NEW Senate Judiciary majority staff report on efforts by Trump and his allies finds former President arguably committed criminal violations of the Hatch Act in scheme to subvert the election: judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/…
The first interim finding concerns at least 9 calls with DOJ leaders in which the former President raised false claims or pressured DOJ officials:
White House COS Mark Meadows violated restrictions meant to ensure an independent Department if Justice on multiple occasions:
Details of the "Georgia Proof of Concept" effort by Jeffrey Bossert Clark to use DOJ to call into question election results in that state and potentially others:
Finding 4 ties efforts to influence DOJ to individuals with involvement in the the Stop the Steal movement and the January 6 insurrection:
Findings 5 and 6 find the President directly interfering in the DOJ and the DOJ itself deviating from longstanding practices to investigate false claims of voter fraud. This certainly punctures the narrative of Bill Barr as some kind of hero who stood up to the President.
"All of these efforts, in turn, created the disinformation ecosystem necessary for Trump to incite almost 1,000 Americans to breach the Capitol in a violent attempt to subvert democracy by stopping the certification of a free and fair election."
Blumenthal describes "relentless campaign to recruit and exploit" children and teens. "It choose the growth of its products over the well being" of children, and it is "indefensibly delinquent".
"How can we, parents or anyone, trust Facebook?"
Blumenthal calls out letter he and Marsha Blackburn sent in August. Calls response evasive. Says the company knows the harm it is causing. "They know children struggle with addiction on Instagram, and they didn't want to admit it."
Covert Postal Service unit probed Jan. 6 social media- United States Postal Inspection Service’s Internet Covert Operations Program — better known as iCOP jumped into action after the insurrection, reports @woodruffbets: politi.co/3zJLa5H via @politico
"Few Americans are aware that the same organization that delivers their mail also runs a robust surveillance operation rooted in an agency that dates back to the 18th century." politico.com/news/2021/09/2…
Thread of reactions re: Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on privacy + competition- @SenMikeLee raises WSJ revelations from @JeffHorwitz et al abt Facebook in opening privacy hearing with @SenAmyKlobuchar. First up is Steve Satterfield, Facebook VP of Privacy & Public Policy.
@SenMikeLee@JeffHorwitz@SenAmyKlobuchar FB VP Satterfield says his testimony may be limited by lawsuits the company currently faces regarding competition issues.
Markham Erickson, Vice President Government Affairs & Public Policy, Google, says "data by itself does not guarantee innovative products," and points out "new entrants" like Zoom, Snapchat, Pinterest etc. that succeed in competing based on product excellence.