Thread by @DavidLat

1/ The Capitol attack has led to a lot of soul-searching on the right -- including some behind-the-scenes drama and deliberation at the Federalist Society. Here's my take on how @FedSoc should respond to the events of January 6.

bit.ly/3pbDiFL

2/ Featuring: @FedSoc @SenWhitehouse @drjohneastman @HawleyMO @tedcruz @mjs_DC @dreuterfedsoc @lisabezell @greggnunziata @irina_manta @JosephPatrice @gtconway3d @J_Braceras @ChapmanU

3/ Thanks to @chrislhayes for this kind mention of my Original Jurisdiction post about @FedSoc on @allinwithchris tonight, which he used as the jumping-off point for interviewing @GTConway3d about where conservatives go from here.

on.msnbc.com/3sFnRHH

4/ I've made many wrong predictions over the years, but I'm usually not wrong this QUICKLY.

I predicted John Eastman wouldn't speak at Federalist Society events anytime soon. But a student @FedSoc chapter, @ASUFedSoc, is hosting an event with him NEXT WEEK.

5/ Here's the tweet from @ASUFedSoc. They're hosting a discussion with John Eastman and Ilan Wurman about government's emergency powers during #COVID19 (a legitimate topic for discussion; too bad Eastman is participating).

https://twitter.com/ASUFedSoc/status/1352045582328737794

6/ I have some questions about this upcoming @ASUFedSoc event with John Eastman.

(a) Was it scheduled before or after January 6?

(b) Did the national @FedSoc office know about it?

I have reached out to Federalist Society leadership for comment.

7/ My suspicion -- and hope -- is that this event with John Eastman was scheduled before January 6, and the national office of the Federalist Society leadership didn't know about it.

8/ The @FedSoc website usually lists all upcoming events hosted by both student and lawyer chapters, and the @ASUFedSoc event isn't listed -- which suggests that the national Federalist Society office didn't know about it.

fedsoc.org/events

9/ Assuming the national office of @FedSoc didn't know about this upcoming John Eastman event, this does put them in the unfortunate position of either (a) hosting an Eastman event or (b) literally "canceling" him (and conservatives hate "cancel culture").

10/ As I said in my original story for Original Jurisdiction, if John Eastman cares at all about the Federalist Society, he should voluntarily resign from leadership and membership of @FedSoc, and he shouldn't do future events.

bit.ly/3pbDiFL

11/ Here's @Ilan_Wurman's comment on the 1/25 @ASUFedSoc event with him and John Eastman discussing government emergency powers in #COVID19:

“The event is not on the elections, and it is up to the students whom to invite to speak at the school’s chapter."

12/ @Ilan_Wurman comment on the upcoming @ASUFedSoc event with John Eastman (continued):

"Assuming his invitation stands, I intend to keep my commitment to the students to moderate the event in some form.”

13/ In my experience, @FedSoc student chapter events are planned well in advance, so the @ASUFedSoc event with John Eastman was presumably planned well before January 6.

14/ Of course, John Eastman said and wrote problematic things well before January 6 -- perhaps most infamously, his @Newsweek piece arguing that @KamalaHarris is ineligible to serve as vice president (discussed here by @mjs_DC).

bit.ly/3nWKmo8

15/ And then you have all the things John Eastman has said and written over the years about the #LGBTQ community, marriage equality, and related topics.

bit.ly/35YV7Qq

16/ People and organizations can invite whomever they want to speak. It's a free country.

But if I were in charge of programming for a @FedSoc chapter, as I once was years ago, I would not invite John Eastman to speak to my chapter today.