As Mike Johnson cuts off aid to Ukraine, we need to see why he’s obeying Trump. People with secrets comply - and Johnson is almost certainly a child abuser. From 2019-2023 he told 3 different stories about his “adopted son”, all lies. This 🧵 reviews them - and Matt Gaetz. 1/
Shifting, contradictory stories are a red flag. Johnson's three versions of all contort truth to deny he “took in” an unrelated boy as a single man - they all insert wife Kelly in impossible ways. It looks very bad. (Sources in report.) 2/ docs.google.com/document/d/1Us…
STORY 1: Johnson first announced his “son” Michael James in June 2019 in a House hearing on reparations for slavery. He said he and Kelly met a 14-year-old boy as newlyweds “22 years ago”, i.e. 1997. No one flagged the problem: Mike and Kelly met only in 1998, married in 1999. 3/
STORY 2: When Johnson talked about his ‘son’ again a year later, to Water Isaacson, he fixed the Kelly problem by making the boy 3 years younger. Now he and Kelly took in the 14-year-old “20 years ago”, i.e. 1999, the year they married. Isaacson didn’t notice the switch. 4/
Isaacson should have worried when a leader in the Southern Baptist Convention, a hotbed of abuse, spoke for a missing child, but worry isn't his style. Sam Kriss calls him a “born sycophant" built to "spread as much propagandistic bullshit as possible.” 5/ thepointmag.com/criticism/very…
For 3 years, Johnson repeated Story 2 like a script. 2020: “have you seen the movie The Blind Side - that was our story except MY Michael was not an NFL prospect” 2022: “You’ve seen the movie The Blind Side, that is our story except my kid was not an NFL prospect” 6/
STORY 3: In 2023, the Daily Mail found Michael James and learned he was older. Johnson then scrambled to cover. He added the 3 years back, now saying he met James in 1996 (when the boy would be 13) but “took him in” only 3 years later, at age 16, after he married Kelly. 7/
Johnson’s not forgetful: he told the same story for 3 years. He or his spokeswoman said six times that James was “taken in” at 14. His story changed only when it had to. There's more (see 🧵) but the lies make it clear: Johnson's hiding something bad. 8/
No one knows Michael James’ story. The Daily Mail got a statement that feels scripted: “I always felt loved like I was a part of their family”, but James wasn’t at Mike and Kelly’s wedding. Note that Johnson's SBC routinely made abuse victims sign NDAs: payment for silence. 9/
MATT GAETZ. It’s creepy that Mike Johnson used a House hearing to announce he’d informally “adopted” a young, minority boy. It’s creepier that TWO high-profile House Reps did the same. A year after Johnson, Gaetz used the same playbook to announce his own ‘son’. 10/
Like Johnson, Gaetz used a House hearing touching on race. But Gaetz isn't smooth; he managed only “are you suggesting..none of us have non-white children? Because you reflected on your black son and said none of us could understand..” At the end, Mike Johnson stepped in. 11/
To get the details out, Gaetz had to Tweet them - “This is my son Nestor” - and give an interview to People. He said he took the boy in at age 12, six years ago. People: “..the strangest thing about this story is that this is the first time any of it has been shared publicly” 12/
By Fall that year, Gaetz was under investigation for sex trafficking (of girls). He fixed up his personal life in a rush: proposed in December, then eloped in August. The month before the wedding, his future sister-in-law called him a “literal pedophile”. 13/
THE BIG PICTURE: two Congressmen in the top 10 insurrection scores had fake-adopted unrelated boys. The Speakership was seized by these two, with Jim Jordan who'd covered up abuse of young men at Ohio State. That's wildly improbable by chance. The secrets look like a feature. 14/
Obedient people are an asset. Rep. Robert Garcia calls it: “The Republican Party is in complete chaos because Donald Trump commands every single thing they do and tells Mike Johnson what to do every time”. Johnson delivers what Trump wants. 15/
Secrets are a useful tool in politics. Today’s GOP collects them and uses them. Kari Lake wears a wire, then ousts a rival. Matt Gaetz outs a fellow Rep, saying he “has to live a lie”. Madison Cawthorn is booted with scandalous footage (simulating gay sex, wearing lingerie). 16/
Johnson was promoted by powerful people. In 2010 he was picked out by Evangelical leaders and installed at the Paul Pressler law school (a * for later). In Feb 2020 he was picked out by Trump, brought into his inner circle. He was the standby for Speaker if Jim Jordan failed. 17/
Exposing secrets is the only way to negate their power. We need, desperately, investigative journalism. Johnson went on NBC’s Meet the Press: no questions about his ‘son’. It’s not just for Ukraine - Johnson's 2nd in line for the presidency. And he’s taking orders. 18/
Someone has to uncover the past that’s driving the present. Someone has to interview Michael James - in person, not by email. And his real family. And Johnson’s friends from LSU. And those who investigated abuse in the SBC. Who will do this? WaPo didn’t. 19/
We don’t have much time, as Ukraine’s ammunition dwindles. U.S. media is gutted by layoffs. Will donors step up, or #NAFO...or Ukraine? @andriyYermak: we sent tanks, now give us reporters: send someone, hire someone here, do something. Both our democracies are on the line. 20/
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
As Israel's Netanyahu hysterically calls US campuses "horrific..German[y] in the 1930s", remember who took him to power: the divisive US operative Arthur Finkelstein, who also gave us autocrat Viktor Orban, antisemitic conspiracy theories, and indirectly, Donald Trump. 1/
From 1970, Finkelstein changed politics in the US and around the world with virulently negative campaigns that pushed fear & division ("rejectionist voting"), microtargeted messaging, 3rd party spoilers, and a complete disregard for truth and values. 2/ nytimes.com/2017/08/19/us/…
Finkelstein, who was both Jewish and gay, won races for homophobic candidates with antisemitic messaging. It's beyond twisted. He got Bibi elected in 1996; Bibi referred him to Viktor Orban - and to help Orban win he created the George Soros conspiracy. 2/ buzzfeednews.com/article/hnsgra…
Tonight the Ukraine aid bill finally passed. That vote lets us ask: does being "anti-Ukraine" correlate with "pro-insurrection"? Answer: it sure does, especially in the Senate. The 18 Senators who voted no tonight (or didn't vote) all lie in the top 22 of Senate Jan 6 scores. 1/
None of the 8 Senators most culpable in supporting Trump's attempt to seize power Jan 6 voted for Ukraine aid. That's Cruz (TX), Tuberville (AL), Hawley (MO), Marshall (KS), Johnson (WI), Blackburn (TN), Lee (UT), and Paul (KY). 2/ docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…
Of the other 8 Senators who did something measurable in support of Trump's Jan 6 coup, half voted against aiding Ukraine. One of the yeses is Steve Daines, who earlier today voted against breaking the filibuster at all. (Another is Lankford who wrote the aid bill.) 3/
The newly-released transcript of Walt Nauta's 2022 FBI interview is interesting for what it says about the investigation: FBI talked to him just four days after he started moving boxes at Mar-a-Lago. A week later, Nauta helped load boxes into an SUV to be taken to Bedminster. 1/
Trump was subpoenaed for documents "bearing classified markings" on May 11, 2022. Evan Corcoran warned him Mar-a-Lago might be searched; box-moving started May 22 and went to June 2. By June 19 Trump seemed to prep a defense that he'd declassified them. 2/ docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…
On June 19 Trump designated new representatives to the National Archives, including Kash Patel. On June 22 Patel started a PR binge about declassification, the same day Trump got a subpoena for security cam footage that would have shown Nauta. Events were moving very fast. 3/
The week that was, the world we're in: terrorists attacked Moscow and Russia's friends blamed Ukraine. Elon Musk and friends tried to squash free speech. JFK Jr. picked Musk's ex-lover as VP. The religious right (note the Ted Cruz-Josh Hawley axis) tried to ban mifepristone. 1/
Note how the mifepristone case went through a 3-judge chain: first Matthew Kacsmaryk, sworn in by James Ho, whose wife got payments from ADF, which brought the suit. Then to Ho, sworn in by Clarence Thomas, whose wife got payments from Harland Crow, who hosted the ceremony. 2/
This case shows the creeping influence of "religious liberty" legal advocacy groups. Matthew Kacsmaryk and James Ho both worked for First Liberty; so did Mike Johnson, briefly, before he went to ADF, which hired Josh Hawley's wife, who argued the suit. 3/ firstliberty.org/news/taking-th…
Several former military officers filed a brief in Trump's immunity case today. One is Keith Kellogg; that name matters! Kellogg was with Trump all morning on Jan 6. Kellogg, part of Trump's inner circle since 2016, was also on the call that led to Trump's 1st impeachment. 1/
Here's Keith Kellogg in the Oval Office with Trump on Jan. 6 morning. He was there when Trump called Mike Pence, threatened him, called him a 'pussy'. Any filing by Kellogg is intended to help Trump. 2/
In 2016, when Trump named a council of 5 foreign policy advisors, pundits were baffled: why these guys? Keith Kellogg, Carter Page, George Papadopoulos, Joseph Schmitz, and Walid Phares, all obscure - but all are now tied to Russia and/or to Jan. 6. 3/
Why do politicians endorse Trump in lockstep? Because today's GOP controls its members via threats and kompromat. Consider Rep. Matt Rosendale: elected 2022, announced for Senate, withdrew after 6 days, now is leaving politics entirely: "death threats" and "defamatory rumors". 1/
The Hill mentions whispers about "impregnating a staff member", others suggest his interests swing another way. It doesn't matter which; this is how the GOP rolls. People with secrets are useful - and easily disposed of if they do not comply. 2/ thehill.com/homenews/house…
In a world of secrets, journalism is essential: exposing secrets removes their power. Rosendale is out but others are still in: Mike Johnson and Matt Gaetz with their "adopted sons". Elon Musk with his ever-shifting stories about his education. So many more. Who will report? 3/