Frank Eathorne, chair of the Wyoming GOP, is - like other politicians at the Jan 6 Capitol attack - a liar: “No violence or property damage was observed during my..brief stop there” But Eathorne was at the Capitol for 2.5 hours and saw violence up close - we’ll show you. 1/
Because Eathorne was on Capitol grounds so long - with a radio - we held off Tweeting to try to understand more. But now that NBC is reporting on him, it’s time to go over his footage. This thread has highlights; see the full report for video links. 2/ docs.google.com/document/d/1WT…
Eathorne seems to head to the Capitol directly from the Trump rally, arriving around 1:30 PM, right behind GA State Rep Vernon Jones. By that time police are fighting hard on the Plaza and lobbing tear gas and flashbangs into the crowd. Everyone comments on it. 3/
Eathorne stayed on the W. lawn for an hour while the Plaza battle raged. He wasn’t up at the police lines, but would have seen the tear gas, heard people yelling on bullhorns: “Move forward - they can’t arrest all of us!” This is 2:06 PM. 4/
Eathorne would have seen invaders seize the NW Scaffolds and methodically slash its tarp all the way up to the top (“no..property damage was observed”). This clip is 2:07 and 2:08 PM. 5/
At 2:28 PM, after invaders had breached the Capitol, a coordinated violent attack broke the police lines on the W. Plaza. Eathorne wasn’t this close but he would still have seen something from the lawn. 6/
Here’s what the fall of the W. Plaza looked like from about where Eathorne stood. The crowd cheers “We did it!” “F— yeah!” “Let’s go!” as the mob moves forward, and others carry police barricades away. 7/
At 2:37 PM (L), while the last police officers retreat, Eathorne is still on the lawn, but by 2:45 PM (R), he’s moved forward with the mob onto the W. Plaza. 8/
This is the peak of the coordinated attack, when invaders breached multiple doors to the Capitol, and several signals appear set off to mark the successes. At 2:46 PM, Eathorne is right next to the red smoke signal on the Plaza. 9/
Eathorne stays on the Plaza for at least another hour, gradually moving forward, while the mob attacks at the tunnel above. He would have seen the bleachers fill with invaders, heard the shouts. At 3:32 he’s looking cheerful. 10/
At 3:50 PM, a half hour after Officer Fanone was dragged, Eathorne is still there. 11/
Here’s Eathorne’s full statement issued after the riot. It is a lie. Video shows he “personally witnessed” violence. That he personally witnessed property damage. And 2.5 hours is not a “brief stop”. 12/ wyomingnewsnow.tv/2021/01/10/sta…
If Eathorne was just making a peaceful, normal, protest, it’s worth asking also: what’s with the costume? We literally found no photographs of him without his cowboy hat - except at the Capitol attack. 13/
At Saturday’s rally in Casper, Eathorne talked tough, said he’d “crawl over barbed wire for Trump”. But like other J6 politicians, ask him a question about Jan 6 and he sounds like a toddler instead: “no no, not me!” Might reconsider that barbed wire. 14/ cowboystatedaily.com/2022/05/28/gop…
Eathorne’s not alone: other politicians of the insurrection also sound like toddlers. They all stayed outside; they’re unlikely to be arrested - but they lie anyway, instead of owning up to their actions. They can’t handle the smallest accountability. 15/
Lots of competition for the most spineless politician of the insurrection. Eathorne is Candidate 1. Candidate 2 is Mark Finchem, former AZ State Rep, running for AZ Sec. of State. Came to watch on the E. Plaza, then claimed “I was never really there”. 16/
Candidate 3 is Doug Mastriano, former PA State Senator, running for PA Governor. Toured the insurrection, walking over barricades, police retreating before him. Then claimed “I respected all police lines” except that, well, “police lines did shift.” 17/
Here are Mastriano's exact words, in a statement he issued after news reports of his presence at the Capitol on Jan 6. 18/ senatormastriano.com/2021/05/25/mas…
Candidate 4 is JR Majewski, running for Congress in OH-9. Rushed in in the first wave with his QAnon pal Zak Paine (RedPill78), stayed on the W. Plaza through concussion bombs & tear gas. Then swore on Twitter he’d never been on illegal grounds & had been “cleared by the FBI” 19/
Another strong contender would be Dana Rohrabacher, formerly “Putin’s favorite Congressman” (CA). Bravado on Jan 5: “Now I’m headed to DC to join the patriots that are mobilizing there..” Watched for over an hour, then blamed “leftist provocateurs” 20/
Vote: which Jan 6 politician had the most spineless excuses? (Only 4 options so choose among the current pols.) Please retweet for maximum voter turnout. 21/
Journalists reporting on Pete Hegseth's brother Phil seem to be missing his work in 2017-2018 - he worked for Cliff May's Foundation for the Defense of Democracies as a "social and digital media specialist", and also wrote some articles for them. 1/ web.archive.org/web/2017100314…x.com/MilitaryTimes/…
This doesn't seem like earthshaking stuff, but it's trivial to find and oddly he omits it from his LinkedIn. Phil Hegseth shows up on the FDD staff page in Feb 2017 and is gone in June 2018. Here's one of his articles, a summary of a report. 2/ web.archive.org/web/2017110221…
The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies had a roster of very well known conservative voices so there's a lot of people you can call for stories about Phil Hegseth - including Michael G. Waltz, now Pete Hegseth's Signal buddy. 3/ web.archive.org/web/2017091201…
Today 19 Dem Senators helped enable both Trump's attack on science and the techbro power grab by confirming the most unqualified person ever to lead the Office of Science & Technology Policy: a non-scientist (BA in politics) who spent 8 years working for Peter Thiel. 1/
The Senate-confirmed head of OSTP has ALWAYS been a high-level scientist - this is the person who advises the president on science and technology. Why Kratsios? Because he's a Thiel protege. In 2017, Trump picked him up directly from his job at Thiel Capital - a VC guy. 2/
By now Kratisos is in AI. In Dec. Trump nominated a slew of AI-tinged science advisors. Of 4 names here, only one (the woman) has science PhD: Lynne Parker is an EE prof & NSF director. The other 3 are Thiel / Andreessen VC men, techbro nepo babies. The Pete Hegseths of tech. 3/
Mother Jones has written on this story from 2023, that our now-US-Attorney for DC brokered Michael Flynn's pardon as a quid pro quo. I can't QT Dan Friedman since he's since blocked me. But Martin's involvement in Flynn's pardon is an important story and it's worth revisiting. 1/
This paragraph in the article, which says Ali Alexander used Ed Martin to process funds for the Jan 6 rally, seems wrong, maybe got scrambled. Charlie Kirk's TPUSA handled the money, which Caroline Wren got from donor Julie Fancelli. There IS an Ed Martin connection tho... 2/
Ali Alexander's testimony shows the J6C were going after Ed Martin's involvement with busing people to DC. They ask if Martin fronted money for buses and got reimbursed by Kirk's TPUSA. Ali swears he doesn't know about logistics, just helped publicize. 3/ govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GP…
As Trump begins disobeying court orders, watch for support from Josh Hawley (Yale Law, here with new theories on how US courts work) and Ted Cruz (Princeton). Both are proteges of Peter Thiel (Stanford), as is JD Vance (Yale). Hawley & Cruz were key to Trump's plans on Jan 6.. 1/
In the weeks leading up to January 6, Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz were treated as a pair by other Senators, and were assumed to be LEADING the plot. Trump called them over and over in the hours before the attack, threatened them after. He'll use them now. 2/
On Jan 6, Hawley and Cruz were the two Senators who stood to sustain objections to the vote - vital for producing a delay. Then night before, Trump called Hawley 3 times and Cruz once. On Jan 6 he called Hawley again. He needed them then, and will now. 3/
Why is Chuck Schumer caving and supporting Trump's spending bill, despite public outrage? Note that Schumer's in deep with the crypto industry, the largest donor of the last election cycle and the same Silicon Valley set trying to take over the U.S. now 1/ cnn.com/2025/03/13/pol…
Schumer had already caved by staying servile to the industry that denied him a Senate majority by spending $40M to knock out Sherrod Brown. They took Schumer's power! For him to rationalize supporting Trump's spending bill is just a small step further. 2/ commondreams.org/news/sherrod-b…
In 2024 Schumer feuded with Sherrod Brown, chair of the Senate Banking Committee, over Brown's push to regulate crypto. Schumer then became Kamala Harris' crypto liaison, even as crypto poured millions into taking the Senate from him by defeating Brown. 3/ prospect.org/power/2024-04-…
This story is truly alarming - @kyledcheney has buried the lede. The FBI has told Citibank that recipients of EPA climate grants are being considered as potentially liable for fraud. That is, the Trump administration wants to criminalize work on climate science and impacts. 1/
It's staggering that this could happen in the US: an incoming administration not only cancels federal grants but declares recipients as criminals. All these grantees applied under government calls FOR ENVIRONMENTAL WORK, were reviewed and accepted. Trump wants to jail them. 2/
Obviously we need more details but the letter from the FBI lists 28 organizations, mostly nonprofits serving communities: e.g. the DC Green Bank helps DC residents finance solar energy and building efficiency projects. This is not fraud. This is targeted harassment. 3/