The Threat of Authoritarianism in the U.S. is Very Real, and Has Nothing To Do With Trump

The COVID-driven centralization of economic power and information control in the hands of a few corporate monopolies poses enduring threats to political

August 2019:

Exclusive: Critical U.S. Election Systems Have Been Left Exposed Online Despite Official Denials

https://t.co/upYeltANXG

The top voting machine company in the country insists that its election systems are never connected to the internet. But researchers found 35 of the systems have been connected to the internet for months and possibly years, including in some swing states.

But a group of election security experts have found what they believe to be nearly three dozen backend election systems in 10 states connected to the internet over the last year, including some in critical swing states.

These include systems in nine Wisconsin counties, in four Michigan counties, and in seven Florida counties—all states that are perennial battlegrounds in presidential elections.

Some of the systems have been online for a year and possibly longer. Some of them disappeared from the internet after the researchers notified an information-sharing group for election officials last year.

Declassified Strzok Texts: FBI Spied On Fox News, Recorded Phone Call Between Fox VP And Papadopoulos

New text messages released Thursday show FBI officials spied on a Fox News executive over the course of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation which targeted President Trump as a secret Russian agent who illegally stole the election from Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Because the Obama DOJ never received a warrant to spy on Papadpopoulos, it is likely that the FBI used a so-called National Security Letter to spy on Papadopoulos, and Fox News.

By using a NatSec Letter, a demand sent to telecommunications firms to provide communications information about a specific federal target, Obama’s DOJ and FBI were able to avoid legal requirements to receive a court-approved warrant to secretly spy on an American citizen.

The FBI surveilled and recorded a phone call between former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser @GeorgePapa19 and an unnamed vice president at Fox News, according to a text message sent to fired former FBI official @PeteStrzok just weeks before Trump was inaugurated in 2017.

Radical Muslim political advocacy orgs are celebrating the election of 62 Muslim Americans who won races at all levels of government. Their victories mark another banner year for Islamist groups that seek to train, fund, and elect their favored politicians

Among these winners are a handful of Islamist politicians who espouse radical views and associate with extremist groups.

Many of these newly elected officials belong to the far-left wing of the Democratic Party, but others have even more troubling resumés, leading Islamist student movements and nonprofits or owing their political fortunes to Islamist underwriters.

Chief among these is Democrat @akoabdulsamad, who was reelected to the Iowa state legislature’s 35th district. Since 2015 Abdul-Samad has been the chairman of the American Muslim Alliance, a controversial political action group whose leaders have promoted violence against Israel.

“The statements that are attributed to the organization and some of its members are offensive and outrageous,” Hillary Clinton said in 2000 after returning a $50,000 political donation to AMA.

Court upholds conviction of Chinese businessman linked to Hunter Biden

A federal appeals court upheld the criminal convictions against Patrick Ho, a Chinese businessman and think tank leader linked to President-elect Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.

When Ho, one of Chinese energy tycoon Ye Jianming’s lieutenants, was charged by the Justice Department in 2017, the first call he reportedly made after his arrest was to Joe Biden’s brother, James, who has said he thought the call was meant for Hunter Biden.

Ho was indicted and convicted under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for his role in a global money laundering and bribery scheme aimed at government officials in Africa.

The Justice Department also accused Ho of helping with Iranian sanctions evasion and working to use the Chinese company’s connections to sell weaponry to Chad, Libya, and Qatar. Ho was sentenced to three years in prison in March 2019 and was deported to Hong Kong in June.

Star-studded Time's Up charities spent big on salaries, little on helping victims @Alyssa_Milano @MiraSorvino @GloriaSteinem https://t.co/m5kM0W1UjE via @nypost

The organization, which is comprised of the Times Up Foundation and @TIMESUPNOW, raised $3,670,219 in 2018, its founding year, but spent $1,407,032 on salaries and only $312,001 on the @TimesUpLegal Defense Fund for people who have experienced sexual harassment.

Time’s Up Now, the lobbying arm of the organization, also spent $157,155 on conferences “designed to build community and spark critical conversations about gender equity,” tax filings show.

In addition to posh conferences, Time’s Up Now spent $288,007 on advertising, and $940,328 on “legal” costs, with the majority of that figure ($719,522) going to Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, a multinational law firm with a powerful lobbying arm on Capitol Hill.

Time’s Up Now also spent $58,395 on travel and $112,435 on Rally, a public relations company, according to tax filings.

1. What @WillieGeist is trying to get across to @NikemaWilliams on @Morning_Joe is that the GOP is nationalizing their message & making their message high stakes, tapping into voters anger at Trump's loss to get them to vote in a Jan. run-off & that Ds NEED TO DO THE SAME. Its

2. about giving Trump power- its about giving low-info voters, who are the bulk of the electorate motivation to cast ballots in the run-off. This is WHY turnout plummets in these things on the D side- the GOP keeps their messaging on stakes (control of the senate to fend off

3. socialism) while Ds go off into policy. That is a losing strategy. It just lost them nearly a dozen House seats & the chance to cut into partisan gerrymandering by flipping 4 state houses. They can't make that mistake here bc control of senate is everything here. If Ds have it

4. Biden can get some policy done- if Ds don't, the GOP will block everything. Biden will be a lame duck from day 1. So the message should be "hey voter, did you know you have a super vote? That's right, with your one vote, you can elect 2 senators that will give Ds control of

5. senate & with it REAL police reform. With it, Dreamers not getting deported to countries they've even been to- potentially to die from lack of insulin. With it, the power to save the pre-existing conditions coverage for millions of Americans, including Nicu babies who'd in

1/ Stolen from the greatawakening(DOT)win...

I will only be making one post here. Do not ask who I am. Do with this information as you please.

The Trump Card is being played. It's much simpler than you all realize. Some of you have gotten it right.

THREAD: To cap off the Trump era, I interviewed a politically diverse group of constitutional scholars, presidential historians and experts on democracy to put together a definitive list of Trump's ten most egregious abuses of power. Here's what we found.

1) SUBVERTING THE 2020 ELECTION. There is broad agreement that Trump's worst abuse was his relentless effort to undermine the vote and overturn the legitimate results. No POTUS ever tried a political coup like this. It's simply un-American, experts said.

2) INCITING AN INSURRECTION. We all saw what happened on January 6. Trump incited a rally supporters in DC to attack the US Capitol while electoral votes were being counted. He got impeached for it. A permanent scar on his legacy, experts said.

3) ABUSING THE BULLY PULPIT. Different than other abuses because it's speech, not actions. But still, experts said this was a very big deal. His nonstop lying, attacks, racist rhetoric, and fanning of flames was deeply corrosive to our political culture.

4) POLITICIZING THE DOJ. Trump repeatedly crossed lines and violated norms that have been in place since Watergate to create independence between the WH and federal law enforcement. Wielded DOJ as a weapon against enemies and shield for himself and allies.

NEWS: Trump Campaign Paid Organizers of Pre-Riot Rally $2.7 Million

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign paid more than $2.7 million to individuals and firms that organized the Jan. 6 rally that led to violent rioters storming the U.S. Capitol, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The payments, which span Trump’s re-election campaign, show an ongoing financial relationship between the rally’s organizers and Trump’s political operation.

The payments were all made through Nov. 23, the most recent date covered by Federal Election Commission filings, which is before the rally was publicly announced.

Eight paid Trump campaign officials were named on the permit issued on by the National Park Service for the rally, including Maggie Mulvaney, the niece of Mick Mulvaney,