🧵We KNOW Donald Trump is a criminal. But not enough Americans know what happened to the criminals around him. You’re not going to like the answer.
What if I told you that the New York City mob never disappeared, and it’s alive and well in the GOP? /1
In the later half of the 1980s, U.S. District Attorney Rudy Giuliani… Yeah, that guy…managed to convict the heads of all five of New York City’s Italian mob, and it decimated their criminal empires. But contrary to popular belief, it didn’t end organized crime in the city. /2
Giuliani cleared NYC of the Italian mob, and Brighton Beach’s Russian mafia to move in. This time, organized crime had his support. Just ask Trump. /3
In 1988, Giuliani’s office opened an investigation into Donald Trump for using two Trump Tower apartments for money laundering. They knew Trump was guilty of the crime; a Russian mafia member was caught using Trump Tower for money laundering a couple years before this. /4
But Giulani’s office suddenly dropped the case, and Trump promised to help fund his campaign for New York City mayor in return.
Seven years later, some of their associates would become so powerful that the U.S. government warned the public. /5
In 1995, President Bill Clinton gave an address warning that transnational crime rings – transnational meaning operating in multiple countries – had become so powerful and so organized that they were a threat to national security. /6 ndsn.org/dec95/unconf.h…
Clinton had a plan to sanction any country that aided transnational organized crime groups – countries like Russia and China – unless those countries adopted strict anti-money-laundering measures.
In the U.S., Donald Trump was aiding organized crime groups. /7
Just four months before Clinton’s speech, the FBI concluded a years-long search for a man named Vyacheslav Ivankov, who they called “the Godfather of the Russian mob in America.”
As Clinton and the FBI worked to tackle the threat of organized crime in the ‘90s, Rudy Giuliani exacerbated it.
In New York City, methadone programs saw an estimated 34,000 Americans begin recovery from drug addiction, get off the streets, and re-enter the workforce. /9
34,000 recovering drug addicts meant a financial loss for drug traffickers.
So in 1998, Rudy Giuliani took efforts to ban all methadone programs in NYC. Giuliani wasn’t just cutting deals with criminals any more; he was supporting them. /10
It was later revealed by the FBI that a major donor to Giuliani’s campaign and one of his top advisers worked for Vyacheslov Ivankov, the “Godfather of the mob” that the FBI found living in Trump Tower. /11
Why was Rudy Giuliani, a known collaborator of the Russian mafia, free to make all those trips to Ukraine to look for dirt on Hunter Biden?
Why did he have a license to practice law when he was challenging the 2020 election with bogus lawsuits?
There’s a simple answer… /12
...9/11 happened, and all U.S. law enforcement resources were directed towards the war on terror.
Ten years later, in 2011, FBI Director Robert Mueller tried to pull focus back to organized crime. But, he warned, the mafia had transformed. /13
“They may be former members of nation-state governments, security services, or the military… They are capitalists and entrepreneurs… In some cases, these organizations [operate as publicly] as Fortune 500 companies.” /14
“These groups may infiltrate our businesses. They may provide logistical support to hostile foreign powers. They may try to manipulate those at the HIGHEST levels of government.” /15
That year, Obama signed an executive order freezing all assets of international criminals.
The FBI warned that the same group that had operated out of Trump Tower and found its way into Rudy Giuliani’s administration was the greatest single threat to U.S. democracy. /16
Mueller put the head of that org, Semion Mogilevich, at the top of the FBI’s Most Wanted List.
In 2016, he was removed from the list, Donald Trump won the election, and those of us paying attention had to ask ourselves: did organized crime just take the White House? /17
It’s no wonder the Republican Party is willing to risk WWIII to let Putin take Ukraine.
They let the only known mafia associate TV star run for president, infiltrate our government, weaken democracy, play cheerleader to dictators, and sabotage their entire party. /18
This is basically the guy we elected in 2016, and they want to re-elect him this year. /19
This isn’t the kind of issue I’m supposed to talk about to run for office, but at least I can say I did something today to better equip voters and shed some light on the deeper, long-term issues impacting our country. /20
I’m running for Congress because we need this level of transparency from the people who are supposed to help us. If you can chip in to get me there, I’d really appreciate it. Maybe I’ll get to bring some hard truths to the House floor next year. secure.actblue.com/donate/j_twitt…
I wasn't expecting this thread to blow up! Thank you so much to everyone who's shared and pitched in to the campaign. Here's my last explosive thread for anyone who missed it and hasn't heard of the Council for National Policy.
🧵Donald Trump is done making vague threats to arrest Democrat donors. Now he’s being direct that he’d send the military after people who don’t support him – and you know what?
It wouldn’t be the first time Trump sent federal agents to arrest or even execute Democrats. /1
In September 2020, U.S. Marshals executed a Black Lives Matter protester named Michael Reinoehl.
They said Michael pulled a gun when they went to arrest him. Witnesses said he didn’t.
Trump told supporters that he sent the Marshals in and “they didn’t want to arrest him.” /2
Trump even told Fox News that him sending agents in "to go get" Michael is just "the way it has to be.” So when he says he’d use the military to arrest Democrats, believe him.
Thanks to @TrumpFile for the video, I couldn’t find it on YouTube or Fox. /3
Last year, FEMA was responding to 82 major disasters at once & running out of money for disaster relief. Biden urged Congress to pass $16 billion to help, and Republicans IGNORED it.
They can lie about FEMA, but we know the truth. Their "leadership" leaves Americans dead. 🧵
Instead of being transparent about why FEMA can't do more to help Americans impacted by hurricane season, Republicans are pushing conspiracy theories that Democrats stole from FEMA’s disaster relief fund to illegally house immigrants. It's an obvious lie. nj.com/politics/2024/…
Over 200 Americans are confirmed dead after Hurricane Helene, and we are just a day or two away from another deadly hurricane.
Communities have been destroyed. Families are devastated. In some areas, families whose homes are still standing are living without water or plumbing.
Surprise everyone! Donald Trump, my opponent Troy Balderson, and Christian nationalist Speaker of the House Mike Johnson are LYING THROUGH THEIR TEETH to stop Ohioans from protecting our state and our rights.
Turns out they suck too bad not to cheat.🧵 /1
Issue 1 for Ohio will END gerrymandering in our state by putting a group of citizens in charge of redistricting - not politicians with reason to cheat.
Republicans are so afraid of losing their best weapon against Ohio voters that they say it will CREATE gerrymandering. Dumb /2
Trump’s Stop The Steal movement was the driving force behind his 2020 lies and J6. They’re invoking it now to bring out disillusioned Republicans, stop Issue 1 from passing, and give Ohio to Trump.
But using “Stop The Steal" might also inspire MAGA extremists to violence. /3
I know National Voter Registration Day was yesterday, but I need to share some scary shit Republicans have been planning so you can’t vote this year.
Let’s talk about Cleta Mitchell, ALEC, the CNP, and why you need to check your voter registration RIGHT NOW. Please share! 🧵 /1
Cleta Mitchell is an attorney who has represented the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the proud sponsor of school shootings, i.e. the NRA.
She also represented “political outsider” Donald Trump way back in 2011. /2
Since 2012, Cleta Mitchell has become the go-to attorney for Republican efforts to thwart democracy.
She was even on the January 2021 call when Donald Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to change the state’s vote count. /3 washingtonpost.com/politics/trump…
Children locked inside homes, families terrified, teachers and city officials afraid to go to work.
This is what we might expect in a town taken hostage by terrorists, in another country.
But the country is ours, the town is my family’s, and the terrorists are American. /1 🧵
I have family in Springfield. It’s where my grandma spent her final years, and I still visit to see family members.
Before this past week, everyone was fine. Now people are living in fear. /2
The Springfield City School District had to close for two days after extremists who heard Trump’s comments at the debate made BOMB THREATS against an elementary school and several city offices. /3