#SeditionHunters - more sync'd Jan 6 video, 29 crucial minutes when police retook the Capitol building. Watch DC police, with FBI SWAT backup, flood into the Rotunda & push invaders out. Featuring Proud Boys, Oathkeepers, many hashtagged perps... 1/
All is calm at first, with Proud Boys (L) and Oathkeepers (R) casually standing around. #Rufio's group is still looking pretty composed around 3:02 PM... 2/
But police have been gathering: by 3 PM, FBI SWAT are waiting at one door while a group of MPD are pushing rioters through another. (That's Stephen Horn up there filming.) Watch at 1:23-1:24 in video as police practically throw #StringyPlaid & #UncagedBird into the Rotunda. 3/
The Proud Boys consult together at 3:03 PM & seem to plan a prudent exit without confronting police, while Oregon extremist David Medina (#FadedOrc) can't resist an aggressive confrontation. 4/
By 3:05 PM Riley June Williams (#GreenShirtStairmaster) is adding to her federal charges by fighting with officers (L). As the police push the crowd back you get great shots of many perps. Newly-arrested Glen Simon (#PurplePantherPunk) is in the purple gaiter at R. 5/
Active-duty Marine Major Chris Warnagiris (#YellowZipSkulker) doesn't seem to have a strategic plan, mostly stands around looking confused. L image is around 3:02, R around 3:05 PM. 6/
Meanwhile Ethan Nordean (#Rufio) and his crew discreetly exit around 3:09 PM, avoiding the mayhem to come. Here's an outside shot of Nordean and Paul Rae (#1776HatPB) headed north around 3:18 PM. (By 3:37 PM they've joined back up with #JoeBiggs and take a group photo.) 7/
Just as Nordean strolls away, the mob makes a new push through the E. main doors (the Columbus Doors) and breaks through again at 3:18 PM. That's Olympian Klete Keller at R in his USA Swimming jacket, watching the mob swarm in. 8/
Robert Gieswein (#WildDog) had returned to the Rotunda at 3:16 PM (L), maybe unwisely - he's just in time to get crushed when police regroup and retake the space (3:21 PM, R). 9/
The police pushback is caught on new surveillance footage: here's Vets for Trump's #IamAntonioLamotta INSIDE, seeming to negotiate with Capitol police. (If only the CP had bodycam!) LaMotta's out on bail for weapons charges from Nov., might not be out much longer though... 10/
...because by 3:27:40 PM #IamAntonioLamotta is seen actively fighting with police as he tries to squeeze out the Columbus Doors. Believe most judges would find that assault on a federal officer is not consistent with bail terms. 11/
Journalists reporting on Pete Hegseth's brother Phil seem to be missing his work in 2017-2018 - he worked for Cliff May's Foundation for the Defense of Democracies as a "social and digital media specialist", and also wrote some articles for them. 1/ web.archive.org/web/2017100314…x.com/MilitaryTimes/…
This doesn't seem like earthshaking stuff, but it's trivial to find and oddly he omits it from his LinkedIn. Phil Hegseth shows up on the FDD staff page in Feb 2017 and is gone in June 2018. Here's one of his articles, a summary of a report. 2/ web.archive.org/web/2017110221…
The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies had a roster of very well known conservative voices so there's a lot of people you can call for stories about Phil Hegseth - including Michael G. Waltz, now Pete Hegseth's Signal buddy. 3/ web.archive.org/web/2017091201…
Today 19 Dem Senators helped enable both Trump's attack on science and the techbro power grab by confirming the most unqualified person ever to lead the Office of Science & Technology Policy: a non-scientist (BA in politics) who spent 8 years working for Peter Thiel. 1/
The Senate-confirmed head of OSTP has ALWAYS been a high-level scientist - this is the person who advises the president on science and technology. Why Kratsios? Because he's a Thiel protege. In 2017, Trump picked him up directly from his job at Thiel Capital - a VC guy. 2/
By now Kratisos is in AI. In Dec. Trump nominated a slew of AI-tinged science advisors. Of 4 names here, only one (the woman) has science PhD: Lynne Parker is an EE prof & NSF director. The other 3 are Thiel / Andreessen VC men, techbro nepo babies. The Pete Hegseths of tech. 3/
Mother Jones has written on this story from 2023, that our now-US-Attorney for DC brokered Michael Flynn's pardon as a quid pro quo. I can't QT Dan Friedman since he's since blocked me. But Martin's involvement in Flynn's pardon is an important story and it's worth revisiting. 1/
This paragraph in the article, which says Ali Alexander used Ed Martin to process funds for the Jan 6 rally, seems wrong, maybe got scrambled. Charlie Kirk's TPUSA handled the money, which Caroline Wren got from donor Julie Fancelli. There IS an Ed Martin connection tho... 2/
Ali Alexander's testimony shows the J6C were going after Ed Martin's involvement with busing people to DC. They ask if Martin fronted money for buses and got reimbursed by Kirk's TPUSA. Ali swears he doesn't know about logistics, just helped publicize. 3/ govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GP…
As Trump begins disobeying court orders, watch for support from Josh Hawley (Yale Law, here with new theories on how US courts work) and Ted Cruz (Princeton). Both are proteges of Peter Thiel (Stanford), as is JD Vance (Yale). Hawley & Cruz were key to Trump's plans on Jan 6.. 1/
In the weeks leading up to January 6, Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz were treated as a pair by other Senators, and were assumed to be LEADING the plot. Trump called them over and over in the hours before the attack, threatened them after. He'll use them now. 2/
On Jan 6, Hawley and Cruz were the two Senators who stood to sustain objections to the vote - vital for producing a delay. Then night before, Trump called Hawley 3 times and Cruz once. On Jan 6 he called Hawley again. He needed them then, and will now. 3/
Why is Chuck Schumer caving and supporting Trump's spending bill, despite public outrage? Note that Schumer's in deep with the crypto industry, the largest donor of the last election cycle and the same Silicon Valley set trying to take over the U.S. now 1/ cnn.com/2025/03/13/pol…
Schumer had already caved by staying servile to the industry that denied him a Senate majority by spending $40M to knock out Sherrod Brown. They took Schumer's power! For him to rationalize supporting Trump's spending bill is just a small step further. 2/ commondreams.org/news/sherrod-b…
In 2024 Schumer feuded with Sherrod Brown, chair of the Senate Banking Committee, over Brown's push to regulate crypto. Schumer then became Kamala Harris' crypto liaison, even as crypto poured millions into taking the Senate from him by defeating Brown. 3/ prospect.org/power/2024-04-…
This story is truly alarming - @kyledcheney has buried the lede. The FBI has told Citibank that recipients of EPA climate grants are being considered as potentially liable for fraud. That is, the Trump administration wants to criminalize work on climate science and impacts. 1/
It's staggering that this could happen in the US: an incoming administration not only cancels federal grants but declares recipients as criminals. All these grantees applied under government calls FOR ENVIRONMENTAL WORK, were reviewed and accepted. Trump wants to jail them. 2/
Obviously we need more details but the letter from the FBI lists 28 organizations, mostly nonprofits serving communities: e.g. the DC Green Bank helps DC residents finance solar energy and building efficiency projects. This is not fraud. This is targeted harassment. 3/