UPDATE:
1/ Here is the Memorandum on FBI background checks of nominees from 2010. The FBI has cited this as limiting their ability to vet Kavanaugh. This is not 100% accurate. The Memo is silent on how extensive the vetting should be. The president then may request more. ImageImageImageImage
2/ Here are the other 2 pages of the FBI MOU. These are screenshots I took from the publicly available court filing on PACER. ImageImage
3/ The FBI cannot really duck behind this Memo. They could have conducted a more comprehensive background check of Kavanaugh without seeking additional approval from the White House, at least pursuant to this Memo.
4/ The real question is what Trump or other White House officials said to Wray and the FBI during the Kavanaugh background check.

The Memorandum of Understanding is a bit of a red herring.

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More from @TristanSnell

17 Sep
The FBI claims it could not investigate Kavanaugh because of a Memo of Understanding (MOU) with the White House on SCOTUS nominees.

The Guardian reviewed the MOU - and it does *not* limit the FBI *unless* the White House orders them to limit their investigation.
The Guardian piece is below. Trying to get my hands on this MOU to read it myself. If you have it and are willing to share, please DM me.

theguardian.com/us-news/2021/s…
So it would appear that someone at the White House ordered the FBI to limit its investigation into Brett Kavanaugh.

This still raises questions on whether the FBI did everything it could to follow up on the 4500 tips it received.

But it may be that Trump ordered them not to.
Read 4 tweets
17 Aug
Game on.
First witness: Mike Pompeo.
Second witness: Donald Trump.

Expected questions:
-- Why did you free Taliban leader Baradar in 2018?
-- Why did you free 5000 Taliban fighters in Nov 2020?
-- Why didn't you anything when Putin put bounties on our troops in Afghanistan?
If Pompeo and Trump refuse to appear, then they'll be showing America they're cowards and chickens who can't and won't explain what they did and why. 🐓🐓
More questions:
-- Why did the Trump Administration negotiate an unnecessary cease-fire with the Taliban during the 2020 election, giving the Taliban a respite and chance to regroup?
-- Why do the Russians have a security arrangement with the Taliban to protect their embassy?
Read 5 tweets
14 Aug
What’s REALLY happening?

— The former president led a coup to overthrow the Constitution and stay in power; he’s being investigated, slowly; most people aren’t paying attention
— People are dying in droves from a disease for which we already have a vaccine
— EARTH IS ON FIRE
We are spending way too much time listening and adding to the noise — myself included.

Covid, Coup, Climate — those 3 things are historical crises facing us at the same time.

We fight to solve these 3 problems or human civilization will spiral and decline, or die off entirely
Also - COVID, Coup, Climate - all 3 are related, because the fascist forces undermining democracy have sown a disbelief in science, education, and expertise, blinding many to the existential threats of Climate and Covid

This is because the fascists are ultimately seeking chaos
Read 7 tweets
11 Aug
Gaetzgate latest - what we know, and my take

What we know - indictment is coming in the next few weeks, either in August or just after

Also clear that the US Attorney’s Office is taking very strong positions with Gaetz and his counsel and is ready to indict Gaetz and others
My take on Gaetzgate based on what I’ve been able to find out

What’s really going on is that the feds are applying a lot of pressure on Gaetz to flip and cooperate — if the feds are taking a strong position, it’s to get cooperation

But what would Gaetz be able to cooperate on?
Gaetz could cooperate on the existing case they have open in federal court in Orlando — adding to the testimony from Gaetz’s buddy Joel Greenberg

But what else could Gaetz do? What other things could he cooperate on? That’s the more interesting question.
Read 7 tweets
11 Aug
UPDATE: It turns out this was accurate. More details tomorrow on Gaetz...
Got some good intel and working on getting more — then as soon as I have the info I’ll share!
One thing that is already clear

The Politico piece was incorrect or is now out of date — the Gaetz case is definitely not stuck
Read 5 tweets
8 Aug
To be clear, Rosen is almost certainly a longtime Republican. He served in the GW Bush administration, then was Elaine Chao’s deputy at Transportation before Trump made him Deputy AG. He is not a Democrat, a lib, or anything of the sort. He simply refused to support sedition.
When Trump named Rosen as Deputy AG despite zero prosecution experience, it was likely done in communication with Chao (his then boss) and Mitch McConnell (her husband). Likely they all thought he would be loyal to the administration and GOP. There were limits to that, thankfully
This underscores that McConnell likely knew what Trump was doing to overturn the election results all during the weeks leading up to January 6. Trump may have pushed on McConnell directly — and Rosen may have been in touch with Chao as well.
Read 4 tweets

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