If & chose not to disable iMessages & didn’t require agents & officials to manually archive, they chose secrecy & unaccountability politico.com/news/2022/07/2
Deletion without backup is ludicrous: washingtonpost.com/technology/202
Imagine burning paper memoranda this way
Alex Howard’s Tweets
If the people in power do not want records to be created, then there is an inherent conflict, because they are the ones responsible for ensuring those very records are preserved. grid.news/story/science/
That’s why Congressional oversight & IGs are crucial:
Quote Tweet
Discovery of more records destruction by former @DHSgov officials — suggests @TheJusticeDept should have moved immediately to secure devices & messages on 1/7/2021.
washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07
Investigate DoJ inaction, @OversightDems.
@DHSOIG passivity suggests IG should go, @POTUS.
Show this thread
3
3
7
Show this thread
There was a crisis of oversight before the most corrupt administration in US history.
It’s now a civic emergency.
& Congress must do more to ensure muzzled watchdogs bark & bite again:
washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/
Keep your promises, .
Special Committee, .
Quote Tweet
The GAO found 10 agencies — including @FBI & @DHSgov — were aware of planned events on January 6, & 7 were aware of potential violence: gao.gov/products/gao-2
@January6thCmte & @TheJusticeDept need to inform Americans why they didn’t act.
Show this thread
6
5
Show this thread
In 2019, Biden told the American people about reforms to restore faith in government: joebiden.com/governmentrefo
In 2022, has delivered historic aid, but not on promises to restore public trust.
-No Commission on Federal Ethics
-404 Ethics.gov
-404 #OpenGov
Quote Tweet
Dear @POTUS,
Thank you for restoring democratic norms for briefings & disclosure at the @WhiteHouse.
Please appoint the first U.S. Chief Ethics Officer, relaunch Ethics.gov, & focus your administration on anti-corruption & good governance, from personnel to policy.
Show this thread
1
2
1
In a healthy democracy, there is a basic expectation that elected officials & civil servants work for the public, in a government of, by, & for the People.
Secrecy & the destruction of public records robs us of the knowledge we need to be self-governing.
2
7
12
Show this thread
Drizzling along the Anacostia
3
Topics to follow
Sign up to get Tweets about the Topics you follow in your Home timeline.
Carousel
Lightning kills 2 dozen Americans annually — far fewer than a century ago — & injures hundreds more.
weather.gov/safety/lightni
12% increase in lightning activity for each 1°C of global warming would increase risk to humanity
science.org/doi/10.1126/sc
🌡📈🌎⛈
washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/0
Show this thread
Thunderstorms passing DC now, rattling glasses with booming thunderclaps.
I hope they dispel the oppressive heat & humidity with a cloudburst of rain, cleansing the metallic tang of urban summer from the air, & Washingtonians seek shelter from lightning.
washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/
1
2
3
Show this thread
Nice study showing very little in-class transmission, assessed by whole genome sequencing, at Boston University in fall 2021 with vaccine mandate and mask mandate, no distancing.
Quote Tweet
"Of more than 140,000 in-person class events and a total student population of 33,000 between graduate and undergraduate students, only 9 instances of potential in-class transmission were identified, accounting for 0.0045% of all classroom meetings."
jamanetwork.com/journals/jaman
Show this thread
51
550
1,445
Per , ~152,536,000 total nonfarm employees in the USA in July 2022, up from a pre-pandemic high in 2020:
fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PAYEMS
’s claim that “more people are working than at any point” in US history is accurate.
But millions of workers remain inactive.
Show this thread
Good news: +528,000 jobs in July 2022, & 3.5% unemployment rate — a 50-year low:
twitter.com/BLS_gov/status
Go deeper: labor force participation rate fell (62.1%), & is 2.3% lower than 2/2020, when it was already low:
investors.com/news/labor-for
& Congress should do more
Quote Tweet
Payroll employment rises by 528,000 in July; unemployment rate edges down to 3.5% go.usa.gov/vrK #JobsReport #BLSdata
1
2
Show this thread
I’ve gotten a lot of grey & silver hair over the last decade working on open government in Washington, but the pattern of destruction of public records relevant to an attempted auto coup & failed putsch has turned some my beard white. This is unacceptable unaccountability,
2
5
Public records are the backbone of open government.
Transparency & accountability are impossible if documents, email, or texts are destroyed — or if they are never created.
I spoke with about the crisis in good governance in Washington:
1
12
11
NEW: speaks with about the worrisome habit of agencies wiping phones and deleting messages.
4
4
In 2019, Biden told the American people about reforms to restore faith in government: joebiden.com/governmentrefo
In 2022, has delivered historic aid, but not on promises to restore public trust.
-No Commission on Federal Ethics
-404 Ethics.gov
-404 #OpenGov
Quote Tweet
Dear @POTUS,
Thank you for restoring democratic norms for briefings & disclosure at the @WhiteHouse.
Please appoint the first U.S. Chief Ethics Officer, relaunch Ethics.gov, & focus your administration on anti-corruption & good governance, from personnel to policy.
Show this thread
1
2
1
Just like that, web site is already updated with info for vets on how to get burn pit benefits under law passed tonight >>> The PACT Act And Your VA Benefits | Veterans Affairs
100
2,182
7,543
Show this thread
⚖️ arrested , former Governor of Puerto Rico, & charged her with bribery related to her 2020 campaign:
justice.gov/opa/pr/former-
TBD: if DoJ charges a former POTUS with obstruction of Congress or conspiracy to defraud the U.S.:
crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RS
2
4
I honestly cannot express how powerful & important this is. People must understand this work was the core mission at the founding of the . To protect the rights of Black people when state processes fail or refuse to do so. Grateful to AG Garland & .
Quote Tweet
BREAKING: Attorney General Merrick Garland announces that the Justice Department has charged four current and former Louisville Metro Police Department officers with federal crimes related to death of Breonna Taylor. abcn.ws/3JyAEof
0:44
431.4K views
268
3,543
16.7K
There was a crisis of oversight before the most corrupt administration in US history.
It’s now a civic emergency.
& Congress must do more to ensure muzzled watchdogs bark & bite again:
washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/
Keep your promises, .
Special Committee, .
Quote Tweet
The GAO found 10 agencies — including @FBI & @DHSgov — were aware of planned events on January 6, & 7 were aware of potential violence: gao.gov/products/gao-2
@January6thCmte & @TheJusticeDept need to inform Americans why they didn’t act.
Show this thread
6
5
Show this thread
Public trust in US government was high under Eisenhower. It has fallen to historic lows:
pewresearch.org/politics/2019/
Key inflection points:
📉Vietnam
📉Watergate
📉Stagflation
📉Long War in Iraq after 9/11
📉2008 financial crisis
Failure to mitigate pandemic & recession won’t help.
3
8
29
Show this thread
“Cuffari has shown an unwillingness to conduct the independent oversight of federal agencies mandated by law… — instead directing his staff to tread lightly on the conduct of former political appointees in his own party” washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/
New ethics report shows a pattern
3
5
Show this thread
Liberties Rule of Law Report 2022 finds three broad trends among EU countries.
➡️ Deepening authoritarianism
➡️ Neglected democracy
➡️ Improvements are the exception
2
No anti-corruption strategy can be effective while a tolerates an inspector general who has repeatedly failed to conduct oversight & report corruption, fraud, or waste — much less help cover up a self coup.
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/
needs new leadership.
cc
1
4
12
Show this thread
The Homeland Security Inspector General has repeatedly demonstrated he is not up to the job. He needs to be fired. Now.
5
62
113
US government killed a leader of Al Qaeda:
-“US officials” told didn’t do it
-“former official” claimed used a drone
-CIA declined to comment
-“senior official” claimed there were no civilian casualties
nytimes.com/2022/08/01/us/
🌥“Transparency” in 2022
2
3
Show this thread
When the Democratic-Republicans & then the Whigs fell, & could rise:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political
A Sankey diagram visualizes political parties like serpents, with a pair wrestling for power at a time: mappingthenation.com/blog/charting-
charted the modern era.
3
2
Show this thread
RT this tweet if you think the Senate needs to take action to #StopTheTrades and ban members of Congress from owning and trading stocks.
104
115
Does anyone have a spreadsheet & dashboard of how many US Senators are quarantining from #COVID19 right now, and thus cannot cast a vote remotely?
(E.g., does at 49 votes this week, without ?)
1
Show this thread
P.S. That “c” should have been a comma; while “trafficc” could read a like thicc traffic or exotic congestion patterns, it’s really just that my copy editor ✍🏻 needs a stern reminder to read tweets aloud before publishing them. (You’d think that guy would learn after 15+ years.)
1
Show this thread
This is my “back to DC trafficc humidity, mosquitoes, work, and revelations-of-insect-infestations/on-mammals-in-my-care” face, AKA a “Case of the Mondays.”
How’s your day going?
1
3
Show this thread
Why hasn’t the taken stronger executive actions to ensure transparency & accountability after January 6th, as part of a broader #anticorruption strategy & renewal of open government, ?
What does history say about deterrence after failed coup attempts?
cc
Quote Tweet
Replying to @digiphile @DHSgov and 2 others
The retention of Chris Wray at FBI (Jan 6th), Rettig at IRS (auditing Trump's opponents in Comey, McCabe, illegally retaining Trump's tax returns), and Cuffari are all inexplicable.
1
5
The breach of the US Capitol on January 6th was the worst failure of national security failure since 9/11 — arguably, since 1814.
Transparency is necessary for accountability, & 572 later, we still have neither — nor :
failed to stop an attempted coup
Quote Tweet
INCREDIBLY important question. Trump installed loyalists within the Department of Homeland Security. We need a non-Trumpist Inspector General to ferret them out, rather than cover up for them. (1/2) twitter.com/digiphile/stat…
Show this thread
1
4
8
We wrote a memo about this issue in November 2020 that wrote up -- we take no joy in being vindicated. prospect.org/cabinet-watch/
Biden should fire EVERY inherited Trump political official TODAY, a call that we have made every day since January 20, 2021. (2/2)
1
7
8
Show this thread
➕ tested positive for #COVID19 again & shared his status & prognosis: twitter.com/potus/status/1
doctor: has rebound positivity, & isolating: whitehouse.gov/wp-content/upl Responsible!
explains what Paxlovid rebound means:
insidemedicine.bulletin.com/president-bide
Quote Tweet
Folks, today I tested positive for COVID again.
This happens with a small minority of folks.
I’ve got no symptoms but I am going to isolate for the safety of everyone around me.
I’m still at work, and will be back on the road soon.
1
5
Show this thread
As this chart from shows, the history of third-parties in the USA has not been an electorally successful one:
s2.washingtonpost.com/camp-rw/?track
That’s in large because, as wrote, the USA’s current democratic model entrenches a 2-party system. #ddj
5
2
5
Show this thread
Important, clear analysis from : Putin is in thrall to a distinctive brand of Russian fascism economist.com/briefing/2022/ Far-right ultranationalism is fascism, & it’s not limited to 20th century Germany, Italy, or Japan. needs to connect these dots for Americans.
1
1
1
Show this thread
In his book warning of the domestic seeds of fascism in the USA nearly a century ago, John Flynn noted that "the Democratic party adopted a platform which conformed at all points with the views of the liberal elements of that party."
cdn.mises.org/As%20We%20Go%2
1
3
"Putin’s aim is not only to take territory, but to crush the democratic ideal that is flourishing among Russia’s neighbors and their sense of separate national identity."
3
32
66














