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Insurrection Barbie Profile picture
@DefiyantlyFree
Mar 22 • 10 tweets • 3 min read • Read on X
🧵🧵 The Law Firms that Run DC

I see a lot of articles saying how President Trump is attacking law firms in Washington DC because he is vindictive. When in fact, it has nothing to do with being vindictive, and everything to do with the fact that they are acting like an extension of the Democratic Party.

This web shows how elite law firms in DC have become de facto political actors, coordinating with bureaucrats, Democratic campaigns, and activist groups to advance one side’s agenda while insulating allies from legal consequences.
1. Perkins Coie

Partisan Alignment: Strongly Democratic

Key Players: Marc Elias, Michael Sussmann

Involved In:

•Russiagate:

•Hired Fusion GPS on behalf of the Clinton campaign and DNC to create the Steele Dossier.

•Michael Sussmann was indicted for allegedly lying to the FBI about the source of Alfa Bank/Trump server claims (acquitted, but case exposed coordination between Clinton-linked lawyers and the intelligence community).

•Through Marc Elias, aggressively litigated to change election laws in battleground states pre-2020 (e.g., mail-in ballot rules, signature matching, ballot curing).

•Litigated against voter ID laws and redistricting efforts favoring GOP, using courts to alter rules under the guise of civil rights.
2. Elias Law Group

Partisan Alignment: 100% Democratic

Key Player: Marc Elias (founder, formerly at Perkins Coie)

Involved In:

•Election Lawfare:

•Filed hundreds of lawsuits between 2020–2024 aimed at changing ballot deadlines, preventing voter roll purges, and invalidating state-level election reforms.

•Sued states that passed voter integrity laws (Georgia, Texas, Arizona).

•Legal and strategic support for efforts to disqualify Trump from ballots under the 14th Amendment (Section 3).
3. WilmerHale

Partisan Alignment: Center-left establishment

Key Players: Robert Mueller, Jamie Gorelick

Involved In:

•Russiagate:

•Mueller was a WilmerHale partner before becoming special counsel.

•Several senior lawyers on Mueller’s team (Aaron Zebley, James Quarles) came from WilmerHale.

•Created a direct pipeline from a private DC firm to a politically charged investigation.

•WilmerHale defended companies and figures potentially affected by the Mueller investigation—raising questions about impartiality.
4. Latham & Watkins

Partisan Alignment: Progressive-leaning, deep resistance ties

Key Players: Kathryn Ruemmler (former Obama WH Counsel), multiple Obama-era appointees

Involved In:

•Lawfare Against Trump Policies:

•Litigated against Trump’s immigration, environmental, and regulatory rollbacks.

•Supported amicus briefs in support of January 6 prosecutions.

•Close ties to Biden DOJ officials (Ruemmler has known connections to current White House legal networks).
5. Covington & Burling

Partisan Alignment: Deep Obama/Biden ties

Key Players: Eric Holder, Lanny Breuer

Involved In:

•Russiagate/Deep State Entrenchment:

•Holder and Breuer returned to Covington after serving in the Obama DOJ.

•Firm has represented major tech and surveillance companies with ties to federal investigations.

•Defended figures in the intelligence community during investigations into FISA abuse and surveillance.
6. Debevoise & Plimpton

Partisan Alignment: Institutional left

Key Player: Mary Jo White (Obama SEC Chair), Andrew Ceresney

Involved In:

•Representing Hunter Biden in federal tax and firearms-related investigations.

•Helped negotiate controversial plea agreement that collapsed in 2023.

•Close ties to DOJ officials overseeing investigations of Hunter Biden. Scrutiny over sweetheart deals and unusual coordination.
7. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison

Partisan Alignment: Progressive legal elite

Key Players: Jeh Johnson (Obama DHS), Loretta Lynch (Obama AG)

Involved In:

•Represented progressive groups in redistricting and voting rights lawsuits.

•No comparable representation for free speech or conservative plaintiffs, reinforcing political asymmetry.

•Consulted by Democratic-aligned NGOs on how to frame post-2020 election audit challenges as “threats to democracy.”
8. Jenner & Block

Partisan Alignment: J6-focused, anti-Trump

Key Players: Donald Verrilli (Obama SG), Ian Gershengorn

Involved In:

•January 6 Committee Staffing:

•Provided legal support and volunteers to the J6 Committee.

•Ties to lawfare efforts to charge Trump advisors and allies.
•Worked behind the scenes with groups like Lawfare Blog and Brookings to craft legal theories around “insurrection” and “disqualification.”
9. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

Partisan Alignment: Corporate Dem establishment

Key Players: Greg Craig (former Obama WH Counsel, indicted)

Involved In:

•Ukraine Lobbying Scandal:

•Paid millions by pro-Russian Ukrainian interests via Paul Manafort.

•Fined for failing to register under FARA. No major prosecutions of Skadden lawyers, despite harsh treatment of Manafort.

•Avoided accountability while similar conduct was used to hammer Trump affiliates.

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More from @DefiyantlyFree

Insurrection Barbie Profile picture
Mar 24
🧵🧵 What the heck is going on with USAID in Cairo—and why does it feel like a fortified black site with a billion-dollar budget?

USAID Cairo looks less like a development agency and more like a military installation.
We’re talking block walls, metal spikes, guardhouses, no signage, and full surveillance.
Not exactly the friendly face of American aid.
The U.S. has poured $30+ billion into Egypt via USAID since 1978.
It’s one of the largest aid programs in the world.
But instead of transparency and impact, what you get is confusion, contradictions—and occasionally, detentions.

Case in point: Larry Taunton
In early 2025, Taunton—a writer and commentator—walked into USAID Cairo to ask whether they were complying with Trump’s new aid freeze (Executive Order 14169).
He walked out under detention.

On his second visit, Taunton says he was detained by security, accused of being a terrorist, and interrogated for simply asking what the office was doing with U.S. taxpayer funds.
He documented everything.
So… what is this place, really?

USAID Cairo is supposed to be a hub for development work—education, governance, entrepreneurship.
But it operates like a hardened U.S. military outpost in a hostile zone.
Which raises a serious question: Why?
Read 8 tweets
Insurrection Barbie Profile picture
Mar 24
🧵🧵 The judicial branch needs to be reigned in. It was never supposed to be determining nationwide policy positions.

How was the judiciary supposed to be kept in check under the Constitution?

The Federalist Papers laid out a vision of a passive, limited judiciary—one that absolutely was not meant to shape national policy or issue sweeping rulings affecting every American.
The framers called the judiciary the “least dangerous” branch.
Why?

Because it had “neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment.”
(Federalist No. 78)

It couldn’t raise armies, control the purse, or even enforce its own decisions.
Unlike Congress (which makes laws) or the Executive (which enforces them), the judiciary was supposed to interpret laws—case by case, within narrow boundaries.
It had no means to compel compliance and relied on the other branches to act.
Read 13 tweets
Insurrection Barbie Profile picture
Mar 24
🧵🧵THREAD: Jessica Aber, the former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was found dead in her Virginia home on March 22, 2025, at age 43. Here’s everything we know about her life, legacy, and the open questions surrounding her sudden death. Image
Aber was a career federal prosecutor who served in the Justice Department since 2009. She was appointed U.S. Attorney by President Biden in 2021 and served until Jan 20, 2025 — the day of President Trump’s second inauguration.
Aber was found unresponsive at her home in Alexandria, VA. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death is still pending from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Foul play has not been confirmed or ruled out.
Read 9 tweets
Insurrection Barbie Profile picture
Mar 22
🧵🧵 Suggestions for desperately needed judicial reform

We need to start figuring out which one of these, or all of these, we want to implement and put pressure on Congress to get it done. These are not things that would only help conservatives, these are completely unbiased and imp partisan solutions to a very partisan problem.
1. Congressional Reforms (Legislation-Based)

These can be passed by Congress without constitutional amendments.

A. Jurisdiction Stripping

What it does: Congress has the constitutional power to limit the types of cases lower federal courts (and in some cases the Supreme Court) can hear.

Example: Prevent federal courts from hearing certain election-related or immigration cases.

Goal: Prevent judicial overreach in politically sensitive areas.

Term Limits for Lower Court Judges

What it does: Impose fixed terms (e.g., 10–15 years) on federal district judges.

Goal: End de facto lifetime appointments that create unaccountable legal fiefdoms.

Note: This would likely require some reinterpretation of Article III or a constitutional amendment.

C. Creation of Judicial Review Boards

What it does: Independent (or congressional) boards to review repeated instances of unconstitutional rulings or injunctions with no basis in law.

Goal: Apply pressure and public accountability for rogue judges.

Could be modeled on: Office of Congressional Ethics or internal DOJ oversight bodies.

D. Venue Reform

What it does: Change the rules for where federal cases can be filed to avoid “judge shopping.”

Example: Prohibit filing nationwide injunction cases in ultra-partisan districts (e.g., Northern District of California or DC Circuit).

Goal: Prevent partisan legal teams from always landing sympathetic judges.
2. Supreme Court Accountability (Legislation + Political Pressure)

A. Supermajority Override for Nationwide Injunctions

What it does: Require at least a panel consensus (e.g., 2 of 3 judges on circuit courts) for any ruling that results in a nationwide injunction.

Goal: Curtail single district judges blocking federal policy for the entire country.

B. Judicial Transparency Act

What it does: Force judges to disclose financial interests, affiliations with activist legal organizations, and conflicts of interest.

Goal: Prevent judges from ruling on cases where they are ideologically or financially compromised (e.g., involvement in political cases tied to donors or NGOs).
Read 6 tweets
Insurrection Barbie Profile picture
Mar 21
🧵🧵The media is lying to you about everything DOGE. Bookmark this thread and send it to people who keep telling you that DOGE is dangerous, destructive and an assault on the government.
Narrative # 1: DOGE’s "slash-and-burn" approach has eliminated thousands of federal jobs, causing hardship for workers, including veterans, and creating "tremendous anxiety" (CBS News, Business Insider).

Truth:

1. Reports like Newsweek cite 18,000 IRS and 10,000 USPS layoffs, but this is a fraction of the 2.3 million federal workforce— less than 5%. This isn’t a gutting but a trimming of excess.

2. Anecdotal "anxiety" (e.g., Murkowski’s quote) lacks data showing widespread economic ruin. Federal workers often receive severance or transition to private roles, cushioned by a strong job market.

3. Claims of veteran harm are unproven—Energy Department layoffs spared critical nuclear staff, and no mass veteran layoffs are documented.

4. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has long flagged duplicative roles—e.g., 94 programs across 11 agencies for STEM education cost $3 billion annually with little coordination (GAO, 2018). DOGE’s cuts target such redundancies.

5. With interest on the $35 trillion debt exceeding $1 trillion yearly (CBO projections), each redundant job—say, $80,000/year—compounds the burden. Cutting 100,000 jobs could save $8 billion annually, a small but critical dent.

6. Streamlining bloated agencies like the IRS, which struggles with backlogs despite staffing, ensures taxpayer dollars fund results

Cuts are modest and justified by rampant overlap and fiscal pressure.
Narrative #2: Claim: DOGE operates with "unprecedented authority" and "unusual secrecy," lacking oversight (The Guardian, POLITICO).

Truth:

1. DOGE publicized terminating 3,489 grants and Social Security cleanups refuting total secrecy. The White House calls it "incredibly transparent.”

2. As an advisory body DOGE’s power is limited, and judicial oversight ensures accountability.

3. Opaque bureaucracies hide inefficiency—e.g., $1.7 billion in improper payments annually (GAO, 2023).

4. Delayed transparency during reform is a trade-off for speed. With debt growing $4 billion daily, waiting for perfect disclosure risks paralysis while interest accrues.

5. Historical cuts (e.g., Clinton’s) also faced opacity critiques mid-process but delivered savings—DOGE’s pace is a feature, not a flaw, given the crisis.

6. Waste and Fraud: Opaque bureaucracies hide inefficiency—e.g., $1.7 billion in improper payments annually (GAO, 2023). DOGE’s rapid action, even if messy, exposes and corrects this.

7. Debt Context: Delayed transparency during reform is a trade-off for speed. With debt growing $4 billion daily, waiting for perfect disclosure risks paralysis while interest accrues.

8. Practicality: Historical cuts (e.g., Clinton’s) also faced opacity critiques mid-process but delivered savings—DOGE’s pace is a feature, not a flaw, given the crisis.

Overstated. Imperfect transparency is a byproduct of urgent reform, not evasion.
Read 4 tweets
Insurrection Barbie Profile picture
Mar 21
🧵🧵How Obama Made the Intelligence State Untouchable

1/ Barack Obama didn’t create the U.S. intelligence leviathan — but he perfected it.

Under his leadership, intelligence became decentralized, privatized, and embedded so deeply into the state that no one — not even the President — could fully control it again. Here’s how it happened:
After 9/11, Bush built the post-Patriot Act security architecture. But Obama normalized it. He expanded it. And he protected it from consequences.

His actions didn’t just preserve the system — they sanctified it as the new status quo.
Let’s start with surveillance:

When Edward Snowden revealed illegal NSA mass surveillance in 2013 (bulk metadata, PRISM, etc.), Obama didn’t dismantle the system. He:
•Defended it publicly
•Prosecuted leakers
•Refused to prosecute architects of the programs
•Renewed the Patriot Act in 2011 (despite a Democratic majority in Congress)
Read 13 tweets

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