1/ I have a few thoughts about Mitchell’s letter that I wanted to share. Random order. Mitchell says no rational prosecutor would bring a cases based on the evidence before the Committee, but that’s not really the issue here.

https://twitter.com/frankthorp/status/1046600679115149312

2/ I have never, as a prosecutor, concluded I would not move forward because the victim’s statement was uncorroborated, BEFORE investigators had the chance to investigate. That’s not how it works. Decisions about whether to prosecute are made after investigation is complete.

I’m at #TribFest18 in Austin, an incredible speaker fest you should google if you haven’t heard about. Later this morning @amyklobuchar is speaking. I’ll be here all day & on a couple of panels. I’ll keep it all in this thread so you can mute it if this isn’t your cup of tea. I met this incredibly nice man on the way in who tells me Texas will have record voter registration for the midterms including young people & formerly incarcerated people who have regained the right to vote.

Asked by Senator Leahy whether Mark Judge should testify, Kavanaugh won’t say yes. He complains about delays & says Judge submitted an affidavit, but refuses to agree he should testify & be subjected to cross examination. This damages his credibility, perhaps irrevocably. Leahy asks whether Kavanaugh is the drunken Bart O’Kavanaugh character in Judge’s book. Kavanaugh says Leahy will have to ask Judge. The look on Leahy’s face says that’s the whole point here.

1/ Trump isn't a fan of the FBI, but the truth is, the men & women who make up the Bureau work day in & day out to keep the American people safe. There are Joint Terrorism Task Forces across the country that bring federal, state & local law enforcement together to keep us safe.

https://twitter.com/NorahODonnell/status/1039491220794421248

2/ There are cases of national prominence, like the AbdulMutallab, who tried to take down a plane flying into Detroit with a shoe bomb on my good friend @BarbMcQuade's 1st day on board as US Attorney. cnn.com/2012/02/16/jus…

I got to wondering just how many Russian Oligarchs attended the Trump inauguration in light of Sam Patten's (he's Manafort's buddy & former GRU Agent Kilimnik's business partner) plea deal, in which he acknowledged illegally funneling foreign money to the inauguration. 1 of ? There's a lot of information out there. I don't have a headcount, but, there is a lot of reporting that mentions Russian Oligarchs who attended inaugural festivities. This June 2018 story reports that Mueller was investigating them. thehill.com/homenews/admin…

1. Here's a little public service announcement about your vote & the November elections. If you live in a state that is pruning its voter rolls or moving people to inactive status & you want to make sure you can vote on 11/6, what should you do? Read on, the time to act is now. 2. The Nat'l Voter Registration Action, also called the Motor Voter Act, provides that list maintenance programs cannot be undertaken within 90 days of a federal election. What is list maintenance & why should you care?

1/ Collusion has become a short hand term that is widely used for the entire range of conduct Trump & people in his orbit have engaged in, that makes us suspicious about his relationship with Russia. 2/ Today, in the face of mounting evidence that Trump may have had advance notice of the Trump Tower meeting with Russians, Rudy Giuliani engaged in his most recent goal post-moving exercise, maintaining that even if there was collusion, it's not a crime.

1/2 A white supremacist group based in Alabama, The League of the South, is parroting Butina, using its website to promote the view in English & in Russian that "the Russian people and Southerners are natural allies." The League has chapters in 16 states. al.com/news/index.ssf…

https://twitter.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/1020762228881051651

This is Putin-talk to divide & weaken us: "As fellow Whites of northern European extraction, we come from the same general gene pool. As inheritors of the European cultural tradition, we share similar values, customs & ways of life. & as Christians, we worship the same Lord."

Sorry-there's more. Possibly a lot more. Reading the affidavit, which references Butina arranging meetings with an "organization promoting gun rights" in the US for the purpose of advancing Russia's agenda. Back to reading. There will be more.

https://twitter.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/1018942055379275776

This complaint is only for Butina, but the Oligarch Alexsander Torshin is an unnamed co-conspirator, who is not mentioned by name but fits the description of a Russian who was previously at the legislature, worked at the Central Bank and attended NRA meetings.

Reps Gowdy & Goodlatte’s attempt to force FBI Agent Strzok (who isn’t even under subpoena) to answer questions about an ongoing investigation, despite FBI Counsel’s direction he may not answer, is a political stunt & the very picture of a witch hunt. Also, the look on Peter Strzok’s face

This is astonishing. It's an arson on federal lands case, prosecuted by the US Atty's Office in Oregon. Press release at conviction, here: justice.gov/usao-or/pr/eas… There is no good reason for these pardons. Trump is using a tool meant to do justice in a wholly arbitrary fashion.

https://twitter.com/JenniferJJacobs/status/1016689120809291776

A little more detail on the Hammonds, the Bundys, whose prolonged stand off with the government you may recall. washingtonpost.com/news/morning-m…

Jeff Sessions is also a huge supporter of private prisons. After DOJ discontinued their use, he restored them. & it’s Sessions’ zero tolerance policy that has given them even more opportunity for profit. nonprofitquarterly.org/2017/02/27/fol…

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GEO, the provider that benefitted from Sessions’ decision to return to use of private prisons despite a negative IG report also received the administration’s 1st immigration detention facility contracts. It moved its annual dinner to Trump’s Doral resort. google.com/amp/s/www.wash…

New & interesting: Mueller is looking into May 2016 contact between Russians offering to sell info about Clinton & officials in the Trump campaign, who “forgot” about the meeting in Congressional testimony. Sounds like Mueller helped them remember. washingtonpost.com/politics/trump… Roger Stone was sent by the campaign staff to meet with the Russian, who wanted $2million for the information: “You don’t understand Donald Trump,” Stone recalled saying." “He doesn’t pay for anything.”

1/2 Mueller has moved to revoke or revise Paul Manafort's bond pending trial because the Government has evidence he has engaged in witness tampering while on release. drive.google.com/file/d/14YFpZP… 2/2 It's the stuff of spy novels. Although remanding Manafort to custody to await trial isn't mandatory at this point, the Government has a very persuasive case for jailing him, because committing a new crime violates his conditions of release.

1/ In honor of today’s Supreme Court argument in an Ohio case that will decide if the state can remove you from voter rolls if you don’t vote, here’s an explainer thread for non-lawyers on some voting rights issues.

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2/ First, there’s the idea of voter fraud. This means ballots cast by people who are not entitled to vote, for instance some felons, dead people or people who aren’t citizens. Trump created a commission to find voting fraud but they couldn’t find any.

Thread: There are four issues surfacing in today’s Alabama Senate election that voters should be aware of. 2/ The new rule against crossover voting DOES NOT apply to this election. Crossover only applies in a primary followed by a runoff. In that situation, you must vote in the runoff & original primary of the same party. Today you can vote for any candidate, no matter your past votes

Thread: Lawfare poll finds distrust of Special Counsel Mueller. Does this matter & should you trust him? lawfareblog.com/note-caution-r… 2/ First off, a contrary pool also came out yesterday showing Mueller has a 58% approval rating google.com/amp/s/www.wash…