#SeditionHunters - the FBI motors forward, mopping up networks: today more of Zach Rehl's Philadelphia Proud Boys. The main 5 who move together are now all arrested. The 3 today all shared a Telegram chat with Rehl, easily picked up via his phone after his March arrest. 1/
All of Rehl's crew helpfully provided names, blood types, and emergency contact info in the group text, along with coordinated travel and discussion of radios. Combined with their group selfies, they practically write their own conspiracy indictments. 2/ storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
Zach Rehl, Philly PB president, was first found inside the Capitol by @DianthaSol after a crowdsourced manhunt. His whole crew gathered in Sen. Merkley's office, familiar enough that they could be spotted even in black-and-white photos from the New Yorker... 3/
Now thanks to their selfies we can see the office scene in full color, complete with white power sign. Hashtags, L-R, are #LanyardPB (Healion), #KamikazePB (Vy, yes it's a terrible tag), #ZachRehlPB, and #NinjaRaphPB (Giddings). Breaking the PA network was a major goal. 4/
For militia groups who worked in coordination on Jan 6, bulk pickups are likely the norm. On the Proud Boys list, 42 of the 232 clear PBs (18%) are now arrested, with most of groups from FL, MO, PA, & PacNW. Would guess there'll be block arrests to come for NY, NJ, NC, & VA. 5/
To remember how long a road it's been and how far we've come, here's the moment when Zach Rehl was first found, on Feb. 25th. Don't be fooled by the slow pace of FBI, though - steamrollers are slow too. 6/
The Philly crew is less tracked than Biggs' Florida PB group. Zach Rehl is at the police line on the Plaza til the fight goes bad ca. 1:15 PM, then is seen just in glimpses - in Merkely's office, outside again masked up at 2:47 PM (h/t @nine_niall). 8/
The timing of that video is suspicious: Rehl's crowd is fully masked up outside and pointing toward the NW Courtyard. Two minutes later, at 2:49 PM, the courtyard door is violently re-breached, pushing police back. That episode could use more eyes on it - is Rehl involved? 9/
Tony Perkins frets about "political disaster" from Trump's involvement with Epstein. Back in 2016, when Ted Cruz floundered at the polls, Perkins pushed religious-right leaders to switch to Trump, calling it a "calculated risk". How does that calculation look now, Tony? 1/
Tony Perkins was the mentor of a young Mike Johnson, an unmarried law student who had oddly taken in a young boy. Perkins knew what Johnson was, but pushed him into politics anyway. @tperkins: all this will be in the history books, as your legacy. 2/
@tperkins Before Mike Johnson ran for office, he was Dean of a new law school named for notorious pedophile Judge Paul Pressler, who preyed on young boys. Tony Perkins sat on its board. And also on the board was a relatively unknown Ted Cruz - who'd known Pressler since he was a teen. 3/
Each Epstein email has so many layers of slime people miss some. This is Ken Starr, fired for covering up sexual assault, offering to help former client Jeffrey Epstein's friend's sexual harassment case by introducing him to Jed Rubenfeld, put on leave for sexual misconduct. 1/
Epstein's elite world was VERY elite: Yale Law prof Jed Rubenfeld's wife Amy Chua, also a Yale Law prof, was the mentor of Yale Law student JD Vance. Ken Starr was the mentor of Yale Law grad Brett Kavanaugh, also accused of sexual assault but now seated on the Supreme Court. 2/
Ken Starr, despite his long trail of sexual grossness, cosplayed as a warrior for an also-gross sexual prudishness. He and Brett Kavanaugh went after Bill Clinton (a visitor to Epstein's island) for oral sex with an intern. Kavanaugh came up with the graphic sexual questions. 3/
One fascinating thing in the Epstein email drop is an exchange around Trump's election in 2016. It suggests a tense, ongoing relationship, and Epstein's power.
Part 1, Sept 23: Linda Stone jokes that Epstein will get a cabinet position if Trump wins. Like Trump owes him. 1/
Backing up: the exchange is with Linda Stone, a tech exec who'd known Epstein since the 1990s: she brokered his entrance into academia, linked him with scientists. In 2016 they were close enough to be chatty, far enough to go months between emails. 2/ politico.com/news/magazine/…
Part 2, Sept. 26: three days after Stone asked Epstein if Trump could win, he answers: "too soon to tell, we will know more come oct 15". He doesn't explain: what would he learn then? Meanwhile Stone isn't even sure if Epstein supports Trump: "Which team you pulling for?" 3/
This week in Trump-Epstein: first @JSweetLI IDs the 14-year-old girl Epstein brought to Mar-a-Lago to meet Trump in 1994. Then the House Dems release an email where Epstein says Trump hung out at his house with underaged girls: "[VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him" 1/
in short: Trump spent so much time with Epstein and underaged girls that even Epstein couldn't figure out how it wasn't news!
"Jane", who testified she'd been abused by Epstein, was entered in Trump's pageants in the 1990s, long before Kirk and Halligan in 2009. Still, it's odd how so many women in Trump's circle had walked the stage in front of him as barely-clad teenagers. 3/
Realize: when Ed Martin drafted the pardon for the fake electors he was pardoning himself: he made it pre-emptive and general, covering "all United States citizens for conduct relating to ... efforts to expose voting fraud and vulnerabilities in the 2020 presidential election" 1/
Ed Martin was one of the first people who Ali Alexander drafted into Stop the Steal, on Nov. 4, the day after the election. He was a major player, and was deferential to Ali ("Orders, General Ali?"). Ali in turn said he leaned on Ed for advice and for contacts to lawmakers. 2/
The Jan 6 Capitol attack was astroturfed. It could not have happened without efforts from the top - filing bs election-fraud suits, whipping up crowds and getting media attention with Stop the Steal rallies, then pressuring lawmakers to comply. Ed Martin was deep in it. 3/
The techbro plot they talk of openly, to seize power by dominating the global weapons industry is luckily so far stymied by their products not working.
Peter Thiel's Stark drones flopped in trial. Big dreams are a start, but you have to execute too. 1/
Even if the techbros fail at their hoped-for military surveillance state, their bad products can still weaken the U.S. Trump and Hegseth are shoveling weapons contracts to Silicon Valley startups. Here's $642M for the Peter Thiel-backed Anduril. 2/ govconwire.com/articles/andur…
Sam Altman's OpenAI got $200 M this year to inject AI into military decision-making. This is a partnership with Anduril too, to make AI tools “for security missions”. 3/ theguardian.com/technology/202…