BREAKING NEWS: Top Trump Fundraiser/Former Trump-Appointed RNC Official Elliott Broidy Charged with Federal Crimes; Broidy Is a Key Figure in the Proof Series Books on Trump's Bribery and Collusion with Foreigners—and Looks to Be Charged With Such Conduct

(THREAD) The main problem with that @DanDrezner piece in the Post is that it's an international politics prof writing about the field in which I'm a professor—communications. No one in communications would *ever* compare the blogosphere to either Twitter or Substack. Here's why.

1/ Back in the mid-aughts, I was a Koufax Award-nominated political blogger (I don't know what Drezner was doing then; I first heard of him about a year ago). So I was into the blogosphere pretty deep, as I also ran a second high-traffic blog that was focused on the art world.

2/ The "blogosphere" was an outgrowth of MySpace and LiveJournal, inasmuch as in the heady early days of the internet people suddenly realized that they could engage in private diaristic writing—a very specific subgenre of writing—in the public square, and it was suddenly "okay."

3/ So the blogosphere as such had *nothing* to do with journalism, which needless to say was in a different state just 15 years ago (note: unlike Drezner, I also teach writing and journalism at the university level, so this thread is squarely "in my area," unlike his Post piece).

4/ The blogosphere was a manifestation of the transformation of the public-private binary at the dawn of the internet—and *also* connected to the "creative writing" explosion (what I did a PhD on); in the aughts, creative writing was the fastest-growing discipline *in the world*.

(THREAD) The Whitaker scandal is deepening, as it becomes clear that Sessions' Russia recusal was a coordinated sham and his firing an act of obstruction—and that his replacement is a White House plant inside the Mueller probe. I hope you'll retweet and read on for more details.

1/ From 2014-17 Whitaker worked for World Patent Marketing—which during his tenure defrauded consumers out of $26 million and was successfully prosecuted by the feds. His involvement in the scam confirmed he had loose morals and that the feds would never want to employ him again.

2/ Despite the seeming impossibility of a man with Whitaker's background getting a job at Justice ever again—he'd been found to have used his former title as a US attorney to fraudulently threaten consumers with valid complaints with criminal penalties—Whitaker found an opening.

3/ Within 60 days of parachuting out of World Patent Marketing as it was being fined $26 million by the feds, Whitaker was working for CNN and telling a fellow attorney panelist that his purpose in working for CNN was to get noticed by one man—Donald Trump—and thereby get a job.

4/ Whitaker spent his time at CNN making ludicrous statements about the Mueller probe: there was no obstruction or collusion, he said; Mueller had no authority to look into any aspect of Trump's finances or to subpoena him, he said. All the while, he hoped Trump was watching him.

(THREAD) There is so much less to this headline than meets the eye—indeed, one could argue the story is interesting *only* in ways the headline doesn't hint at—that it's a shame Bloomberg, a great media outlet, published this in this way. Read on for more.

1/ *Everyone* knows that the next step in the Mueller probe will come after the November 6 election, as Mueller is currently foregoing any additional steps in his work because of the DOJ's recommended "60-day pre-election" rule against action on cases with political implications.

2/ *Everyone* knows that Mueller has completed or nearly completed the Obstruction portion of his investigation (indeed, might have completed it long ago), so even news that Mueller would be ready to issue findings on Obstruction sometime after November 6 would not be surprising.

3/ *Everyone* knows that Rosenstein fears for his job, and fears for Sessions' job, and fears for Mueller's job, so *no one* would be surprised to learn that Rosenstein was pressuring Mueller to release *some* sort of report shortly after November 6 in order to show his progress.

4/ *Everyone* knows that behind the scenes Trump has been pressuring the FBI/DOJ to "wrap up" their work, so—while it was not just inappropriate but possibly illegal for Trump to pressure Rosenstein during a recent plane trip—*no one* would be surprised to learn that he did that.

🆚: (MAJOR REPORT): For the first time in U.S. media, Donald Trump's plan for the January 6 insurrection has been itemized, fully sourced, and annotated. The 12-part strategy, never before outlined, is terrifying—and involves elements not widely discussed.

PS/ As most of you here know, the "🆚" symbol means content accessible "via subscription." I use this icon both for certain PROOF content and content from sites like the Washington Post and the WSJ. You can find dozens of free articles at PROOF to decide if you want to subscribe.

PS2/ There are *47* free articles at PROOF—all published in the last 60 days, and the product of hundreds of hours of research/writing. I know not everyone subscribes to the many outlets that are 🆚—WP, WSJ, NYT, Daily Beast, &c—so I offer scores of reading-hours of free content.

NOTE/ As I mentioned earlier this week, I'll do a public AMA (Ask Me Anything) thread at PROOF shortly, so folks—whether subscribers or not—can ask any questions of me they have. I'll do my best, but if past is precedent I'll only be able to get to 40-80 of hundreds of questions.

(THREAD) Media has yet to do a deep dive on precisely what Trump *said* in his January 6 speech in DC—a speech now called an "incitement to insurrection," and the basis for an article of impeachment coming Monday. This thread unpacks the speech. I hope you'll read on and RETWEET.

1/ First, many don't realize that while the name of the *rally* was "Stop the Steal," Trump spoke flanked by banners that read "Save America March"—Save America being the PAC Trump has used since the election to scam voters out of more than $300 million for "election defense."

2/ It appears, therefore, that the link between Trump, his opposition to Biden's January 6 certification in Congress, and the insurrectionist march on the Capitol is one that comes, incredibly, with a paper trail—as it appears Trump *paid for* the seditious "Save America March."

3/ Seconds into his speech, Trump says, "These people are not going to take it any longer. They're not going to take it any longer...They came from all over our country. I just really want to see what they do." It's an astonishing admission he thinks something is going to happen.

4/ Trump then seems to catch himself, repeating the phrase "I just really want to see" but now adding "how they [media] cover it [the Save America March]." It's hard to know, therefore—perhaps deliberately—whether "what they do" means "what media does" or "what the marchers do."

First off; “We The People” need those who have sworn an oath to protect Us and the constitution to read this article...NOW, not tomorrow! We are at war for this country! @USMarshalsHQ @USMC @usairforce @USArmy @SpaceForceDoD

We know so much more than this. Since 2015, Donald J Trump running for Office of the President has thrown a wrench in the plans that very bad traitors had for us. For decades, elected officials have infiltrated ideological people into ALL aspects of OUR agencies to do their

bidding! The cia, nsc, doj, fbi, cdc, nsa, just to name a few, have perpetrated a series of lies to “frame” Donald Trump before during and now after his presidency! Google; Pelosi, “Wrap up smear”! ALL of which was knowingly false just to stop DJT from getting in their way!

You and I both know this absolutely was a coordinated effort which proves conspiracy! The media as well is not just bought, they have proven time and again by their own reporting, foreknowledge of many of the falsehoods. These evil ppl have pulled out ALL the stops to what they

won’t do! With this new (false) administration, they are telling Us, up is down, black is white, and left is right, and if you don’t STFU and obey, we will send you to re-education camps. This is NOT a Dems v Reps operation, as we have proof that there are only a handful from

Savanna’s Act & The Not Invisible Act become law today. These laws start to address the epidemic of missing & murdered Indigenous women. Trump is taking credit for it but their passage is the result of the tireless work of Native women & their allies, including women in Congress.

There is little data available regarding #MMIW & a problem that these laws will help fix. The data we do have is astonishing. Native women are murdered at 10X the national average & it’s the 3rd leading cause of death for Native women age 10-24. Experts say these figures are low.

The Trump administration uses #MMIW as a prop & shield while they plunder Native lands, desecrate sacred sites, forgo Tribal consultation, threaten us, disestablish Tribes & target Tribal sovereignty by attempting to give control of our homelands to states (see EPA letter to OK).

Every Native family on the Reservation knows a Native girl, woman or transperson who has gone missing or was murdered. This has gone on for decades & action on it is a long time coming but give credit where its due—with the Tribes, Native women & Congresswomen who made it happen.

Reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act with provisions to help protect Native women! #VAWA4All #SavannasAct #NotInvisibleAct #MMIW

What's the "value" offered by international relations scholarship?

What does it mean to think about world events "like an international relations scholar"?

Trump's order to withdrawal 🇺🇸 troops from 🇸🇴 offers a useful

This event could be viewed from a variety of angles, from the "micro-level" on up.

International Relations scholars/analysts can and do use each of the following angles, though not all are strictly speaking taking an "International Relations angle".

Let's explore the angles.

The "country-expert" angle entails discussing the event by laying out the situation within Somalia, providing details on key figures involved and perhaps how the conflict has disrupted Somalia's internal governance and

The "Military/Security analyst" angle involves outlining the details of what US troops presently do in Somalia and how they carry out their mission (including equipment, mission, and tactics).

See this @ChathamHouse report by

The "Area Studies/Regional Expert" angle involves discussing the decision as an event that will impact the Horn of Africa or East Africa more

2022 is shaping up to be a bloodbath. The Trump census cooked the numbers to advantage Republicans, and GOP statehouses are poised to redistrict in ways that will hand potentially permanent minority rule to the GOP in Congress.

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There's a potential way out: #HR1, an omnibus bill of electoral reforms that would create durable, structural protections for voting rights and a level playing field for campaigning.

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To get a sense of how urgent the looming crisis is - and of how important HR1 is - listen to @ryangrim interviewing @schwarz and Rep @JohnSarbanes [D-MD] on this week's

In theory, HR1 could be blasted through - Dems control the Senate, Congress, and the White House, and the future of the party depends on it, but I'm far from confident that they'll find the discipline and political will to make it happen.

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The Democrats keep squandering their majorities and wasting opportunities to make real change - changes that are must-haves, not nice-to-haves; changes needed to head off existential threats to the nation itself.

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