Thread by @DavidLat

1/ THREAD. Some of the coverage connecting the departure of John Demers as head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division to the uproar over the DOJ leak investigations is a bit misleading.

2/ Look at all of these headlines, which imply that John Demers’s departure was prompted by the furor over the leak investigations, Apple/Google subpoenas, etc.

3/ But then read this @nytimes by @ktbenner, which has the right facts (even if the headline and sad-face photo, which Benner isn’t responsible for, reinforce the narrative that John Demers’s departure is tied to the scandal).

nyti.ms/2TxPPrL

4/ The article correctly notes that John Demers’s departure “was arranged months ago,” well before the current controversy, and scheduled for the end of the school year for his two kids — which is next week.

5/ It’s rare for a high-level DOJ official from a prior administration to serve this long into a new administration — and the fact that John Demers was asked to by top Biden officials reflects his excellent reputation on both sides of the aisle.

6/ President Biden has already nominated John Demers’s successor, Uber exec Matthew Olsen — and Olsen was picked well before the current controversy as well. In other words, Demers was on his way out regardless.

7/ As for John Demers’s possible involvement in these leak investigations, the controversial records seizures were the call of the attorney general, not Demers.

8/ As @ktbenner reports in the @nytimes, “Justice Department officials say that all appropriate approvals were given for those orders, meaning that the attorney general at the time, not Mr. Demers, signed off.”

9/ Per the Times, Bill Barr signed off on the CNN and WaPo seizures, and either Barr or Jeffrey Rosen, deputy AG who became acting AG, signed off on the Times seizures (DOJ won’t say which).

10/ As for the 2018 seizure of records of Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, “The data was collected and the gag orders were imposed on the tech companies weeks BEFORE Mr. Demers was confirmed to lead the National Security Division,” per NYT.

11/ Senator Chuck Schumer wants John Demers to testify before Congress about these leak investigations — and I suspect that if and when Demers testifies, we will see that these weren’t his calls (even if he might have been briefed on them later).

12/ Now, could John Demers have resigned upon learning of aggressive leak investigations? Sure. But remember that these types of probes have been going on for years, including during the Obama Administration.

13/ Disclosure: John Demers is a friend of mine, ever since we clerked together 20 years ago. So no, I don’t like that he’s getting a raw deal in the media.

14/ But I do think that an objective reading of the facts will show that John Demers is being turned into the fall guy here — which is very convenient, since he’s on his way out and from the other political party — and I don’t think that’s fair.