FYI: the @January6thCmte's new website with a version of the physical attack is....not complete. Really makes you wonder why so much is left out. The NYT had better analyses months ago. This omits major breaches, all coordination, and all Alex Jones...The story is, why? 1/
The world is watching our response to an attack on our nation's Capitol. Sure, this kind of analysis requires exhaustive patience, long experience with spatio-temporal data, & a dedication to finding the truth, but we have people who can do that. What is the excuse here? 2/
The unsung heroes of January 6 are the DC government & police. They understood what was happening. Here's MPD Cmdr Glover, who directed the fight on the W. Plaza: "it was well coordinated with ... military or combat or tactical experience." "like..a War College exercise". 3/
The J6C's analysis would get an "F" at any of our service academies. It is, frankly, embarrassing. Whether staffers' inputs were disregarded, or the right people weren't hired, is something our reporters need to ask. And our academics need to step up now and do their part. 4/
Those graphics are not the J6C, by the way; that's the outcome of 2 years of effort by #SeditionHunters. You can find them at bit.ly/Jan6Analysis. They were provided to the committee, fully. But now it looks like we will have to take on making the interactive website too. 5/
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
The $1M-plus that Donald Trump Jr is getting from Rumble isn't as much as the $4B Jared Kushner got from the Saudis, but surely it's time to talk about quid pro quos and the Peter Thiel/Devin Nunes social media play. What is Rumble getting for their $? 1/ axios.com/2023/01/03/don…
Rumble has long supported the alt-right - its founder says his goal was to make "infrastructure that is immune to cancel culture". In 2021, it got fresh cash from billionaire Peter Thiel (via his protegee & now-Ohio Senator JD Vance, who he'd set up at Narya Capital). 2/
One of Rumble's first moves after Thiel's takeover was to pay prominent pro-Russia voices for content: Glenn Greenwald & Tulsi Gabbard. Both claimed to be "left", now shill Putin's propaganda. Their deal was only $100s of K, less than Trump Jr's, but still an odd investment. 3/
Some new insights & concerns from the J6C depositions. First, the report on foreign interference may be thin. The J6C asked Parler's John Matze only about content moderation (L), not how he became CEO of a social media firm on returning from Russia with his new bride (R). 🧵 1/
Matze's story should raise eyebrows: a 23-year-old software engineer meets the gorgeous Alina Mukhutdinova in Las Vegas, goes with her to Russia, returns after a year to launch a social media platform with $ from mysterious billionaire Rebekah Mercer. 2/ the-sun.com/news/2118059/j…
There are new insights on $. Donor Julie Fancelli used Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA to funnel at least $1.5M to pay for Stop the Steal buses and the Ellipse rally itself - invoices went to TPUSA. Charlie pled the 5th, but the deposition show how much committee knew. 3/
@RepRiggleman@AaronBlake So far: with Caroline Wren's help, Julie Fancelli
* issued $1.5M to Charlie Kirk's TPUSA, which paid for buses & paid Event Services for Ellipse rally work
* sent a wire transfer for $200K for Alex Jones and Roger Stone fees
* possibly paid for Roger Stone's jet (via Wren)
1/
@RepRiggleman@AaronBlake That's from reading 5 depositions: Roger Stone, Alex Jones, Charlie Kirk, Enrique Tarrio, John Eastman.
Fascinating that TPUSA processed the Ellipse fees, and that Caroline Wren is in the middle of it all brokering between competing factors.
The Committee missed much though. 2/
@RepRiggleman@AaronBlake Omissions that I see:
Under-emphasis on
* centrality of Proud Boys
* the deep ties of Stone & Jone to Tarrio & Biggs before they became Proud Boys leaders
Missed
* PBs chatting about coordinating with Alex
* Alex & Ali marching up the Capitol steps 3/
As everyone waits for the J6C report, a caution: it will likely not be complete on the physical attack or those who promoted & ran it.
As a guide, we've now numbered the breaches: 22 total. 18 had Proud Boys involved. Note how tightly they're grouped, & marked by signals. 1/
Per @kyledcheney, there will now be four appendices: 1. National Guard, 2. Capitol Police, 3. money trail / Stop the Steal, and 4. foreign influence. It's worth comparing them to the resources and timelines at bit.ly/Jan6Analysis. 2/ politico.com/news/2022/12/2…
The 'Agency Response Timeline' collates reports by the DoD and other agencies - conflicting, incomplete, and revealing serious problems. The frantic calls of Congressional leaders to DoD were shown in hearings but absent from the DoD's own timelines. 3/ docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…
A mob of masked "protestors", seemingly unarmed, swarms a small group of officers defending an official building. The flustered officers back away, then form a defensive line... Quiz: Crimea 2014, US Capitol 2021, or Kosovo 2022? The tactic is taught in academies worldwide. 1/
Here's a US version, Jan 6 2021, West side, 12:53 PM - the first breach. Police lines were broken 19 times on that day, some more violent than others, but all so, so familiar. Sync video by @StevieG54099097. 2/
1:57 PM - the first breach on the East. The Capitol Police's CDU officers had deployed to the West side, and the officers guarding the E. Plaza were completely outmanned by the surging crowd. Some of the first through the barricades are Proud Boys who coordinated the rush. 3/
@tedlieu maybe your 2 Tweets here are related: 1) FBI's mission includes "combating foreign influence actors" & 2) Matt Taibbi is a "partisan hack". Whose "part" is he taking? Taibbi spent his boozy 20s in Putin's Russia; now he dutifully trots out Putin's talking points...1/
Taibbi spent much of February 2022 delivering his lines - Russia would never invade Ukraine, but if it did it's the US's fault! - but not with confidence. He was so insecure about accusations of foreign co-option that he'd respond defensively to tiny Twitter accounts. 2/
Obviously asking questions about a 'journalist' requires tremendous sensitivity, but at some point we have to accept the obvious: there's a major problem here. 3/