Thread by @TPC4USA

1 - Good evening! When I asked in my first tweet on Wednesday’s tweetstorm, who was left out of the @January6thCmte final report, hundreds immediately responded, “#RayEpps” Good guess, as he too was left out of that report. But, he was interviewed…

2 - That @January6thCmte’s transcript of #RayEpps’ interview is finally released. The most damning moment being when he was asked: “So it looks like, around 9 a.m., your nephew texts you: “You and Jim be safe.”…

3 - And then, at 2:12 p.m., on January 6, you text back: “I was in the front with a few others. I also orchestrated it.” #RayEpps then proceeds to explain the special relationship he has with his nephew…

4 - #RayEpps: “I just meant that I got - you have to understand our relationship, uncle-nephew. We hunt together. We fun with each other. We do that kind of stuff.”…

5 - We all know #RayEpps also denied being a “Fed,” or having any relationship or contact with the @FBI in relationship to the “conspiracy theories” birthed from the several videos we’ve all seen of Epps calling people to “Go INTO the Capitol” on #Jan6…

6 - I’d like to point out that in the first #OathKeepers trial, the @TheJusticeDept never presented ANY evidence that a single OK or their leader, Stewart Rhodes, ever “orchestrated’ or called for anyone to enter the Capitol Building. Quite the contrary…

7 - In testimony after testimony of the government’s OWN witnesses - both FBI agents and Oath Keepers who’d already taken plea deals - they ALL admitted, on the stand, that no such direction was ever given or received from OK leadership…

8 - But #RayEpps DID give exactly such direction. “Incitement.” Federal criminal incitement refers to “conduct, words, or other means that urge or naturally lead others to riot, violence, or insurrection”…

9 - There’s even more evidence of the @TheJusticeDept’s double standard and selective prosecutorial behavior toward high-profile #Jan6 defendants. Not one of the #OathKeepers ever breached a barricade or police line. #RayEpps did both, twice…

10 - We’ve all seen the video of #RayEpps participation in that violent first barricade breach on the Capitol’s west side, where @CapitolPolice officer Caroline Edwards was shoved over and knocked unconscious when her head hit a concrete step…

11 - #RayEpps could CLEARLY see the “AREA CLOSED” sign on the barricade being guarded by @CapitolPolice officers. As soon as the barricade was pushed down, he stepped over it and RAN toward the Capitol Building…

12 -Now, thanks to Gary McBride - @M5NewsTx - we see #RayEpps’ participation in the 2nd breach of a manned police line, captured on Capitol CCTV camera. Then… and you’re gonna love this… we see absolute proof that Epps wasn’t working alone that day…

13 - At 2:12 pm, #RayEpps is clearly seen escorted through and out of the throng by 8 others - 4 in front of him, 4 in back of him - in that so-called “military stack” formation - which the @TheJusticeDept painted as damnable evidence in the #OathKeepers trial…

14 - Quick review, before I move on: #RayEpps did KNOWINGLY breach two police lines. The #OathKeepers never did. Epps actively incited the crowd to enter the Capitol. The OKs never did. Epps admits he “orchestrated” the events…

15 - The @TheJusticeDept’s own witnesses against the OKs denied that ever happened. And, #RayEpps hasn’t been charged, arrested, or spent one day in jail. Several OKs have spent almost 2 years imprisoned. (And they call us “conspiracy theorists?”)…

16 - Moving on… Early in the #OathKeepers trial, I had the opportunity to meet @nytimes reporter @alanfeuer, who wrote the de facto apologetics piece in defense of Epps’ words and deeds on #Jan6…

nytimes.com/2022/07/13/us/…

17 - One day during the #OathKeepers trial, I was having lunch with defense attorneys Brad Geyer (@FormerFeds) and Joseph McBride (@McBrideLawNYC), when @alanfeuer took an empty seat at our table…

18 - After initial introductions, @alanfeuer told us, “You guys have to forget this Ray Epps thing. Didn’t happen!” The two attorneys bristled and Feuer went on, “Look, I’m the guy who flew out to the mountains and met with Epps and his wife.”…

19 - “I’m telling you, he isn’t a Fed, and he’s totally believable.” (Feuer then asked me if I was recording the conversation. I wasn’t.) In his article defending #RayEpps, @alanfeuer wrote: “Mr. Epps, 61, was not just a bystander on Jan. 6.”…

20 - “He traveled to Washington to back Mr. Trump, was taped urging people to go to the Capitol and was there himself on the day of the assault.”…

21 - “But through a series of events that twisted his role, he became the face of this conspiracy theory about the F.B.I. as it spread from the fringes to the mainstream.”…

22 - In short, @alanfeuer’s article paints #RayEpps as the “victim” of another vast right-wing conspiracy. The rest of the MSM went along and their vast left-wing audience bought in, becoming the loudest #RayEpps defenders here on Twitter. (Mind boggling.)…

23 - I had several other opportunities to interact with @alanfeuer. I like him. He’s incredibly smart and a gifted reporter. He was also one of the few MSM journos who were nice to me…the unknown, independent interloper in the media room at the #OathKeepers trial…

24 - So, @alanfeuer either truly believes in #RayEpps’ sincerity, or Feuer is a loyal gatekeeper for the regime. I believe in Feuer’s sincerity… or does he have me fooled? (What say you, Alan?) Either way, the new @M5NewsTx video evidence is damning…

25 - And the @TheJusticeDept’s selective prosecution is indisputable. The “right-wing” did not create the conspiracy theory. The DOJ and @FBI did, by not holding #RayEpps to the same legal standard as those who did far less on #Jan6…

26 - Left-wingers not only take #RayEpps at his word, but are now his most ardent defenders against the alleged “conspiracy theory.” Why? They didn’t take the word of Oath Keepers who said, “That’s just the way we talk.”…

27 - The government didn’t buy the “Aw-shucks” excuse from the #OathKeepers in their trial - even though they did not incite the crowd or breach any barricades. Why did @January6thCmte, @FBI, @TheJusticeDept, and @alanfeuer buy it from #RayEpps?…

28 - Many other #Jan6 defendants have been arrested, convicted, and imprisoned, who did and said far less than #RayEpps. And they wonder why we don’t buy either Epps’ excuses or the government’s hypocritical inactions against him?…

29 - #RayEpps clearly knew he was breaching barricades and police lines. The thousands who followed, did not, as those barricades had been removed and the police had already retreated. Just before the Capitol doors were breached, police were ordered to pull back.

30 - This hasn’t stopped @TheJusticeDept from saying they want to go after ALL those who entered the “previously” barricaded Capitol areas? Well, except for Epps. He said he isn’t a Fed and just got caught up in the revelry, and they take his word…for some reason…

31 - @ryanjreilly from @NBCNews acquiesced in a conversation with me, that he could understand how people not from DC might not know the Capitol isn’t open to the public everyday, and entered the building unwittingly after the doors were opened…

32 - …that those who didn’t see the long-removed barricades or witness Capitol door breaches might reasonably make that false assumption, in the moment. But #RayEpps clearly saw the signs, barricades, and police lines…He was right on top of them…

33 - That #RayEpps was a former member of the AZ #OathKeepers? From the OKs’ trial and another story by @alanfeuer, we learned the OKs had at least one other @FBI ‘Confidential Human Source’ embedded in that organization….

nytimes.com/2022/11/08/us/…

34 - It was good reporting. I broke the information first thing that morning - here on Twitter - in my daily tweetstorm from the #OathKeepers trial, and @alanfeuer published that article later in the afternoon.

35 - AUSA Jeffery Nestler said the #OathKeepers were the “Leaders” of the assault on the Capitol. @January6thCmte called them “the tip of the spear.” They weren’t. But #RayEpps was. He was on the front lines of the insurgency on #Jan6, long before the OKs arrived.

36 - It’s time for #RayEpps to answer to a judge, jury, and real cross-examination. Not just @SpeakerPelosi’s @January6thCmte 'Верховный Суд,' where she expected them to, “Establish and preserve the narrative of January 6.” (Her exact words.)