One reason why Iran-Contra had such poor outcomes in terms of bringing people to justice is that the story was a complicated mess.
January 6 has that same feature, and it was done by the same people. For justice to be served, we need to tell a story that makes sense.
This requires more than just getting the names and places right, it requires us creating an oral narrative that assists with sense-making in real-time, and breaks us out of our existing frames. That's why building conversation about this is so key.
And it's why I'm hosting this session with Anne Nelson tomorrow. We have already personally invited many reporters who are working on this, but you can help us get the word out. Please share with interested reporters + writers. March 3, 2pm ET.
💥THREAD: On Monday I showed how January 6 and QAnon were part of the same operation. This is also connected to a schism in the Catholic Church driven in part by Steve Bannon and Michael Flynn. This explosive information needs to spread fast. americanart.si.edu/artwork/inner-…
2/On March 22, 2000, the conceptual artist Mark Lombardi was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment of apparent suicide. He documented the connections between the Bush family, the Bin Ladens, the Vatican, and the CIA. He was focused on BCCI and Iran-Contra. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Lomb…
3/Specifically he learned that BCCI had been used as a money laundering channel for anti-communist operations funded by the Vatican and CIA, specifically operations run by Maj. Gen. JACK SINGLAUB. Including Iran-Contra.
🛑 THREAD: The true story connecting January 6th, Parler, QAnon, Russia, and Standing Rock goes back decades. Here’s what happened, who did it, and why.
Additional supporting documentation is available here: bit.ly/jan6info
2/In 1975-1976, the Church Committee investigated allegations that CIA, NSA, FBI, IRS, and Army intelligence had spied on Americans and otherwise abused power; the committee's work led to changes that greatly limited the power of these agencies.
3/Angry about these new limits, in 1979 LARRY MCDONALD and JACK SINGLAUB founded WESTERN GOALS, a private intelligence agency. The group aimed to vacuum up and index intel "discarded" by agencies that, after Church reforms, could no longer retain it.
Here’s an interesting fact: in 2012, Roseanne Barr was the “Peace and Freedom Party” candidate for President. Nice interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets here; the final post on this page. (She went on to collaborate w/several Russia ops.)
Another fun fact: Robert David Steele was a Reform Party candidate in 2012 and a Libertarian party candidate in 2016. He also was an early promoter of the Pizzagate and Seth Rich narratives in 2016.
This is a deep vein to mine and I will refrain from doing so now. But the astroturfing of candidates and cultivation of audiences as an Active Measure tactic did not begin in 2016; you can see the roots of the strategy coming together in 2012 quite clearly.
THREAD: QAnon was enabled in part by former military and intelligence professionals "gone wild." They lent credibility to the myth and laundered QAnon messaging to the public, sometimes via E-list "influencers." Here are some of the key personnel.
2/MICHAEL T. FLYNN is at the very center of the Q operation. As a US Army Lt. General and as former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, he has extensive knowledge of military/intel ops and the mechanics of insurgency. He also deeply resents his treatment by USG – a theme.
3/BILL BINNEY retired in protest from NSA in 2001 after spat with @GenMhayden. He collaborated with Putinphile Oliver Stone (A Good American; Snowden), and has appeared on many Q content channels re: child sex abuse, directed energy weapons; he is part of intj.org
Nov 13: I exposed opaque funding and Matze’s Russia ties
Nov 14: WSJ exposes Rebekah Mercer as funder and co-founder
Jan 6: Parler used to organize and amplify insurrection
Jan 8-9: Google and Apple remove app from stores
Jan 11: Amazon AWS terminates hosting; researchers harvest data
Jan 17: Parler puts up static page on Epik/DDOS Guard/Russian IP
Jan 21: House Oversight Chairwoman Maloney asks FBI to investigate Parler, its funding, and Matze’s Russia ties
Jan 29: Mercer + board fire Matze
Feb 3: Matze reveals he has been fired; Bongino denies, incorrectly
Even if it can somehow get back online, it will never be a viable company without implementing real moderation practices. Mercer seems intent not to do so. Parler is, without a serious upheaval, over.
Investigating networked disinformation and influence campaigns is hard. SIGINT is often scarce, and encrypted. But people are sloppy; HUMINT is vital, and developing it requires an iterative approach. Each cycle of reporting exposes more players, which attracts more sources.
Campaigns like QAnon will ultimately collapse through iterative reporting, as human sources are amassed and facts are laid bare. This was an evolutionary and organic effort with many players. People talk. The next few iterations will result in more and more human sources.
To accelerate the collapse of this and other networked scams, we should increase our speed of iteration with the specific goal of exposing various network participants, and developing human sources around them.