Thread by @capitolhunters

As the next candidates for Speaker step up, call them out for who they are. @haleytalbotcnn reports 8 so far. Some are OK but Mike Johnson (LA), is a major Jan 6 figure who Liz Cheney called "extraordinarily destructive". Byron Donalds' wife is on the Moms for Liberty board. 1/

Austin Scott (GA) is a "1-1". He signed the Dec. 10 amicus brief but after the Capitol was invaded he voted to uphold the electoral vote. This seems a minimum threshold for Speaker. People can disagree on other things, but we have to agree on democracy. 4/

Jack Bergman (MI) is again a "3-3". After officers finally cleared the Capitol, over 100 officers wounded, he still voted to throw out the electoral votes of AZ and PA. Why? True belief? Those two states alone wouldn't have tipped the election to Trump. Someone should ask. 5/

Mark Green (TN), also a "3-3". Note: the only reason Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) isn't listed next to him here is that she wasn't sworn in yet when the Dec. 10 amicus brief went in. Very oddly, she was acting connected and helping with Jan 6 plans, but she couldn't sign. 6/

Jodey Arrington (TX), also "3-3". Not past the bar to be a Speaker for America. 7/

Byron Donalds, is part of the 2020 cohort of new MAGA extremist Reps. He's "3-2"; the "3" is because he signed a letter demanding an end to aid to Ukraine. His wife Erika Donalds is a board member of Moms for Liberty working to upend education in FL. /8

https://twitter.com/capitolhunters/status/1714699625255313660

Mike Johnson (LA), #9 on the House Insurrection Scorecard, is the most dangerous of all. NYT: the "architect of the Electoral College objections". He's a former ADF litigator; worked with the ADF head on overturning the election. Reporters: call it out. 9/

https://twitter.com/capitolhunters/status/1712549292932739078

Mike Johnson (LA) scores 6-6 on the Insurrection Scorecard. Liz Cheney calls him "extraordinarily destructive"; believe her. He built the insurrection bloc. He's not a figurehead; he's an effective but extreme litigator and organizer. Truly frightening. The stakes are high. 10/

For comparison: Patrick McHenry, current Speaker Pro Tempore, scores "0-0". That's why he'd be an acceptable compromise. Because whatever his politics, when the chance came to stand for democracy, he did. 11/

Deleting and reposting because I messed up on Tom Emmer (MN). Emmer, like Austin Scott, is a 1-1. He signed the amicus brief but after the Capitol attack, he voted to certify, and put out a very nice statement. (h/t @NoNazisValhalla.) 12/
emmer.house.gov/2021/1/emmer-s…

Summary
0-0: Patrick McHenry - fine
1-1: Tom Emmer (MN), Austin Scott (GA) - OK, edge to Emmer
3-3: Kevin Hern (OK), Jack Bergman (MI), Mark Green (TN), Jodey Arrington (TX) - um, maybe as a last resort. Needs research
3-2: Byron Donalds (FL) - NO
6-6: Mike Johnson (LA) - NEVER!

Links to Insurrection Scoresheet and other needed info to compute scores for people not listed. Be careful when reading the Jan 6 votes; "NAY" means to certify.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…

Just it seems world can't get any crazier, Pete Sessions (TX), has joined the race. Sessions scores only 2-2 but is beyond-red-flag for his Russia ties. His dad William, fired from the FBI, became the lawyer for Russian mobster Semion Mogilevich, head of the Red Mafia. 15/

I now added a tab on the scorecard for Speaker candidates. Sessions played little known role in Jan 6 besides his vote to overturn, but he's "Congressman 1" in the indictment of Rudy Giuliani's pal Lev Parnas: they bribed Sessions to help fire the US ambassador to Ukraine. 16/

Sessions' cash from an indicted Russian oligarch seems minor compared to his dad repping "the most dangerous mobster in the world", who ran his money-laundering out of Trump Tower and his murders in darker places: "stabbed and tortured, then mutilated" 17/
villagevoice.com/the-most-dange…

Peter Sessions' ties makes the rest of the Speaker candidates look like saints. In 1996, the FBI said Mogilevich was busy with "weapons trafficking, nuclear materials trafficking, prostitution, drug trafficking, ...precious gems, and money laundering" 18/
archive.org/stream/SEMIONM…

Beyond Pete Sessions' dad, do we really want a House Speaker who is named in an indictment over illegally funneling Russian money to Trump's campaign? Sessions wasn't charged, but it details the $ he got for being very, very helpful to Rudy Giuliani. 19/
texastribune.org/2019/10/10/pet…

The Speaker lineup is a bad joke on America: Byron Donalds, endorsed by Roger Stone; Mike Johnson, leader of the insurrection bloc; now Pete Sessions, bagman for the Russian mob. Stewart Rhodes' son gets the joke: the sheer audacity of authoritarians. 20/

https://twitter.com/DakotaVAdams/status/1715572729754124484

Steve Bannon (who Trump called on Jan 6 morning) and Caroline Wren (who organized the Jan 6 rally speakers) help clarify why the Speaker race matters: "A vote for Tom Emmer is a vote for Jack Smith's investigation". There it is. 21/