Thread by @atrupar

I am going to put together a thread on today's House Republican "weaponization of government" hearing. Follow along starting here.

I'm putting together this thread using @SnapStream, which has been my tool to live-tweet congressional hearings for nearly 6 years now. If your company or org wants to post real time video like me, click the link below for more info and to set up a demo. go.snapstream.com/moments/aaron?…

@SnapStream Rep. Plaskett: "This hearing is evidence, as if we needed any more, that MAGA Republicans are a threat to the rule of law in America ... my colleagues on the far right are on a mission to attack, discredit, and ultimately dismantle the FBI. This is defund the police on steroids."

@SnapStream Plaskett: "But when the FBI investigates conservative Christian white men who are actually threatening violence, suddenly my Republican colleagues are rushing to defund the police."

@SnapStream sorta giving the game away here, Mr Friend

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Plaskett asks Jim Jordan why he isn't sharing transcripts of witness testimony with Democrats. Jordan says flatly "right now you're not getting the testimony."

"I find it incredible that evidence that one side has garnered is not going to be shared with the other side. That's not how committees work." -- Rep. Linda Sanchez

Dems try to point out to Jim Jordan that he's violating the committee rules by not sharing testimony with them. Jordan just keeps plowing ahead.

Jim Jordan is making clear that there are no rules other than his whims for this committee

Rep. Wasserman Schultz points out that one of the Republican witnesses has called the FBI as "a feckless, garbage institution"

Wasserman Schultz highlights that an independent investigation backed up the decision to revoke Mr Friend's security clearance and details some of the reasons

The committee is in recess, so let me work in another plug for my newsletter. Tomorrow morning I'm publishing a Q&A with @timkmak about what life is like in Kyiv 15 months into Putin's war. Subscribe to get it right in your inbox. publicnotice.co/subscribe

@timkmak JORDAN: You need to educate the members on the other side of the dais here

PLASKETT: I do not need educating

@timkmak Connolly: "I must say, I don't know where this concern for whistleblowers and protecting whistleblowers was in the Ukraine episode in that perfect phone call with Zelenskyy in which a whistleblower, Colonel Vindman, was in fact subsequently punished"

someone is wearing an Ashli Babbitt shirt behind the witnesses

Connolly displays tweets that one of the Republican "whistleblowers" posted amplifying J6 conspiracy theories

here is a better look at the Ashli Babbitt shirt

Connolly: "Y'all have employment grievances. That does not make you whistleblowers ... an enumeration of grievances does not constitute whistleblower status."

Rep. Bishop describes January 6 as "being on a bus to travel to a place where there was a speech by the president and so forth"

won't somebody think of the "victims" who had to delete their tweets spreading deadly Covid misinformation?

wow Sean Payton is out here catching strays

Goldman elicits from two of the Republican witnesses that they have been paid by Kash Patel

Plaskett: "Because someone served our country in the military and that they work from a federal agency does not exempt them immediately from being somebody who could potentially commit espionage."

Plaskett: "The rules don't apply when it comes to the Republicans ... it's all part & parcel of the Republicans' attempt to make Americans distrust our rule of law so when 2024 comes around and should their candidate not win, more & more people will not believe the truth."

The "weaponization" hearing is over. If you appreciate this thread or others I put together covering US politics, please show love and support by subscribing to my newsletter. Thank you. publicnotice.co/subscribe