WhiteHouse Washing

Heartbroken and outraged by the images coming out of Syria following the atrocious chemical attack yesterday.

— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) April 5, 2017

Friend Of A Friend

"What is it going to take?" Watch @arwaCNN's emotional appeal to the world about Syria after gas attack https://t.co/54iLJam8Bs pic.twitter.com/ycqLoMvU5A

— CNN (@CNN) April 4, 2017

Exactly the question. It is our heartlessness there that makes way for demagogues here. We lose ourselves one value at a time. https://t.co/a4QZi2D2b8

— ❤️ (@umairh) April 4, 2017

Imagine how terrible it would have been if ISIS killed these kids instead of the clean shaven suit wearing president who's less complicated.

— Hend Amry (@LibyaLiberty) April 4, 2017

BREAKING: Secretary of State Tillerson ignores question when asked for response to chemical attack massacre in Syria.

— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) April 4, 2017

Remember, Trump has a history of belittling chemical attacks. Him describing a gas attack that killed thousands: pic.twitter.com/jg6Wo5OeQ4

— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) April 4, 2017

Good Questions

Sarah Kendzior, retweets her finds from last August. That Trump in 2014 was planning to leverage his Russian connections is clear. Also clear: his eagerness to get his hands on the US economy, and personally light the match to a purifying flame.

Trump interview from 2014 praises Putin, says he spoke to him personally. And says crash, riots will fix US economy. https://t.co/j2xIipPrUU

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) August 1, 2016

2014: Trump says give Russia a pass because "We're going to win something important later on and they won't be opposed to what we're doing."

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) August 1, 2016

More Russian media from February 2014. Headline: "Donald Trump: Stop picking on Russia!" - https://t.co/w04Qcnbsdg

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) August 1, 2016

This Day In History

No coincidence. Daddy was assassinated exactly 1 yr after #BeyondVietnam (U.S. militarism) & 1 day after #Mountaintop (economic injustice). pic.twitter.com/C0D6M68sUu

— Be A King (@BerniceKing) April 4, 2017

Brotherhood Of Brutes

After no handshake with Merkel, President Trump brushes human rights concerns for not one but two handshakes with Egypt's leader el-Sisi pic.twitter.com/32uOqNpJvz

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) April 3, 2017

"Only Day 70"

By the calendar, maybe. But each day sure feels sort of like dog years elapsed.

It's only Day 70.

And a fmr. Trump official is already asking for immunity to testify in an investigation of POTUS & his campaign aides.

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 30, 2017

Here's that video—Mike Flynn in September 2016: "When you are given immunity, that means that you have probably committed a crime." pic.twitter.com/HqzmQrUPGy

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 31, 2017

Hillary Clinton was interviewed by the FBI, testified for 11 hours before Congress, and made countless public statements without immunity.

— Armando (@armandodkos) March 31, 2017

Flashback—Flynn at the RNC: "Lock her up! That's right. Yep, that's right. Lock her up!" pic.twitter.com/179Z9qD1M1

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 31, 2017

Targets

https://t.co/dy22EHqw2V

— Jeff Pegues (@jeffpeguescbs) March 31, 2017

A suggestion from testimony at Senate Intel hearings—

Former FBI special agent Clint Watts ... told the committee that the Russians may now be trying to cover their tracks.

"Follow the trail of dead Russians," Watts said. "There's been more dead Russians in the past three months that are tied to this investigation who have assets in banks all over the world."

Sarah Posner: Today's Russia hearings actually revealed something new and important. Which was Clinton Watts startling the Senate committee by explaining with what serious journalists and researchers had known—

According to Watts (who was backed up by other witnesses who testified), the Russians have been using "active measures," which are built on propaganda tactics that date back to Soviet times, to spread disinformation, fear, confusion, and chaos in multiple democratic countries, including the United States.

These efforts include the use of visible Kremlin propaganda outlets, such as RT and Sputnik, to publish false news stories and conspiracy theories. Russian actors then deploy social media bots to spread these false stories far and wide. In the U.S., Watts said, the goal has been to provoke the Trump into repeating them or retweeting them to his millions of followers.

In a moment that stunned the hearing room, Watts flatly stated that the president himself has become a cog in such Russian measures. When asked by Oklahoma Republican James Lankford, who appeared visibly dismayed, why, if Russians have long used these methods, they finally worked in this election cycle, Watts' answer was extraordinary.

"I think this answer is very simple and is one no one is really saying in this room," he said. Part of the reason, he went on, "is the commander in chief has used Russian active measures at times against his opponents."

For instance,

Intel chairman says Russia hired more than 1000 hackers to create fake, anti-Clinton news in key states, won by Trump. @jeffpeguescbs, now pic.twitter.com/mmRBcE4qCu

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) March 29, 2017

Also, extensive operations targeting journalists and others.

2. Around the time the NYT profiled my Hillary work, Russian media went after me and Russian accounts threatened to slit my throat.

— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) March 30, 2017

.@leeladaou 4. Nearly 20 years in politics and until 2016 I'd never faced systematic foreign threats simply for participating in the democratic process.

— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) March 30, 2017

.@leeladaou 6. It seems easy for some people to dismiss #TrumpRussia, but I know how serious their efforts were to intimidate and propagandize.

— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) March 30, 2017

.@leeladaou 8. After everything we've learned, it's laughable to pretend #Russia didn't impact the 2016 election. OF COURSE THEY DID.
cc #Nunes #Flynn

— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) March 30, 2017

.@leeladaou 10. There were myriad factors that led to the November 8 outcome, but to say Russia isn't one of them is to make a mockery of reality.

— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) March 30, 2017