Latest @nytimes angle on the #TrumpRussia saga: the #Dossier had nothing to do w/ #FBI’s launching of collusion investigation. The problem? More anonymous sources w/ unclear vetting, motivations & biases. Enough is enough. Go on record or forget it. Our democracy deserves better. Image
The facts are clear: Obama officials investigated the #TrumpRussia claims. The result? #DNI Clapper said (in Mar ‘17) that he saw no evidence of collusion. This includes the latest info provided by NYT reporters @SharonLNYT @MarkMazzettiNYT @mattapuzzo nbcnews.com/nightly-news/v…
None of this absolves @realDonaldTrump, who’s given America clear reason to doubt his commitment to fighting the #Russia threat. Guilty pleas by his staff only add to the suspicions. Accordingly, America still needs the #MuellerInvestigation. We need finality.
But equally, we need our press — especially our flagship newspapers @nytimes @washingtonpost — to pursue this story fairly. That includes pursuing why @Comey, @JohnBrennan & Clapper briefed unvetted #Dossier to DC pols, “virtually assuring that it’d leak.” (NYT words, not mine)
And yet it’s rather difficult for media outlets like #NYTimes to report on questionable or scandalous behavior of DC operators (such as Comey) when they’re also sources (as Comey was). This is the danger of anonymous “senior govt officials” we keep reading about re: #TrumpRussia
Bottom line: I may not like #Trump and eagerly await the elections in 2018 and 2020. But our media cannot embrace the same. After all, #NYTimes was founded on a simple principle: report without fear or favor. It’s time its editors and reporters remind themselves of that creed.

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More from @BryanDeanWright

24 Apr
There's lots of commentary that masks, social distancing, and/or sunlight don't work.

They do. Esp all three, together.

And its enough to demand that we reopen America, especially for those in working class America who can't survive the economic fallout.

Here's what we know.
Masks: They work.

Scientists have recently found that 30-40% of people who did NOT wear a mask later tested positive for coronavirus (in respiratory droplets & aerosols).

And those who DID wear a mask?

Zero tested positive for the virus.

Zero.

nature.com/articles/s4159…
Social Distancing: It works, esp w/ masks.

Per CDC, COVID-19 mainly spreads when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks, and droplets from their mouth or nose are launched into the air.

If people wear masks, that stops the spread.

Esp with hand washing / hand sanitizer.
Read 7 tweets
20 Apr
The Democratic talking point of “Trump is bad because he hasn’t made more tests available” is not only wrong but misses the point.

There is no perfect test, especially an antibody test.

And interpreting results can be confusing & unhelpful.

Here are the facts.

(Thread)
Let’s focus on antibody tests.

They’re the basis for the dangerous proposal to issue “immunity passports.”

The assumption is that if you’ve been exposed, you’re immune from further infection and can go back to work or normal life.

But that idea is flat out wrong, for now.
STAT News summed up the issues nicely:

- Some available antibody tests have not even been validated.

- Even those that have been can still provide false results.

- An accurate positive test is, for now, wickedly hard to interpret.

statnews.com/2020/04/20/eve…
Read 8 tweets
16 Apr
China is responsible for the pandemic.

What happens next will require the most skillful use of diplomacy, intelligence, and national resolve that America can muster.

Here's how this fmr CIA Officer thinks we should do it.

(Thread)

foxnews.com/politics/coron…
First, we need to assemble the evidence.

For the past several months, Trump's team has been doing exactly that. The US intel community, Dept of Defense, & State Department have been tasking sources and collecting corroborating info.

That will continue.

nypost.com/2020/04/15/us-…
Watch for the phrase "high degree of confidence."

The evidence we collect must come from multiple types of intel -- human spies, phone intercepts, emails -- & multiple sources of each.

It should also contain intel from allies.

They should all say the same: China is culpable.
Read 16 tweets
23 Dec 19
No matter what happens in the House, Republicans are set to control the fate of the nation for at least a generation.

All comes down to the Senate.

Quick recap of why:
By 2040, most of the nation’s voters – including most liberals – will live in 15 of our 50 states. That means Democrats will solidly control only 30 Senate seats, even if they dominate in the House.

demographics.coopercenter.org/national-popul…
That leaves 70 Senate seats belonging to states filled with mostly rural, conservative, and older voters.

In other words, the GOP’s rock-solid base.

Aka Trump Country.
Read 9 tweets
13 Dec 19
Of the many Trump Resistance fighters in the intel community, one in particular stands out this week.

@john_sipher

He once led the CIA’s Russia House, using that experience to insist in WaPo, NY Times, Politico etc that Trump was a Russian asset.

Here he is on the dossier:
Here‘s CIA’s John Sipher — in collusion w/ Slate — telling America in 2017 that “a whole lot” of the Steele dossier was corroborated, further fueling the Russia hysteria.

None of it was, in fact, corroborated.
slate.com/news-and-polit…
And here‘s John Sipher — in collusion w/ Newsweek — telling America that Steele was “serious & credible” and his dossier a “coherent narrative.”

Nevermind that the FBI fired Steele for cause and found his sources “may engage in some embellishment.” newsweek.com/what-exactly-d…
Read 6 tweets
10 Dec 19
Yes, the IG Report outlined some horrifying tradecraft at the FBI & a clear failure to follow basic rules.

But the findings suggest there is more — far more — to this story.

In fact, it was an attempted coup.

Let’s explore why AG Barr & Durham likely feel the same.
It all comes down to the inexplicable love affair — no, the obsession — with @Comey & Co. trying to prove Christopher Steele right even when the facts said he was wrong.

Carter Page faced nearly a year’s worth of surveillance by his own government because of this obsession.
A quick review of how bizarre this obsession became:

#1. No agent aggressively questioned Steele abt the funding for his work (despite knowing it was Democratic cash seeking Trump's political demise).

It was willful ignorance of political bias / downplaying of its significance.
Read 4 tweets

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