Spencer Ackerman
National security reporter for the Daily Beast. Writing a book, REIGN OF TERROR, for Viking, spring 2021. [email protected]
Last synced from Twitter 1175d ago
Pressure Builds on Biden to Knock Down ‘Every Mile’ of Trump’s Wall
The monument to nativism spans 371 miles. Border communities and activists consider it “an attack on our heritage and our identity.” But Biden hasn’t pledged to uproot it.
Trump Escalated Obama’s War in Yemen
New statistics show that Trump launched 231 airstrikes or ground raids in Yemen during his first four years. Obama launched 255 in all eight of his.
2
Spencer Ackerman
Annals of the Peace Presidency That Totally Hates Endless Wars And Is Fighting The Deep State To End Them
81d
Pompeo Under Investigation for RNC Speech From Jerusalem
An inquiry into the Pompeo appearance as a potential violation of the Hatch Act, which bars using a federal office for electioneering.
2
Spencer Ackerman
Eliot Engel & Nita Lowey just announced that an anti corruption watchdog is investigating Pompeo
83d
FBI Sits on Report Detailing White-Supremacist Terror Threat
In violation of the law, the FBI won’t deliver a legally required report on domestic terrorism before an election that many security veterans fear may spark some level of violence.
5
Spencer Ackerman
NEW: the FBI is legally required to produce a public report on white supremacist and other domestic terrorism. They’re 4 months late and counting, and no one thinks this is coming before the election.
83d
U.S. Foreign Policy Never Recovered From the War on Terror
The United States should undertake a comprehensive review to explore the consequences of U.S. antiterrorism policy since 9/11.
1
Spencer Ackerman
Another urgent piece this morning comes from @mattduss, who tells the Blob what it doesn’t want to hear: the war on terror it justified helped create Trump. As long as the war survives, it will create more Trumps. But Matt has a way out.
87d
Pack the Court, Save the Vote
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appears poised to entrench minoritarian rule without the consent of the electorate.
3
Spencer Ackerman
Too many lines to quote in this tremendous piece from @AdamSerwer on court packing and democracy, but this one 👀: “Roberts knew which knife he wanted to use to gut the Voting Rights Act, but he had to wipe Taney’s fingerprints from the handle first.”
87d
FBI Examining Hunter’s Laptop As Foreign Op, Contradicting Trump’s Intel Czar
DNI Ratcliffe said on Monday there was no intel to support Russia being behind Hunter Biden’s laptop contents. But investigators are still looking into it.
‘Straight to Gunshots’: How a U.S. Task Force Killed an Antifa Activist
New accounts from the scene raise questions about whether Michael Reinoehl, suspected of killing a far-right Trump supporter, pulled out a gun before officers fatally shot him.
1
Spencer Ackerman
“There has to be retribution when you have crime like this” nytimes.com/2020/10/13/us/… pic.twitter.com/ggiV452jRJ
95d
Team Trump Admits Its ‘Russiagate’ Head Fake Has Been a Flop
Loyalists like Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe are trying to craft a counter-narrative. But the country isn’t in the mood for the tale.
3
Spencer Ackerman
New from @swin24 & me, a late flail from the Trumpists and the shape of intelligence politicization to come
99d
White House Quietly Told Vets Group It Might Have Exposed Them to COVID
The first known White House warning to visitors about a coronavirus risk came the same day that the president acknowledged getting the virus.
Trump Wants to Oust FBI Director Chris Wray After the Election
The president has indicated that he wants to cut loose his top cop. He’s even solicited recommendations for a replacement.
3
Spencer Ackerman
NEW: With @swin24, if Trump gets re-elected, he’s telling people he’s going to fire Christopher Wray. FBI Trumplandia redux.
104d
Lindsey Graham on Spreading Potential Russian Disinformation: It Doesn’t Matter If It’s True
A burning desire among Trump fans to paint the president as the true victim of Russia saga of 2016 has led us to some remarkable places.
Trump Got a ‘Kick Out Of’ the Election Fears He’s Stoked. Inside the DOJ, There’s Some Panic.
Justice Department prosecutors expect Bill Barr to join election lawsuits benefitting Trump, who thinks it’s funny not to promise a peaceful transition of power.
H.R. McMaster Tries to Wish Away His Old Boss Donald Trump
Don’t look to the former national security adviser’s new book for revelations about his time serving Trump. Look to it for its evasions—which explain that service to Trump so well.
1
Spencer Ackerman
NEW: I got an early copy of HR McMaster’s book. It’s a masterpiece of evasion — not just about his service to Trump, but about how American foreign policy made a Trump figure inevitable.
119d
U.S. Intel Repeatedly Warned About Rudy’s ‘Russian Agent’ Pal
For a year and a half, U.S. intelligence warned that Andriy Derkach was suspected of election interference. Yet Derkach—and his wild beliefs—kept drawing more Trumpist adherents.
2
Spencer Ackerman
NEW: Multiple times over the past year and a half, US intelligence warned that Andrii Derkach was among several foreigners involved in election interference. Treasury sanctioned him last week as a Russian “agent.”
122d
Cops Are Using Over $1 Billion in Post-9/11 Military Gear
From mine-resistant vehicles to robots to semi-automatic weapons, a new study documents the Pentagon hardware still in police custody during a generation-long war.
He Hunted Bin Laden for CIA. Now He Wants Americans Dead.
Michael Scheuer used to hunt Osama bin Laden, whom he now says he admires. Now his quarry is Donald Trump’s enemies, whom he equates with terrorists.
6
Spencer Ackerman
NEW: The first chief of the CIA’s Osama bin Laden Unit is now urging a civil war — against the “terrorists” of Black Lives Matter and millions of other Americans. He represents this summer’s phenomenon of the war on terror being aimed at home.
124d
Trump’s Troop Withdrawal Is a ‘Disingenuous’ Election Year Ploy, Officials Say
Trump has told allies he wants to announce an Afghan troop withdrawal “before November.” And the Iraq pullback is “politically timed... to match Afghanistan,” officials say.
2
Spencer Ackerman
New from me & @swin24: the Iraq drawdown numbers are likely to be election-year bullshit, our sources say. There have been thousands more in Iraq this year than the official “5200 troops” figure.
129d
“Allende Wins”
Washington D.C., September 4, 2020 – “Chile voted calmly to have a Marxist-Leninist state, the first nation in the world to make this choice freely and knowingly,” U.S. Ambassador Edward Korry dramatically reported to Washington in a cable titled...
1
Spencer Ackerman
50 years ago today, Chile voted for Allende and socialism. Nixon, Kissinger, the CIA and Pinochet would not let that stand. The National Security Archive has memos from the US ambassador at the time
135d
Postal Chiefs Warn: Workers’ ‘Heroic’ Efforts Won’t Save the Vote
“Despite the heroic efforts ...the reality is, that’s going to be a difficult situation for that voter to have their vote counted,” one official said.