As Ukraine is trending with topics like WWIII and World War 3 - certainly we all hope that ongoing conflict will not escallate, let's do a Thread on Ukraine. There is probably a lot in this, you did not know, and that gives a new light to this conflict
Ukraine Thread 2/
Ukraine is a large European country on Black Sea, a bit bigger than France, with a population about size of Spain. Big agricultural nation, also major industry like Antonov maker of world's largest production airplane, or shipbuilders who make aircraft carriers
Ukraine Thread 3/
Ukraine was briefly independent after WW1, then Soviet Union (=Russia) took Ukraine. They gained their independence 30 years ago, in 1991. The fledgling democracy in its infancy had its share of problems, including dictator Yanukovych who tried to end democracy
Ukraine Thread 4/
Where do we remember that name from? Yanukovych, Yanukovych.. Viktor Yanukyvch? Wait.. wasn't he one of the many brutal dictator clients of MANAFORT - the most evil American ever to have lived. Yes. Convicted criminal Paulie Ostrich-coat who Trump then pardoned
Ukraine Thread 5/
Yanukovych was a Putin stooge who tried to sell the nation of Ukraine to Putin as a slave-state (similar to the crooked deals Putin has with Dictators of failed democracies, Belarus and Kazakhstan). A revolution in 2014 ended that, and Yanukovich fled to Moscow
Ukraine Thread 6/
Then Putin annexed Crimea
Annex means to steal territory
Imagine Canada sending in its army to take Alaska and declare it belongs to Canada. If you're an American, you would be livid. Imagine if this happened just 7 years ago
You'd still want Alaska back now
Ukraine Thread 7/
Czar Vladimir the Smug sent in his Spetsnaz units (elite troops like US Army Rangers, SEALs, British SAS) into Crimea dressed as civilians, and some wearing random military-style outfits without identifying unit insignia. And took Crimea in a daytime heist
Ukraine Thread 8/
Like your standard bank robbery heist Hollywood movie, but done to a territory the size of Massachussetts. Civilians walk in, suddenly they have guns, say, everybody freeze! This is a heist
But instead of the money in the bank, they take THE WHOLE COUNTRY
Ukraine Thread 9/
The world was horrified. That was an INVASION. And Putin kept saying, no no no! They are not my soldiers! They are just freedom-loving Crimeans who want independence. I have nothing to do with them
(later Putin admitted and laughed, yes they were his soldiers)
Ukraine Thread 10/
This was seven years ago. Vladimir Putin stole land, the size of Massachussetts, from Ukraine. He then flew up the Russian flag there, and claims it now belongs to Russia. This is not right. The Ukrainians, and most of the world are against it, & want him out
Ukraine Thread 12/
Putin was not done with Ukraine. He wants more. If you did not know, a shooting war has been simmering for seven years in the Donbass region of Ukraine (Eastern Ukraine, the Russian border). These are the Russian-backed rebels who shot down KLM flight MH 17
Ukraine Thread 13/
What did the West do? Ukraine is not part of NATO. There is no obligation by NATO or USA to go fight a war there, to take back Crimea. But Obama slapped the biggest sanctions in world history, against Russia. Bigger than Reagan when Soviets invaded Afghanistan
Ukraine Thread 14/
Those sanctions had real bite, because they ALSO targeted Russian oligarchs (criminal mafia-style feudal lords, mostly Billionaires, who each control some economic part of Russia, and obey Putin)
These sanctions were SEVERE pain to Putin's gang
Ukraine Thread 15/
Sanctions were working, but there were faults in the sanctions regime. At least one bastard sleazebag scumbag American serial con-artist was laundering Putin's money. He was engaged in 'sanctions-busting'.
You might have heard of this traitor: Donald Trump
Ukraine Thread 16/
Yes. BEFORE Trump ran for President, he was laundering Putin's money, against US sanctions. He was aiding an ENEMY of the United States. It is a TREASONOUS crime
Sanctions busting is federal crime with Life without parole. Weisselberg was Trump's point man
Ukraine Thread 17/
In 2015, when all of American foreign policy opinion, from left and right, Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, military and civil, all agreed SANCTIONS ARE NECESSARY - one MAD voice was asking to REMOVE sanctions against Putin
It was Trump
Ukraine Thread 18/
In 2016 when Trump campaign was bankrupt, Trump brought in a new Campaign Chairman, Paul Manafort. He 'worked for free'. Nobody works for free. Paulie the Creep was paid by Putin. Manafort brought Putin millions to Trump & the GOP, laundered through the NRA
Ukraine Thread 19/
The Republican Party platform in 2016 included a plank demanding Vladimir Putin gets out of Crimea. What happened? Manafort happened. That demand was REMOVED. And the love affair between Putin and the GOP started to develop. Thank you Manafort
Ukraine Thread 20/
When Trump tried to reduce the sanctions on Russia in 2017, a Republican-held Congress voted to CODIFY the Obama-era sanctions eliminating the ability for Trump to unilaterally cut the sanctions he had been threatening to do. That is how out of synch Trump was
Ukraine Thread 21/
We saw the horror of the Helsinki Hostage Summit, where Trump declared he trusts mass-murdering dictator, former KGB colonel Vladimir Putin more than the info he gets from the very US government he himself ran, and their Republican heads he himself appointed.
Ukraine Thread 22/
In 2019 Trump sent his A Team to Ukraine to manufacture dirt on Trump's 2020 rival Joe Biden. This dream tream of Lev Parnas (convicted criminal) & Igor Fruman (convicted criminal), was led by notorious serial butt-dialer Rudy Giuliani (office raided by FBI)
Ukraine Thread 23/
As Trump is a fake Billionaire (he is in reality a Debtonaire) he had no funds to pay for Rudy's Ukrainian Adventure, so Putin paid for it, via his Ukrainian oligarch Firtash (in house arrest in Austria). Putin wanted Rudy to remove US Ambassador to Ukraine
Ukraine Thread 24/
As we learned in Impeachment 1 hearings, Giuliani did just that. Got US Ambassador Marie Yovanovich fired. Rudy confessed to it on CNN. This is a treasonous act, so severe, Giuliani may face death penalty for this rogue foreign policy he ran on behalf of Putin
Ukraine Thread 25/
Trump was afraid his Putin connection would be exposed by Mueller's investigation. So he tried to terminate the Mueller investigation, then hired corrupt Attorney Bill Barr to stiffle Mueller. Mueller DID get criminal investigations started, for example in NY
Ukraine Thread 26/
Trump was afraid his money laundering for Putin would be exposed, via the Deutsche Bank records, so he sued all the way to Supreme Court to block that information being handed to investigators. He lost the case unanimously. Now the prosecutors know
Ukraine Thread 27/
The banker handling Trump's money-laundered loans at Deutsche Bank was SCOTUS Justice Kennedy's son. Trump forced Kennedy to resign
Then Trump sold that seat to Kavanaugh, for a bribe probably worth $10 million (some rich Republican now owns a SCOTUS judge)
Ukraine Thread 28/
Meanwhile Stable Genius Boy decided to extort Ukraine in a 'perfect phone call'. That finally got some inside his White House to blow the whisles, which led to Impeachment 1. Even though Senate did not convict, many Republicans agreed it was a criminal act
Ukraine Thread 29/
The FBI wanted to raid Rudy Giuliani for his rogue foreign policy and crimes against the USA. A corrupt Bill Barr intervened and blocked that raid, and told Trump. So the raid of Giuliani only happened now last year, under Garland in April 2021.
Ukraine Thread 30/
The Donald Trump corruption related to Ukraine runs very deep for years. Why is it? Why Trump thinks Putin should get to keep Crimea?
Almost like Trump and Ivanka had tried to put up a Trump Tower into the Yalta, a city in Crimea. With this creep, Felix Sater
Ukraine Thread 31/
In 2014 there was NO DIVISION whatsoever in American foreign policy, left or right, that Vladimir Putin is a criminal thug, for stealing territory from his neighbor.
Today Tucker Carlson is on Fox, siding with the Russian propaganda & Putin
Astonishing
PS to all in this Thread
THANK YOU. In the first 12 hours, you have spread this Thread so widely, it has been read by 215,000 people. That is near twice as much as my TOTAL reach. Those of YOUR Tweeps who read it, got it only because you shared it
THANK YOU so much
To all in this Ukraine Thread:
THANK YOU. You have spread this Thread so widely, it has become one of my most read Threads. Over 450,000 people on Twitter have already read it. We are helping inform people
THANK YOU
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On Monday Judge Chutkan in DC (Jack Smith 2) case will hold a hearing about putting a gag order on Herr Hezbollah, the nation's Terrorist-In-Chief. Trump was under protective order. He breached it many times. So this is now his 'final warning'
Let's do a Thread
GAG ORDER THREAD/2
Don't look at me like that! This is JUSTICE. It is EXACTLY the same legal standard that would apply to you and me. Nothing more, nothing less. Trump is a FIRST TIME OFFENDER; has NEVER been convicted of any crime (yet). He was put on a 'protective order' FIRST
GAG ORDER THREAD/3
Then Trump repeatedly broke that protective order. We WITNESSED IT LIVE on TV and on social media, REPEATEDLY
But the Judge CANNOT do anything about it. Until she is FORMALLY told by the prosecution. She CANNOT do anything yet. It would be same for you and me
We certainly feel it was taking too long. In reality this is about par for the course, in some ways FASTER than normal, for such a large criminal conspiracy. Timing is similar to Watergate
FIRST of PLANNERS of Jan 6 go to trial, in Georgia in two weeks !!!
So January 6th, 2021 was two years and 9 months ago. Over 1,000 of the violent mob have been caught, over half prosecuted, and prison sentences for those running up to more than a decade in prison. That is justice
The ORGANIZERS of the Jan 6th plot are Trump, the Seditious Six..
The ORGANIZERS of Jan 6 are
Trump
Seditious Six (Giuliani, Flynn etc)
Evil Eleven of Congress (Gosar, Gym, Gaetz etc)
and a handful others (Roger Stone, Bannon etc)
They are ALL CAUGHT
Jack Smith STARTED to prosecute the organizers. Look who he has as WITNESSES to this crime
Trump calls Hezbollah "very smart" for their terrorist attack? Same Senile Man called Putin smart for invading Ukraine. And called murdering dictators MBS and Kim Jong Un smart
Meanwhile Trump has called HIS OWN CABINET and HIS OWN GENERALS idiots & stupid
General Mattis: Trump's not mature, a 5th grader
General McMaster: he's a dope, kindergartner idiot
Colonel Esper: irresponsible
General Milley: crazy
General Hytin: an idiot
General Kelly: Trump's crazy, an unhinged idiot
Next...
Then let's ask Trump White House staff, people Trump selected:
VP Pence: Trump is reckless
CoS 1 Priebus: he's an idiot
CoS 2 (Kelly, in above)
CoS 3 Mulvaney: terrible human being, a clown show
CoS 4 Meadows: Trump is worthless
SoS Tillerson: he's a fucking moron
Trump was massively embarrassed in New York, and that trial still continues. But this incident (Trump sitting in NY court for 3 days and then bailed) exposes insight into how incredibly stupid, and self-destructive Trump is
Let's do a Thread
New York New York Thread /2
So what happened? Trump sat in the civil trial - he is NOT required to be there (he must attend all criminal trials which start in March 2024). He feuded with the judge, got hit with a gag order, then stormed out of New York. Let's see how dumb it was
New York New York Thread /3
Donald the Duck McTrump's whole brand is based on the carefully constructed fake illusion, that he is somehow a 'billionaire'. WE know he is not. That Trump is a fake, a con-artist, living on other people's money. But his SUPPORTERS believe that lie
What happens next? The House cannot conduct any other business until it has selected a new House Speaker. The GOP is in civil war. It may be chaos for a while. Most likely they find a suitable Republican Speaker
DEMs do not have votes for DEM Speaker
BUT DEMs could make a deal
If a slice of Republicans (as few as 6) ally with DEMs, then that alliance could select (a Republican) speaker
Realistically the most logical such choice is an EX House Republican, like Liz Cheney
Because of GOP civil war, DEMs have leverage now
This is the deal I suggest:
DEMs make deal for ANY Republican who they can trust (like Liz Cheney, Kinzinger) where promise is 2 House Votes every week. One vote on legislation provided by GOP, the other vote legislation provided by DEMs. Both will get a floor vote each week
With Friday's bombshell news in court filing by Jack Smith of 3 more prosecution witnesses - now just about as big as they come - let's do a Thread about the flippers in Trump's life, the rats who all testify under oath, in criminal courts, against Trump
Flipper Thread/2
Trump committed an act of insurgency against America. That word is rarely used. The legal EFFECT is the same as 'treason'. Trump committed a crime which is essentially as bad as treason
So who does Jack Smith have as a witness? Trump's OWN Attorney General Barr
Flipper Thread/3
Bill Barr was not just the nation's top lawyer, as Attorney General, when this plot was first hatched - Barr learned of the idea - and TOLD TRUMP IT IS ILLEGAL. That is what Barr will testify under oath. That Trump KNEW this plot is illegal