All worrying about today's WaPo claim that "prosecutors recommended against charging" Matt Gaetz - it's actually good news; it's by @DevlinBarrett who wrote that FBI found "no grand [Jan 6] conspiracy" the week before the 1st seditious conspiracy charge 1/ washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
The WaPo source on Gaetz is an anonymous "people familiar with the matter" - not prosecutors. Not only would it be illegal for DOJ to leak, absolutely no one at DOJ is going to talk to Barrett since his previous story about the Mar-a-Lago docs was used against DOJ in court. 2/
@DevlinBarrett's Mar-a-Lago "leak" was used by both Trump and Judge Cannon to justify shutting down the FBI's investigation of Trump - because there were leaks. Barrett almost derailed the whole DOJ investigation - no one there would talk to him now. 3/
The two recent WaPo stories use identical language to describe their anonymous sources: "according to people familiar with the matter". Those people are not DOJ. They're on the other side, people who want this story in the press now, for some reason. It's planted propaganda. 4/
What do the familiar anonymous sources like to tell @DevlinBarrett about DOJ prosecutions? They like to tell him what DOJ is unlikely to do. This week that "a conviction [of Gaetz] is unlikely". In January, that "charges for Trump ...seem unlikely". 5/ washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
The Jan 5 WaPo story on the Capitol attack claimed FBI found no ' grand conspiracy', and painted attackers as "mostly everyday Americans including community leaders and small-business owners". The source: Jonathan Turley, who testified for Trump during his 1st impeachment. 6/
One week after that Jan 5 WaPo story, the DOJ finally made an announcement - that they'd indicted militia leader Stewart Rhodes and ten of his Oath Keepers for seditious conspiracy. The WaPo story seems meant to undercut this news. 7/ justice.gov/opa/pr/leader-…
The WaPo language pooh-poohing a 'grand conspiracy' is oddly similar to that in a Reuters article 6 months prior, that cited anonymous sources saying FBI found no 'grand scheme'. It mentioned Alex Jones by name - and 3 days later FBI arrested Alex Jones' partner Owen Shroyer. 8/
The upshot: many stories seem planted. It feels awful to think that, but the pattern is undeniable. And big arrests are often preceded by planted stories that try to undercut that news. So if Gaetz is nervous enough now to plant one, be joyful- something big is likely coming. 9/
What IS distressing, though, is that blue-checked accounts are amplifying this latest planted story, the same way they amplified others. (Here's the Sep 6 fallout.) Please, do your homework before posting! Don't let yourself be manipulated so easily. 10/
Good journalists - you've got to police your own, or your reputation gets sullied. Other fields have anonymous peer review, where bs & self-deception & mistakes can be quietly purged. Without that it has to be public, which is awkward & uncomfortable - but has to be done. 11/
Planted stories like the WaPo one are not harmless, even if indictments come, they have a goal: to muddle the public mind, create doubt, & provide ammunition for conspiracy stories. Here's #IamRyanFournier of Students for Trump (at the Capitol Jan 6) playing to his audience. 12/
Also - multiple media folks are making a major reading mistake. @DevlinBarrett NEVER said the sources for his Gaetz story are prosecutors or associated with the DOJ in any way. The sources are just 'people', who told a story about 'prosecutors'. That's all - read it again. 13/
Predictably, Devlin Barrett's back with another deceptively-sourced, election-altering WaPo story. "People" told Barrett in Sep. that DOJ was not prosecuting Matt Gaetz - now that DOJ IS prosecuting Hunter Biden. When all else fails, bring up Hunter. 14/ washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
As before, the writing's deceptive enough to fool you. The story starts with a claim about federal agents, and only at the end of the sentence do you learn that the source is just "people". Reminder: so far zero of Barrett's "people say" DOJ predictions have come true. 15/
What's especially awful here is that Barrett seems to have willfully misled Hunter Biden's lawyer, who then gives an angry quote about leaks from federal agents. But sneaky Barrett NEVER claims in writing that agents leaked, just cites "people". How is this tolerated at WaPo? 16/
Media Twitter need to up its reading skills. Last week everyone stoned Maggie Haberman for something she didn't do. (Re-read it!) But it's Barrett who is doing Trump's spadework. When we react emotionally, don't read carefully, we can be misled - that's how disinfo works. 17/
Marcy Wheeler reminds us that Barrett pulled a similar anonymously-sourced, meant-to-affect-the-election surprise in 2016. That story proved to be false. Who wants to take bets on Barrett's 2022 stories? DMs are open. 18/
As Israel's Netanyahu hysterically calls US campuses "horrific..German[y] in the 1930s", remember who took him to power: the divisive US operative Arthur Finkelstein, who also gave us autocrat Viktor Orban, antisemitic conspiracy theories, and indirectly, Donald Trump. 1/
From 1970, Finkelstein changed politics in the US and around the world with virulently negative campaigns that pushed fear & division ("rejectionist voting"), microtargeted messaging, 3rd party spoilers, and a complete disregard for truth and values. 2/ nytimes.com/2017/08/19/us/…
Finkelstein, who was both Jewish and gay, won races for homophobic candidates with antisemitic messaging. It's beyond twisted. He got Bibi elected in 1996; Bibi referred him to Viktor Orban - and to help Orban win he created the George Soros conspiracy. 2/ buzzfeednews.com/article/hnsgra…
Tonight the Ukraine aid bill finally passed. That vote lets us ask: does being "anti-Ukraine" correlate with "pro-insurrection"? Answer: it sure does, especially in the Senate. The 18 Senators who voted no tonight (or didn't vote) all lie in the top 22 of Senate Jan 6 scores. 1/
None of the 8 Senators most culpable in supporting Trump's attempt to seize power Jan 6 voted for Ukraine aid. That's Cruz (TX), Tuberville (AL), Hawley (MO), Marshall (KS), Johnson (WI), Blackburn (TN), Lee (UT), and Paul (KY). 2/ docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…
Of the other 8 Senators who did something measurable in support of Trump's Jan 6 coup, half voted against aiding Ukraine. One of the yeses is Steve Daines, who earlier today voted against breaking the filibuster at all. (Another is Lankford who wrote the aid bill.) 3/
The newly-released transcript of Walt Nauta's 2022 FBI interview is interesting for what it says about the investigation: FBI talked to him just four days after he started moving boxes at Mar-a-Lago. A week later, Nauta helped load boxes into an SUV to be taken to Bedminster. 1/
Trump was subpoenaed for documents "bearing classified markings" on May 11, 2022. Evan Corcoran warned him Mar-a-Lago might be searched; box-moving started May 22 and went to June 2. By June 19 Trump seemed to prep a defense that he'd declassified them. 2/ docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…
On June 19 Trump designated new representatives to the National Archives, including Kash Patel. On June 22 Patel started a PR binge about declassification, the same day Trump got a subpoena for security cam footage that would have shown Nauta. Events were moving very fast. 3/
The week that was, the world we're in: terrorists attacked Moscow and Russia's friends blamed Ukraine. Elon Musk and friends tried to squash free speech. JFK Jr. picked Musk's ex-lover as VP. The religious right (note the Ted Cruz-Josh Hawley axis) tried to ban mifepristone. 1/
Note how the mifepristone case went through a 3-judge chain: first Matthew Kacsmaryk, sworn in by James Ho, whose wife got payments from ADF, which brought the suit. Then to Ho, sworn in by Clarence Thomas, whose wife got payments from Harland Crow, who hosted the ceremony. 2/
This case shows the creeping influence of "religious liberty" legal advocacy groups. Matthew Kacsmaryk and James Ho both worked for First Liberty; so did Mike Johnson, briefly, before he went to ADF, which hired Josh Hawley's wife, who argued the suit. 3/ firstliberty.org/news/taking-th…
Several former military officers filed a brief in Trump's immunity case today. One is Keith Kellogg; that name matters! Kellogg was with Trump all morning on Jan 6. Kellogg, part of Trump's inner circle since 2016, was also on the call that led to Trump's 1st impeachment. 1/
Here's Keith Kellogg in the Oval Office with Trump on Jan. 6 morning. He was there when Trump called Mike Pence, threatened him, called him a 'pussy'. Any filing by Kellogg is intended to help Trump. 2/
In 2016, when Trump named a council of 5 foreign policy advisors, pundits were baffled: why these guys? Keith Kellogg, Carter Page, George Papadopoulos, Joseph Schmitz, and Walid Phares, all obscure - but all are now tied to Russia and/or to Jan. 6. 3/
Why do politicians endorse Trump in lockstep? Because today's GOP controls its members via threats and kompromat. Consider Rep. Matt Rosendale: elected 2022, announced for Senate, withdrew after 6 days, now is leaving politics entirely: "death threats" and "defamatory rumors". 1/
The Hill mentions whispers about "impregnating a staff member", others suggest his interests swing another way. It doesn't matter which; this is how the GOP rolls. People with secrets are useful - and easily disposed of if they do not comply. 2/ thehill.com/homenews/house…
In a world of secrets, journalism is essential: exposing secrets removes their power. Rosendale is out but others are still in: Mike Johnson and Matt Gaetz with their "adopted sons". Elon Musk with his ever-shifting stories about his education. So many more. Who will report? 3/