Thread by @ClimateAudit

@BarryMeier @tafrank @praddenkeefe @BarryMeier complains that @HansMahncke, @FOOL_NELSON, @walkafyre and me are not "not bound by the kind of rules of engagement that journalists are bound by". Instead of being stenographers for leaks from intel agencies, like "journalists" from NYT and WP, we remorselessly

@BarryMeier @tafrank @praddenkeefe @HansMahncke @FOOL_NELSON @walkafyre 2/ examine original documents. We do not shrug when documents are redacted, but, using deep knowledge of the subject matter and ingenuity, interpolate and interpret the documents so that their story is revealed and not concealed.

@BarryMeier @tafrank @praddenkeefe @HansMahncke @FOOL_NELSON @walkafyre 3/ instead of advocating for secrecy and suppression of documents and concealing identity of fabricators like Danchenko and Steele, we believe in transparency and cleansing power of sunshine. Definitely not NYT "journalism", which whinged about identification of Danchenko

@BarryMeier @tafrank @praddenkeefe @HansMahncke @FOOL_NELSON @walkafyre 4/ even though it was identification of Danchenko that laid bare the structure of Steele-Danchenko fraud that was endorsed and protected for so long by FBI, intel agencies and US media.

@BarryMeier @tafrank @praddenkeefe @HansMahncke @FOOL_NELSON @walkafyre 5/ Meier's term "internet sleuths", intentionally or unintentionally, conflates the vast universe of commentators on social media, most of which is noisy and uninformed, with the work of "our corner of twitter", where a few exceptionally talented researchers have done unique work

@BarryMeier @tafrank @praddenkeefe @HansMahncke @FOOL_NELSON @walkafyre 6/ the four of us are all very well educated and experienced researchers. Our academic qualifications and accomplishments, individually and collectively, would probably exceed those of the "journalists" who Meier holds in such reverence.

@BarryMeier @tafrank @praddenkeefe @HansMahncke @FOOL_NELSON @walkafyre 7/ Meier accused us of having an untrustworthy "political agenda", but, to borrow a phrase from journalists, "without evidence". Our primary motivation has been puzzle solving. I've never discussed, for example, medicare with the others, but would guess that Hans and I have

@BarryMeier @tafrank @praddenkeefe @HansMahncke @FOOL_NELSON @walkafyre 8/ have opposite views than FN and Walkafyre, but that's just a guess - we haven't discussed such politics. I loathe Pompeo; I'd be surprised if FN shares my loathing. Maybe he does, but I've never asked.

@BarryMeier @tafrank @praddenkeefe @HansMahncke @FOOL_NELSON @walkafyre 9/ one unifying trait is that we all share a skepticism of unsupported assertions by US intel agencies. As @BarryMeier so acutely observed, that makes us different from today's "journalists".

@BarryMeier @tafrank @praddenkeefe @HansMahncke @FOOL_NELSON @walkafyre 10/ another way of characterizing our work is a statement by UK Royal Society about one of us: "some ask tough and illuminating questions, exposing important errors and elisions". That's what we've done with Russiagate. Unlike NYT and WaPo "journalists". Nor what Meier described.