National Butterfly

1/ NEW: After the DOJ announced the indictment of Steve Bannon & three @WeBuildtheWall associates, @realDonaldTrump said he didn't know anyone involved in the project and “didn't like it.” But We Build the Wall employees have suggested otherwise.

2/ @TheAmandaShea, CFO of We Build the Wall and the wife of one of those indicted, posted on Instagram in 2019: “I had the absolute pleasure and honor of spending time with President Trump who had a lot of questions about the wall. ... He was impressed …” https://www.instagram.com/p/B1pbpAFl1_I/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link …

3/ The same day she tweeted about the meeting, adding: “...[I] answered very specific questions about the wall @WeBuildTheWall built. He said I really know my stuff & our group needs to bid the whole wall project."https://twitter.com/TheAmandaShea/status/1162527261980913664?s=20 …

4/ Last year, We Build the Wall's CEO @BrianKolfage claimed to have a back channel to the administration through Bannon and Kris Kobach, the group’s general counsel. “President Trump loves what we are doing,” Kolfage told Gateway Pundit, a far-right news and opinion website.

6/ In November, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf visited the group’s first wall project in Sunland Park, New Mexico. He called it a “game changer” that he “welcomed."

7/ Neither Shea, Kolfage or the White House responded in time for comment.

8/ The president took steps weeks ago to distance himself from a private border project built with support from @WeBuildTheWall, following a report from @JinATX, @Perla_Trevizo & me showing the new wall was already eroding.https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1282276752090431490 …