President Biden nominated Ret Gen Austin for SECDEF on 12/9/2021, just in time for all hell to break loose. Gen. Austin is doing some things. A THREAD.
On Feb 3, 2021 Gen Austin ordered a one day stand down "to hold an in-depth conversation on the values underpinning national service, the oath of office, ...unit cohesion, [and] to gain a better understanding of the scope of the problem of extremist activity within the ranks."
On April 9, 2021, he issued a memo directing immediate action on extremism, and establishing the Countering Extremist Activity Working Group (CEAWG) based on what had been learned from and since the stand-downs. defense.gov/News/Releases/…
CEAWG was directed oversee the implementation of changes to DOD Instruction 1325.06 “Handling Protest, Extremist, and Criminal Gang Activities Among Members of the Armed Forces” That new instruction came out yesterday. esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Doc…
The policy is intended to balance a service member's right of free expression against the need for unit cohesion, good order and discipline and national security. It specifies that commanders cannot be indifferent to such conduct.
The policy now specifies that electronic communications which violate the UCMJ or this instruction are punishable.
The policy prohibits participation in protest in uniform or where violence is a likely result.
Extremist Activities are banned and broadly defined to include advocating or engaging unlawful force, unlawful violence or other illegal means to deprive individuals of their legal rights. (Thanks, @POTUS)
No sedition, yo.
Active participation IS VERY BROADLY DEFINED
Active participation includes social media
Writing this down is not good enough - they need to be enforced. BUT IT'S A DAMN GOOD START. Thank you SECDEF and thank you @POTUS
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It's critical to recognize that the J6C can investigate whatever and whomever related to the Big Lie, without regard to known/suspected criminality. The DOJ is far more restricted in what it can investigate.
The J6C, however, can refer suspected criminal acts to the DOJ and provide evidentiary backup. The DOJ does not have to worry about the evidence being tainted by lack of reasonable suspicion/warrant/probable cause because J6C isn't subject to those restrictions when it subpoenas
And I specify the Big Lie, not just January 6, because we know that J6C is looking at events in GA that occured well before J6. And I'm sure they are beyond GA as well.
One of the things I learned in law school is that you can't trust ANYONE to read original documents (cases, statutes, regulations) etc., and give a reasonable account of what they say. You have to read stuff. And so ... let's read the House's referral of Mark Meadows for contempt
The Number One Question I'd like some insight into is what (if anything) the Jan6 Committee is willing to reveal about the connections between political operatives and violent mobsters
The report is here if you want to check it out for yourself. docs.house.gov/meetings/IJ/IJ…
So far NOTHING that has leaked out of the committee (or those with knowledge) directly addresses the connection between violent extremists and rioters and Trumpists and Trump aligned political animals. That story is coming soon to a TV near you.
This will be a thread to put into context why this commitment to future public hearings IS SO VERY IMPORTANT @MuellerSheWrote First a bit of background, though.
I went to the University of Maryland law school in part because it had one of the best clinical (ie hands-on actual representation) programs in the nation. I knew I wanted some experience to go with the book learnin' because I suk at being lectured to and I was an educator myself
(A moment to say thanks to two of my professors Mark Feldman and Stan Herr, who died way, way, way too young and of whom I am reminded when I now think back to my experience in law school. They did so much for me and I miss them).
First off, the Defendants are two Iranian Nationals. Which is somewhat disappointing, since we all want to get to the goldurn Enemies Domestic we all know are out there, but there's at least a hint her about them.
There's a few more hints about Enemies Domestic here, too. First, the Iranians fed their disinfo to the Usual Suspects:
DOJ Translator Thread: Should we freak out or not about what the Attorney General says about investigations? Or not!?
First off, the DOJ/FBI doesn't investigate people. If you ask it "are you investigating Trump" the answer is basically always "no." But if you ask it "are you investigating possible crimes" the answer will always be "yes" - because that's what they do.
In private (ie when talking to people and attorneys), the DOJ uses three words: Witness, Subject and Target. Investigators will be looking at the conduct of all three (and probably others, too), but they are not investigating those people - they are investigating possible crime
With great respect to thoughtful people that are calling for the appointment of a special counsel, here are some reasons NOT appointing one is a good idea. A thread.
Before I get to that, however, much of the discussion comes down to this: do you trust Merrick Garland and main justice to seriously address the seditionists?
If the answer is "no" I don't trust MG and the DOJ - and you are right - then a special counsel is a better idea than leaving the investigation in MG's hands. If the answer is "yes", I trust MG, then a SC counsel creates unecessary risk.