“The federal court system produces thousands of pages of documents every single week. The indictments, detention memos and criminal complaints can reveal plenty of important information. But the problem is, almost no one reads them.
Seamus Hughes does.”
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Seamus Hughes
@SeamusHughes
Current: I read a lot of court records because I like a good story. Won a Pulitzer that one time. “A well-known PACER watcher” - Justice Department
Seamus Hughes’s Tweets
In which highlights how prosecutors hide the ball on COURT FILINGS before a long weekend, instead of reminding about the OTHER THINGS they like to do before a long weekend.
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A member of an online discord group, “The Comm” which allegedly ‘swats’ people for money, was charged with targeting a fellow member. courtwatch.news/p/court-watch-
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This week a Michigan man learned a hard truism: it helps for the FBI to make the criminal case of bomb threats when you leave a bomb threat message on the FBI voicemail system.
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According to nbc news, the first assessment was declassified today. It’s underwhelming. The White House strategy doc shouldn’t have call it an assessment. It’s scattershot & not comprehensive. The line that says “at least 5 plots” is widely undercounting
fbi.gov/file-repositor
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In the coming days, folks will review, analyze and dissect the new National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. Some interesting areas of forthcoming government action to keep on the radar. But for me, the FBI/NCTC one is what everyone should keep an eye on
whitehouse.gov/wp-content/upl
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A Louisiana man has pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicare. According to plea docs, Mark Kuehn and his co-conspirators wore lab coats outside of stores and convinced the elderly that they may have cancer, thus that they needed to get a cancer screening.
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A member of an online discord group, “The Comm” which allegedly ‘swats’ people for money, was charged with targeting a fellow member.
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The New York Times is suing to get the name of the individual who posted bail for Congressman George Santos. According to the filing, the Times believes that the court did not follow proper procedure on allowing public access to the court
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January 6th defendant, Troy Smocks, who was sentenced to 14 months for making threats on Parler is suing <checks notes>…Parler for shutting down his account.
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As wild a story as you are likely to read.
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Also if you have a “grievance linked to Israel” and you’re attacking *a kosher grocery or school in Europe*, don’t bucket it in as a “violent extremist perpetrator with grievances linked to Israel.” It doesn’t need that narrow box. It’s simply an antisemitic attack.
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Taking out targeted for a moment, which is still more than five. The word “considered” is particularly broad. At least five considered attacking Jewish communities? That’s the floor number the IC wants to go with?
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I’m really struggling with this line. “In the past 15 years, there have been at least five violent global jihad inspired individuals who have considered or targeted the Jewish community”
I get that the USG boxes things into violent global jihad, vs hve etc but even then.
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If you do an IC assessment, then you do an assessment. You don’t do an Intel bulletin with some random examples and call it an assessment.
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According to nbc news, the first assessment was declassified today. It’s underwhelming. The White House strategy doc shouldn’t have call it an assessment. It’s scattershot & not comprehensive. The line that says “at least 5 plots” is widely undercounting
fbi.gov/file-repositor
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In the coming days, folks will review, analyze and dissect the new National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. Some interesting areas of forthcoming government action to keep on the radar. But for me, the FBI/NCTC one is what everyone should keep an eye on
whitehouse.gov/wp-content/upl
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In tomorrow’s Court Watch Newsletter: an scoopy and sad story about a salesman who wore a lab coat outside of stores and falsely convinced elderly people they may have cancer.
Then sold cancer genetic test to Medicare. All for kickbacks and bribes.
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The best part about new twitter is all the threats and trolls on extremism I used to get in my DMs are now buried by bot messages.
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There’s now an annual antisemitism threat assessment. That’s a huge deal.
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In the coming days, folks will review, analyze and dissect the new National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. Some interesting areas of forthcoming government action to keep on the radar. But for me, the FBI/NCTC one is what everyone should keep an eye on
whitehouse.gov/wp-content/upl
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Confirmed.
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Ok now that they chose Revolutionaries, I can say that I have on good authority that the "Blue Fog" option also contained a secret message- Fog stood for "Friends of George"
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This is a good comprehensive piece.
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"The Targeting of Infrastructure by America’s Violent Far-Right," my latest for @CTCWP with my @TheSoufanCenter colleagues @msaltskog @M_Millender @NaureenCFink ctc.westpoint.edu/the-targeting-
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I beg of you: no more. We had a revolution. This is not our problem.
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First King Charles fails to express any concern over Harry and Meghan’s “nearly catastrophic car chase” and now this trib.al/QheBHAO
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NEW: Thanks to our paid subscribers, our newsletter, CourtWatch.news is expanding. We’re looking to hire freelancers to report for our site. Requirements: has to be an interesting and original piece, that uses federal court records to advance the story. DM if interested.
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Sai Varshith Kandula thought nazis “have a great history,” likes their "authoritarian nature, Eugenics, and their one world order,” and likes “Hitler, because he was a strong leader,” per Secret Service.
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Hey court observers 👋 Save the flyer below as a reminder for your convenience and continue to reference this post!
Want to view C-10 remotely? Use this link: dccourts.gov/sites/default/
Looking for documents related to a case? Find them online 👉dccourts.gov/superior-court
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“More than 450 credibly accused child sex abusers have ministered in the Catholic Church in Illinois over almost seven decades, the office of the state’s attorney general, Kwame Raoul, said Tuesday in an investigative report.”
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PACERgate is happening
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Big story coming tomorrow
We might need another -gateShow this thread
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“[We] humbly believes democracy dies in the darkness,we should afflict the comfortable, comfort the afflicted, & all of that stuff that they engrain in you in J-school & that is sadly reinforced when you’re the only reporter left covering the school board”
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Fairfax University seeks to move to the International Institute of Islamic Thought’s building.
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“A man charged with setting a fire at a Minnesota mosque told authorities he is Muslim and set the fire to protest homelessness, according to court records.”
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“Crow is like most people, in that he feels he has acted with the purest and most honorable intentions. He is unlike many, though, in thinking that the world should take his word for it—and that if it does not, that’s the world’s fault, and not his.”
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Why doesn’t the new media organization focus on long form investigative pieces no one reads and loses money on instead of clickable quick hits is a weird hill to die.
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Leslie Phillips was one of the last of giants in the congressional comms field that now is far too often filled w/ those who see the job as inherently combative, not occasionally combative. The default w/ Leslie was to inform the public. The country is a lesser place without her.
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I can draw a straight line between Leslie and my career in journalism. She taught me the importance of the fourth estate. And she didn’t hestitate to send me ‘editing notes’ from time to time on stories I wrote twenty year after I left the senate. I’ll miss her greatly.
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And she wasn’t a partisan hack. She’d change her mind. Or make your strengthen your position through debate. In fairness, she didn’t quite like republicans, but damned if she didn’t treat everyone with respect
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And she was smart. So smart. She’d spend hours with investigative staff to understand their findings and look for the right news hook. She knew more about the committee than any congressional member.
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Leslie was a perfect flack. She was a former reporter so she respected their jobs. But she wasn’t shy to express when they got it wrong. She fought feverishly for her congressional member. And then she’d have a drink with the reporter after a fight.
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I learned a lesson that day. We all screw up. We make mistakes, but how your bosses and colleagues react to an honest mistake tells you a lot. And it engrains loyalty.
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Leslie sat me down, explained to me where I had gone wrong, then reamed out the reporter for running the quote. She never conceded to the reporter or anyone else I was actually in the wrong. But I knew. And she knew. That was enough.
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