

Isn't part of the value of this document that it conveys a sense of hierarchy?
Read 4 tweets
Eric Geller Profile picture
1 Jan
Time to tweet out some generic 2021 predictions so I can quote-tweet them later and look very smart.
Brace yourselves for some really bad and surprising coronavirus-related news this year.
Trump is going to keep generating outrage cycles after he leaves office.
Read 16 tweets
Eric Geller Profile picture
31 Dec 20
.@lawrence_wright's New Yorker article about this pandemic-ravaged year is a must-read. newyorker.com/magazine/2021/…

I want to highlight a few of the things that stood out to me.

Hopefully we'll learn these lessons in time for the next crisis.
First, it's impossible to overstate the damage wrought by ignorance, incompetence, and antipathy. Trump appointees simply didn't do what the country desperately needed them to do. ImageImageImageImage
The states haven't needed a strong, engaged federal government this badly since World War II, and yet the Trump administration routinely failed to help or actively made things worse. ImageImage
Read 10 tweets
Eric Geller Profile picture
22 Dec 20
Biden is answering press questions now and just talked SolarWinds.

"The Defense Department won't even brief us on many things. ... I know of nothing that suggests it's under control."

"We need international rules of the road on cybersecurity."
"The question of the damage done remains to be determined," Biden said of SolarWinds.

The hackers "can be assured that we will respond and probably respond in kind," he said. "There are many options which I will not discuss now."

"I promise you, there will be a response."
"It may take billions of dollars to secure our cyberspace," Biden says when asked about the practical implications of running a govt whose weaknesses remain unknown. "It may take a great deal to get it done."
Read 10 tweets

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