More from @SethAbramson

Seth Abramson

@SethAbramson

6 Jun

(🆚) MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: Team Trump Had a Second Pre-Insurrection War Room

A massive new front has just opened in the January 6 investigation—and right now it's exclusively at PROOF. I hope you'll subscribe, read, share this news, and follow this thread. sethabramson.substack.com/p/major-breaki…

1/ The importance of this breaking news can't be overstated. The discovery, by PROOF, of the first Insurrection Eve war room led to a confession by a US senator that he'd lied to the media; lawsuit threats from Roger Stone and Michael Flynn; and a congressional inquiry in Brazil.

2/ This second war room is *bigger* news because it was more clandestine, hosted more dubious figures, was apparently the nerve center for all other war room sites—including Trump International and possibly the White House and VP's mansion—and was closest to the insurrectionists.

Read 8 tweets

Seth Abramson

@SethAbramson

6 Jun

(🔓) PROOF UNLOCKED: The big news dropping at PROOF tomorrow—on the insurrection—is fairly dark, so I chose to make this weekend's edition of "Lost Classics of the 1960s" the most saccharine-sweet one ever. I hope you'll listen in and share it with others! sethabramson.substack.com/p/lost-classic…

(PS) BTW, even if you're not into pop, the article is well worth checking out for a) the best song by Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, b) a song by the "Argentinian Beatles" (with translation by me!), c) one of the great lost garage-psych classics, and d) a song by..."Fresh Maggots."

(PS2) I should say that "Red Pier" is actually one of my favorite sixties songs, as I think it's an amazing work given that it was created by a group of Midwestern teenagers who recorded one basically-never-heard but pretty decent LP, then disappeared into the midsts of history.

Read 5 tweets

Seth Abramson

@SethAbramson

5 Jun

DOJ now estimates it'll charge 550 people over the insurrection. It's at around 494 now. There have been *no arrests* of any GOP-operative or GOP-official plotters as yet, though we know that the 494 or so people arrested so far were foot soldiers executing the whims of *others*.

I don't know about you all, but while I want foot soldiers arrested, it gives me ~10% the satisfaction and sense of justice of seeing a coup plotter arrested. Like many of you I have variable confidence that the FBI will do its job with respect to powerful prospective defendants.

I'd add that we know at least *800 people* breached the Capitol, and some committed crimes outside but didn't enter, so even if the FBI eschews arresting *any* of the worst culprits—the plotter class—it's hard to see how 550 ends up being the final number of insurrection arrests.

Read 4 tweets

Seth Abramson

@SethAbramson

4 Jun

Here's a wild (🤪) idea: how about politicians never compare the situation they're being asked about to some past situation involving their political opponents. How about politicians address questions on current circumstances earnestly, openly and comprehensively—with no dodging.

I wish as Americans we had the sort of radar that caused us to tune out politicians the second their answer to a question is to raise a prior situation involving a political opponent. If you can't articulate what's right or wrong in the current situation, don't go into politics.

Today Jim Jordan dodged a question about Don McGahn by accusing the White House of being disinterested in Dr. Fauci's emails. This allowed Jordan to avoid the question of when politicians should—in *all circumstances*, regardless of the party of those involved—let an issue drop.

Read 5 tweets

Seth Abramson

@SethAbramson

3 Jun

(🆚) NEW: As promised, here's a special edition of the "Lost Classics of the 1960s" series—from the Music section of PROOF—for subscribers. If you like the Beatles, you'll want to check this out; there are bands here you've almost certainly never heard of. sethabramson.substack.com/p/lost-classic…

(PS) For what it's worth, in doing research for this article I came across two bands even I'd never encountered before—despite being a DJ specializing in sixties music back in the 1990s. And one song in this article is a new favorite sixties song of mine. (That takes some doing!)

(PS2) Whenever I do a "Lost Classics of the 1960s" article, I struggle to calibrate how obscure to get, as collectors, enthusiasts, and casual listeners have different senses of how obscure is *too* obscure. Two songs in this article are, I think, at the second-to-deepest level.

Read 4 tweets