Who is the other official #whistleblowers identified, along with Thibault, as being "deeply involved" in launching DOJ's "false-electors scheme" criminal probe?
Richard Pilger, Director of the Election Crimes Branch, who has a history with Lois Lerner & IRS targeting.
Pilger contacted Lerner in 2013 asking to coordinate with the IRS on an idea from @SenWhitehouse for DOJ to "piece together false statement" cases against certain nonprofits.
3. You remember Lois Lerner.
She's the IRS official held in contempt of Congress.
And yet, @TheJusticeDept refused to even present the contempt citation to a Grand Jury, as required by statute.
6. ...and the press. A @nytimes article that "the IRS assisted in preparing" becomes the catalyst for @FBI to start Hoovering-up confidential tax filings (pun intended).
7. Then Pilger sets-up a meeting with Lerner to coordinate and discuss how to get access to nonprofit donor lists and tax info to do some "6103 fishing."
26 U.S.C. § 6103 is supposed to protect the confidentiality of your tax returns from political abuse.
8. Lerner and Pilger worked together "to arrange for the transmittal of 1.1 million pages of non-profit tax return information to the FBI."
9. Although @TheJusticeDept initially claimed the information was public, it later conceded that the data dump from the IRS to the FBI "did, in fact, contain confidential taxpayer information protected by federal law."
10. So there's the history on how Richard Pilger, DOJ's Director of the Election Crimes Branch, helped the FBI collect a "massive database" of confidential tax information from the IRS about Americans engaged in "lawful political speech," according to the Congressional report.
11. Pilger quit (temporarily) in a huff over his disagreement with Attorney General Barr about whether law enforcement agents should be able to interview witnesses and pursue leads about ballot fraud in the 2020 election without Pilger's permission.
12. NPR thought it was a big deal, and published his resignation email. But, he resumed his previous position in February 2021 under the Biden administration.
14. Under Pilger's leadership, the Election Crimes Branch asserted the authority to veto investigative steps to uncover ballot fraud, although it lacked any authority to do so.
In reality, "the AG gets to make that call."
15. Pilger resigned when Barr insisted that, actually, the AG is in charge. Then the press pretends (when it suits them) that the career bureaucrat is the one with the authority.
This is how the permanent bureaucracy dictates policy w/o accountability to your elected leadership.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
NEW FOIA: Two weeks ago, we sought documents on the @FBI's #whistleblower retaliation against Marcus Allen by denying him the ability to work while suspended w/o pay—for the last two years
Now, we are seeking documents on @FBI's claim that his family is not allowed to accept charitable contributions from the public to meet basic living expenses.
🧵2. A successful @GiveSendGo campaign raised thousands of small-dollar donations to help the families of Marcus and other @FBI #whistleblowers like @GOBactual.
But, a politically motivated #WarOnWhistleblowers pressured @TheJusticeDept and @FBI to block the charity.
🧵3. Marcus sought independent legal advice and we have been pressing the @FBI to explain how and why prohibitions on gifts should apply to Marcus's family under these circumstances.
The @FBI has been slow to respond b/c delay benefits them while Marcus and his family deplete their savings. So, now we're seeking all their internal communications about the issue.
🧵2. The @FBI has forced Marcus Allen's family to deplete their retirement savings by suspending him without pay for the last two years while it delays any resolution with every trick in the book.
Yanking his clearance violates PPD-19.
Yanking his paycheck violates 5 USC 2303.
🧵3. After the @FBI yanked his paycheck with no due process, Marcus asked to take another job while waiting for the FBI's security review.
@FBI ignored his request until it was too late and has also asserted the authority to stop his family from accepting charity.
3. Ziegler provided supporting documents for his previous testimony that Hunter Biden falsely characterized his income from corrupt Ukrainian energy company Burisma as a loan to evade income tax.
Ziegler explains it was willful b/c he was told. Still didn't amend return or pay.