NEW: Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes - who was just found guilty of seditious conspiracy - told the Jan. 6 committee that roughly **20 percent** of his right-wing militia worked in law enforcement. @TexasTribune texastribune.org/2022/12/21/jan…
@TexasTribune Rhodes said that, at its peak, the Oath Keepers had about 40,000 dues-paying members.
Rhodes' interview with the January 6 committee sheds new light on the makeup of the Oath Keepers. Previous leaks have shown that there were quite a lot of law enforcement involved.
Earlier this month, another leaked Oath Keepers list showed that more than 300 members described themselves as current or former DHS employees. #January6th
Anyways, I focused on the Rhodes piece but this story has much more than that from him — and includes recaps of interviews with Alex Jones and others. w/ @matthewchoi2018@williammelhado
STARTING IN 3 MINUTES: Dan Crenshaw’s 2-day Youth Summit in downtown Houston, which will include appearances by Jordan Peterson, Gov. Abbott, Dennis Prager, rich Lowry of the Natl. Review and Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon.
Last week, AP reported Texas AG Ken Paxton’s office — which oversees voter fraud — screened Dinesh D’Souza’s debunked conspiracy film “2000 Mules.”
Here, I take a look at how the film was mainstreamed by the Texas GOP — and why it concerns voting groups. texastribune.org/2022/10/07/tex…
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and three other Houston-area legislators sponsored a watch party at a local church in June. Another pastor/state rep showed it at his church too.
The Texas GOP screened it 3 times at their convention — whereat leaders called for stronger penalties for fraud + officially adopted election conspiracies in their platform.
#BREAKING The Department of Justice is investigating the Southern Baptist Convention over its handling of sex abuses, months after a third-party report that was prompted by 2019 reporting by the @HoustonChron
@HoustonChron@John_Tedesco The DOJ investigation follows a bombshell report from May, in which a third-party found that top SBC officials had for two decades intimidated abuse survivors and fought reforms that they privately said would help - but could cost $$ in lawsuits #SBCtoo houstonchronicle.com/news/investiga…
That report was prompted by Abuse of Faith, a 2019 investigation by @HoustonChron & @ExpressNews that detailed hundreds of criminal convictions by Southern Baptist pastors + decades of inaction by top leaders
1/ Got thoughts on pirates? Like petty drama and/or care about abuse in the nation’s 2nd-largest Christian denom?
GOOD NEWS: I have an absurdly long and meticulously sourced #thread for you thats crucial to understanding that historic report on Southern Baptist abuse
On Monday, the Conservative Baptist Network Tweeted this statement about the historic report re: 20 years of SBC leaders’ attempts to silence abuse survivors/dismiss prevention reforms, among a litany of other accusations detailed in a ~400 pg. report.
CBN is a splinter SBC organization that was formed in 2020 re: what they say is a “liberal drift” in the SBC, one of the most theologically conservative denoms w/ members who still largely/staunchly support the GOP/Trump. baptistpress.com/resource-libra…
The historic report details how a small, insular and influential group of leaders “singularly focused on avoiding liability for the SBC to the exclusion of other" abuse preventions #SBCtoo#churchtoo
BIG NEWS: A former president of the Southern Baptist Convention is accused of sexually assaulting a woman, weeks after his tenure as the faith group's leader ended. he allegations are included in a historic review of SBC leaders abuse responses #SBCtoo houstonchronicle.com/news/investiga…
@R_Denhollander 1/ Pressler's accuser Duane Rollins says he used drugs/alcohol to suppress memories. In 2016, a prison psych agreed and said he had PTSD from child trauma. Rollins sued. Three other men filed affidavits alleging similar misconduct. But Rollins' suit was dismissed on SOL grounds.
@R_Denhollander 2/ Rollins sued with a new firm, Houston's powerful Baker Botts. His attys said the psych report + Rollins' "unsound mind" meant it was impossible for Rollins to file his lawsuit inside Texas' window for abuse lawsuits. They said his window shouldve started when he had his outcry