#SeditionHunters - in ancient Rome, the elite Praetorian Guard kept overthrowing the emperors they were assigned to protect. In DC this January, seems the “1st Amendment Praetorians” had similar ambitions - intrigue is timeless. Here’s a 1st thread on 1AP & the Willard Hotel 1/
#SeditionHunters have been tracking 1AP since Jan; the 1/5 Freedom Plaza rally permit says: “...1st Amendment Praetorian Group will provide...security.” Founded 2020 by messianic Green Beret Robert Patrick Lewis who now hangs with the VIPs. They recruit from former military... 2/
...& now also police & intelligence officers. RPL is now on the speaker circuit. On Dec 12: ntd.com/former-green-b…
On Jan 5 in DC, warned that U.S. kids may "grow up in a communist hellhole" "This is our chance...take back the country." Listen to it. 3/
1AP speeches are crazy enough but videos are worse - the Oct. 2020 “What is 1st Amendment Praetorian?” ends with RPL saying “we’ve activated the counter-insurgency” against fellow Americans. They’re so scary #SeditionHunters had kept quiet about them. 4/ facebook.com/RobertPatrickL…
Now that 1AP is getting some press, tho (Daily Beast, Vice) it’s time to shine the spotlight - & they’re crawling all over DC on Jan 6. So we’ll post several threads. This one covers RPL’s associates on Jan 6, and their circle. 5/ thedailybeast.com/1st-amendment-… vice.com/en/article/4av…
On Jan 6, RPL headed to Trump’s rally with two companions. We call the tall one #TallWillardGuy; he’s easy to see above the crowd. They watched from the VIP section with other A-listers. 6/
On 1/5 both were in the VIP tent at the Freedom Plaza rally. Here’s #TallWillardGuy wearing an earpiece, near Roger Stone & election-fraud conspiracist Joe Oltmann. (Joe’s data/marketing co.: “We start conversations & make sure that they’re going in the right directions.”) 7/
On 1/6, after Trump’s speech many VIPs headed to the Capitol. RPL isn’t seen there yet, but tweeted 1:18 PM “Today is the day true battles begin.” #TallWillardGuy ended up at the Willard Hotel in Rudy Giuliani’s hotel suite, in the famous photos found by @BitsButterfly... 7/
...from the Insta of CT lobbyist & Ukraine schemer Robert Hyde. Call it the Sore Loser room: it holds 3 failed Congressional candidates (Hyde, Eastman, Ramsland) + the son of a 4th (Daniel Bostic, dad is Curtis). Seems like a political / propaganda group, not military ops... 8/
Rudy couldn’t book the right 4 Seasons, much less run a coordinated crowd attack! Election-lie promoters include Oltmann, Ramsland (Allied Security Group), Eastman (ex-law prof), Bobb (OANN, ex-DHS), & Ryan (Rudy’s girlfriend). Bostic is pals with Ali Alexander since 2013… 9/
Note Bostic’s signature haircut. Bostic & Ali’s schemes include “a cryptocurrency project, a listless consulting agency, a defunct MAGA gossip blog, & a scam donation project created with R-wing trolls Jacob Wohl and Laura Loomer”. And now sedition. 10/ salon.com/2021/01/19/how…
On 1/6 Bostic sat up front at the rally, then walked to the Capitol in a “stack” of 15+ VIPs, OathKeepers, and security guys. Most went to the East side; 6 entered the Capitol & have been arrested (red text). 11/
Bostic, Courtney Holland, & Megan Barth of Stop the Steal went West instead, arriving on Capitol grounds at 2:53 PM just in time for the Giant Flag drop. (Finds & analysis by @bennybryant17) 12/ youtube.com/watch?t=102s
So Bostic was at the Capitol late, & the Willard Hotel photos were taken after 3 PM, maybe even the “night” of 1/6, as Hyde writes, after police cleared the Capitol building. We don’t know yet what the Willard group were doing, but the timing is important. 13/
Multiple 1AP figures are seen on Capitol grounds, so stay tuned for more threads.
As always, research is a crowdsourced effort by many, often anonymous volunteers. @bennybryant17 led on figuring out Bostic’s “stack”. All results go to the FBI first. 14/
Correction, t/y @bennybryant17! Though #AdamWeibling has been arrested, #BrittneyWeibling stayed outside the Capitol doors and has not. So here she's correctly marked in black, not red. 17/
#SeditionHunters - #TallWillardGuy IDd! Nailed by @visionsurreal as Philip Luelsdorff, Director of Business Development for 1AP; he & RPL filed the Sep. 2020 incorporation docs. A small-timer: serial DC business owner, unsuccessful poker player, arrest for theft. So..why him? 18/
He’s a bit overshadowed by mom, who claims she's an exiled Russian aristocrat, Baroness von Luelsdorff; Dad likely a multilingual professor. Philip whined in 2017 to NPR “You are expecting to do as well as your father and you can’t.. It’s emasculating” 19/ pbs.org/newshour/polit…
Mom tells her story in video on Russian site; judge for yourself. Full Luelsdorff OSINT report at link. What does he offer to a wannabe “elite” organization? Besides maybe Russian language, and self-pity, and gambling debts...20/
Now let's find #GreyBlazerGuy! He's in animated conversation with RPL and #TallWillardGuy while walking in, and sticks with them at the Ellipse rally, so #SeditionHunters might look for him in rally footage... 21/
And some video! For people searching for #GreyBlazerGuy, here’s the clip of him walking in, from a Twitch stream (DylanBurnsTV, Protesting in DC.mp4). Next up, a reel of the Bostic “conga line”... 22/
As usual this research is done by many dedicated individuals, often anonymous. @visionsurreal has been tracking 1AP for months, & @StevieG54099097 has put together a video reel with map to help people understand #IamDanielBostic’s walk to the Capitol 22/
And in case you still had doubts about the politics of Philip Luelsdorff aka #TallWillardGuy, here are his tweets, h/t @PabloRedux! Twitter acct. private but many archived. November 2020, ~1 month after 1AP started, ~1 week after election day: "The election is not over." 23/
Dec. 13, 2020, #TallWilllardMan replies to Joseph Flynn (Michael Flynn's brother) thanking "RPL and Yoda and the entire crew of 1AP for taking great care of #TeamFlynn yesterday". 1AP provided security for the Dec. 12 `Defend America' rally in DC, where Michael Flynn spoke. 24/
Here's Michael Flynn at the Dec. 12th DC rally, with Joseph Flynn behind him and his faithful 1AP bodyguard #ShadowFlynn in front. (More on him to come!) 12/12 might seem like a dress rehearsal for 1/6; everyone was there - Proud Boys, militia, right-wing speakers, 1AP... 25/
Watch the 12/12 activities for yourself at link below! Then count how many figures here appeared on Capitol grounds on 1/6. #2 in this pic is currently-serving Army Reserve officer & insurrectionist #IamThomasSpeciale, spokesman for Vets for Trump. 26/
Or, if video is not enough, you can watch 1AP live soon - they're scheduled to appear in Palm Beach FL on July 4th. The July 4 event is run by the "Coalition to Defend America", same folks who put on the 1/5 rally in DC. (More on them coming!) FBI might be watching too... 27/
Still don't think 1AP is scary? Read RPL's Tweet from June 28 calling on "Patriots" to "take back and keep this Republic" by turning into "Old Testament, full wrath of God, destruction of their house and salt the earth beneath them Christians." Hope FBI is watching July 4th. 28/
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As Israel's Netanyahu hysterically calls US campuses "horrific..German[y] in the 1930s", remember who took him to power: the divisive US operative Arthur Finkelstein, who also gave us autocrat Viktor Orban, antisemitic conspiracy theories, and indirectly, Donald Trump. 1/
From 1970, Finkelstein changed politics in the US and around the world with virulently negative campaigns that pushed fear & division ("rejectionist voting"), microtargeted messaging, 3rd party spoilers, and a complete disregard for truth and values. 2/ nytimes.com/2017/08/19/us/…
Finkelstein, who was both Jewish and gay, won races for homophobic candidates with antisemitic messaging. It's beyond twisted. He got Bibi elected in 1996; Bibi referred him to Viktor Orban - and to help Orban win he created the George Soros conspiracy. 2/ buzzfeednews.com/article/hnsgra…
Tonight the Ukraine aid bill finally passed. That vote lets us ask: does being "anti-Ukraine" correlate with "pro-insurrection"? Answer: it sure does, especially in the Senate. The 18 Senators who voted no tonight (or didn't vote) all lie in the top 22 of Senate Jan 6 scores. 1/
None of the 8 Senators most culpable in supporting Trump's attempt to seize power Jan 6 voted for Ukraine aid. That's Cruz (TX), Tuberville (AL), Hawley (MO), Marshall (KS), Johnson (WI), Blackburn (TN), Lee (UT), and Paul (KY). 2/ docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…
Of the other 8 Senators who did something measurable in support of Trump's Jan 6 coup, half voted against aiding Ukraine. One of the yeses is Steve Daines, who earlier today voted against breaking the filibuster at all. (Another is Lankford who wrote the aid bill.) 3/
The newly-released transcript of Walt Nauta's 2022 FBI interview is interesting for what it says about the investigation: FBI talked to him just four days after he started moving boxes at Mar-a-Lago. A week later, Nauta helped load boxes into an SUV to be taken to Bedminster. 1/
Trump was subpoenaed for documents "bearing classified markings" on May 11, 2022. Evan Corcoran warned him Mar-a-Lago might be searched; box-moving started May 22 and went to June 2. By June 19 Trump seemed to prep a defense that he'd declassified them. 2/ docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…
On June 19 Trump designated new representatives to the National Archives, including Kash Patel. On June 22 Patel started a PR binge about declassification, the same day Trump got a subpoena for security cam footage that would have shown Nauta. Events were moving very fast. 3/
The week that was, the world we're in: terrorists attacked Moscow and Russia's friends blamed Ukraine. Elon Musk and friends tried to squash free speech. JFK Jr. picked Musk's ex-lover as VP. The religious right (note the Ted Cruz-Josh Hawley axis) tried to ban mifepristone. 1/
Note how the mifepristone case went through a 3-judge chain: first Matthew Kacsmaryk, sworn in by James Ho, whose wife got payments from ADF, which brought the suit. Then to Ho, sworn in by Clarence Thomas, whose wife got payments from Harland Crow, who hosted the ceremony. 2/
This case shows the creeping influence of "religious liberty" legal advocacy groups. Matthew Kacsmaryk and James Ho both worked for First Liberty; so did Mike Johnson, briefly, before he went to ADF, which hired Josh Hawley's wife, who argued the suit. 3/ firstliberty.org/news/taking-th…
Several former military officers filed a brief in Trump's immunity case today. One is Keith Kellogg; that name matters! Kellogg was with Trump all morning on Jan 6. Kellogg, part of Trump's inner circle since 2016, was also on the call that led to Trump's 1st impeachment. 1/
Here's Keith Kellogg in the Oval Office with Trump on Jan. 6 morning. He was there when Trump called Mike Pence, threatened him, called him a 'pussy'. Any filing by Kellogg is intended to help Trump. 2/
In 2016, when Trump named a council of 5 foreign policy advisors, pundits were baffled: why these guys? Keith Kellogg, Carter Page, George Papadopoulos, Joseph Schmitz, and Walid Phares, all obscure - but all are now tied to Russia and/or to Jan. 6. 3/
Why do politicians endorse Trump in lockstep? Because today's GOP controls its members via threats and kompromat. Consider Rep. Matt Rosendale: elected 2022, announced for Senate, withdrew after 6 days, now is leaving politics entirely: "death threats" and "defamatory rumors". 1/
The Hill mentions whispers about "impregnating a staff member", others suggest his interests swing another way. It doesn't matter which; this is how the GOP rolls. People with secrets are useful - and easily disposed of if they do not comply. 2/ thehill.com/homenews/house…
In a world of secrets, journalism is essential: exposing secrets removes their power. Rosendale is out but others are still in: Mike Johnson and Matt Gaetz with their "adopted sons". Elon Musk with his ever-shifting stories about his education. So many more. Who will report? 3/