Heidi Rand Actions, Call and Email MoCs, Call Scripts, Congressional legislation, newsletter action, Rallies & Protests, Uncategorized

Release the full Mueller report

Deadline: ASAP and every day until the complete report is released –

Update Monday April 1: The national Trump Is Not Above the Law coalition is moving forward with the #ReleaseTheReport day of action on this April 4. If you haven’t already, find and RSVP to attend a Nobody Is Above the Law rapid response rally near you. You’ll get info and alerts if/when a response is called by your local organizers. 

Special Counsel Robert Mueller finished his report, which we finally learned is nearly 400 pages long, not including tables and appendices, but Congress still hasn’t seen the full report with underlying documentation, and neither have we! Attorney General William Barr’s March 24 four-page summary is a Cliffs Notes version that raises more questions than it answers.

Democrats are pushing hard for complete disclosure. Six lead House Democratic chairs of committees that are investigating 45 and his cronies for abuses of power gave Barr until April 2 to deliver the full Mueller Report to Congress. Barr told them on March 29 that he’ll miss that deadline, but expects to release a redacted public report by mid-April. House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler is standing firm by the April 2 deadline. We didn’t fall for Barr’s first whitewash, and we won’t accept the Cover-up Attorney General’s scrubbed version — we stand with Chair Nadler and the Democrats: Congress must get the full Special Counsel’s report and all underlying investigatory evidence, and the public must see everything, with only very narrowly drawn redactions.

What to do:

  • Find and RSVP to attend a Nobody Is Above the Law rapid response rally near you. You’ll get info and alerts if/when a response is called
  • No local protest? Sign up to host one. And spread the word by sending the link to everyone you know
  • Tell your Members of Congress that we demand transparency and complete disclosure of the Special Counsel’s report and investigation. Every day that passes without the full truth, Individual-1 and his minions continue to use the self-serving Barr letter to target and try to silence the people who are speaking out and investigating him. Take action, and keep reading below the call to action for more info & background.

What to say:

My name is ______________, my zip code is ______, and I’m a member of Indivisible East Bay. I want to thank _________ for supporting disclosing the Special Counsel’s report to the American people. I want _______ to insist that Attorney General Barr immediately give the full Special Counsel’s report and all underlying investigatory materials to Congress. The full report and materials also have to be made public. I also want Congress to continue investigating Trump beyond the scope of the Mueller investigation.

  • Sen. Dianne Feinstein: (email); (415) 393-0707 • DC: (202) 224-3841
  • Sen. Kamala Harris: (email); (415) 981-9369 • DC: (202) 224-3553
  • Rep. Mark DeSaulnier: (email); (510) 620-1000 • DC: (202) 225-2095
  • Rep. Barbara Lee: (email); (510) 763-0370 • DC: (202) 225-2661
  • Rep. Eric Swalwell: (email); (510) 370-3322 • DC: (202) 225-5065

 

For more info & background, and to learn what actions we’ve been taking for over a year, read our past articles:

Also, see Indivisible National’s updated webpage, and their informational article, and sign MoveOn’s Pledge to Mobilize.

Indivisible East Bay members and fellow activists got rousing honks and fists raised in solidarity from drivers at the March 27 El Cerrito Shows Up, where we waved signs and talked to passers-by about our demands that the full Special Counsel report be released to the public! If a rapid response event is called, we’ll meet at the same location. You can RSVP for the El Cerrito event here.

El Cerrito Shows Up March 27 2019 Release the Mueller Report
El Cerrito Shows Up March 27 2019 Release the Mueller Report
Release the Report

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Photos by Heidi Rand

Heidi Rand Actions, Call and Email MoCs, Call Scripts, Congressional legislation, Rallies & Protests, Uncategorized

We demand the truth

Deadline: ASAP –

See our latest article, updated on March 30

Update March 28: Special Counsel Robert Mueller completed his report, but Congress hasn’t seen the full report with underlying documentation yet and neither have we.  Attorney General William Barr delivered his supplemental letter, a highly truncated summary of the Special Counsel’s report on March 24, but the letter raises more questions than it answers. Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer’s joint statement in response said, in part:

Congress requires the full report and the underlying documents so that the Committees can proceed with their independent work, including oversight and legislating to address any issues the Mueller report may raise. …  The American people have a right to know.

On March 26 the DOJ reported that Barr will make a “version” of the report public in weeks. We’re not buying it! We didn’t fall for Barr’s first whitewash, his four-page Cliffs Notes letter, and we won’t accept any “version” Trump’s Cover-up Attorney General is selling, other than the full Special Counsel’s report.

We have a right to know: we demand to see the full report, and all underlying investigatory materials not subject to legitimate privilege. Every day that passes without the full truth, Individual-1 and his minions will continue to use the self-serving Barr letter to target and try to silence the people who are speaking out and investigating him. Take action, and keep reading below the call to action for more info & background.

What you can do:

1. Tell your Members of Congress that we the people demand transparency and complete disclosure of the Special Counsel’s report and investigation. 

What to say:

My name is ______________, my zip code is ______, and I’m a member of Indivisible East Bay. I want to thank _________ for supporting disclosing the Special Counsel’s report to the American people. I want _______ to insist that Attorney General Barr immediately give the full Special Counsel’s report and all underlying investigatory materials to Congress. The full report and materials also have to be made public. I also want Congress to continue investigating Trump beyond the scope of the Mueller investigation.

  • Sen. Dianne Feinstein: (email); (415) 393-0707 • DC: (202) 224-3841
  • Sen. Kamala Harris: (email); (415) 981-9369 • DC: (202) 224-3553
  • Rep. Mark DeSaulnier: (email); (510) 620-1000 • DC: (202) 225-2095
  • Rep. Barbara Lee: (email); (510) 763-0370 • DC: (202) 225-2661
  • Rep. Eric Swalwell: (email); (510) 370-3322 • DC: (202) 225-5065

2. What else you can do:

Even though the report is complete, there’s still a danger that we’ll need to mobilize. Some of the original red lines that would trigger a mass protest are still in place, and particularly important are these new ones added in September 2018:

[A protest would be set in motion if:] The Mueller investigation releases findings showing significant wrongdoing by Donald Trump. Or Congress or the administration blocks the public from seeing Mueller’s findings.

  • Find and RSVP to attend a Nobody Is Above the Law rapid response rally near you (900+ events are pre-registered in case a response is called). Attorney General William Barr has until Tuesday, April 2, to send the full Mueller Report to Congress. That’s the deadline set this week by six House committee chairs, after which they’ll consider Barr to be non-compliant and will issue a subpoena. We’ll know by the following morning, Wednesday, whether he has met that deadline or is refusing to make it public. If Barr misses the deadline to make the Mueller report public, shielding the Trump administration from public accountability, the Nobody Is Above the Law rapid-response network will likely be activated on Wednesday morning, calling for a national day of action the following day, THURSDAY, APRIL 4, at 5 p.m. local time.
  • No local rally? Sign up to host one. And spread the word by sending the link to everyone you know
  • Sign MoveOn’s Pledge to Mobilize
  • See Indivisible National’s updated webpage, and their informational article

 

More info & background:

On March 22, Special Counsel Robert Mueller delivered his report on the Trump-Russia investigation to Attorney General William Barr. Barr has committed to transparency, but it’s up to us to make sure Barr forwards the complete, original Special Counsel’s report and all underlying investigatory documents to Congress. And after Congress receives the materials, they must be made public, with appropriate redactions for legitimate national security reasons.

Democrats are speaking out, and demanding full disclosure. Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer put out a joint statement calling for Barr to make the full report public, and to provide the underlying documentation to Congress. Our Representatives had already voted for disclosure: on March 14, 2019 the House passed, by a vote of  420-0 (yes, that’s a ZERO), a resolution calling on the Department of Justice to make the special counsel’s findings and full report public and available to Congress. Our own CA-11 Representative Mark DeSaulnier led the debate on H. Con. Res 208. Our Senators both spoke out in favor of disclosure, but Republicans blocked a vote on the bill in the Senate.

In addition, shortly after news about the report hit, DeSaulnier posted a tweet, ” … The AG should send the report to Congress expeditiously & abide by Congressional intent to make the findings public. The American people deserve transparency & accountability.” And Rep. Eric Swalwell tweeted: “Show us the report. Now. The American people spoke loudly, and clearly last November: we choose a balance of power over abuse of power. “ Representative Barbara Lee also spoke out.

In an email statement, Senator Kamala Harris said: “You have my commitment that I will not rest until the truth is delivered publicly and in full.” She included a petition, which reads: “Americans deserve to know the truth now that the Mueller report is complete. The report must be released immediately and Attorney General Barr must publicly testify under oath about the investigation’s findings. We need total transparency here.” Senator Dianne Feinstein has previously spoken out strongly in favor of release.

While we mobilize to make sure the complete report isn’t hidden from Congress, or us, we should prepare to understand what it’s likely to have in it. AG Barr and Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein have indicated that the Special Counsel’s report probably won’t touch on anyone who hasn’t already been indicted. And since the Department of Justice may be following its policy that a sitting president may not be indicted (there’s disagreement about that), Mueller’s report likely won’t include information detailing criminal wrongdoing by Individual-1. He’ll call that a win, but — it hardly needs saying — don’t believe him: this just means that his wrongdoing can’t be detailed in Mueller’s summary of his investigation. All the more reason that we need Barr to disclose all of the underlying investigatory documents, to ensure 45 is held fully accountable. Barr himself has said that the place for the president to be held accountable is in Congress; thus, Congress must get the entire Mueller report and investigatory materials. The White House has been stonewalling the House Democrats’ investigations, so we must continue to support our Representatives who are standing up in their search for the truth.

For more historical background, and to learn what actions we’ve been taking for over a year, read our past articles in reverse chronological order:

Heidi Rand Actions, Call and Email MoCs, Call Scripts, Congressional legislation, Rallies & Protests, Uncategorized

We the people demand to see the report

 

Deadline: ASAP today and every day –

Last November hundreds of thousands of us, mobilized by the Nobody is Above the Law (NIATL) network (begun by MoveOn and now made up of a coalition of many other groups), hit the streets to stand up for the rule of law and protect the independence of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia investigation. 

The NIATL network’s red lines that would trigger another mass protest include some original ones: if Trump fired Mueller, pardoned key witnesses, or took another action that prevented the investigation from being conducted freely. Other red lines have been formulated as Trump and his GOP enablers have repeatedly tried to denigrate, obstruct, or shut down the investigation. These red lines were added in September 2018:

[A protest would be set in motion if:] The Mueller investigation releases findings showing significant wrongdoing by Donald Trump. Or Congress or the administration blocks the public from seeing Mueller’s findings.

Attorney General William Barr is now overseeing the investigation. Barr was cagey during his confirmation hearing, indicating he might not make the entire report public, and saying he’d “provide as much transparency as I can consistent with the law.” There have previously been incorrect reports that the investigation was wrapping up, and  apparently the articles coming out on February 20 (a mere week after Barr’s appointment) are true, that he was preparing to announce the completion of the investigation as soon as the following week, and that he plans to submit a summary of Mueller’s report to Congress soon after, are also incorrect. One analyst had predicted this, writing that it likely would not have been THE confidential report dictated by the Special Counsel regulations, but rather a partial report.

Regardless of the timing, we should take steps NOW to make sure the report is released to the public. Senators Blumenthal and Grassley have introduced S. 236, the Special Counsel Transparency Act of 2019, a bipartisan bill that would require the Mueller investigation findings to be made fully available to Congress AND the public. Neither Senators Feinstein nor Harris have cosponsored.

What to do NOW:

Let your Members of Congress know that the investigation must be protected, and that whenever it’s ready, the entire report should be released to the public.

What to say to Senators Feinstein and Harris:

My name is ______________, my zip code is ______, and I’m a member of Indivisible East Bay. Please do all you can in Congress to hold Trump accountable and protect the Mueller investigation. Only Mueller should decide when his investigation is complete. And when he’s done, the public should see his full report. Please support and cosponsor the Special Counsel Transparency Act.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein: (email); (415) 393-0707 • DC: (202) 224-3841
Sen. Kamala Harris: (email); (415) 981-9369 • DC: (202) 224-3553

What to say to Representatives DeSaulnier, Lee and Swalwell:

My name is ______________, my zip code is ______, and I’m a member of Indivisible East Bay. Please do all you can in Congress to hold Trump accountable and protect the Mueller investigation. Only Mueller should decide when his investigation is complete. And when he’s done, the public should see his full report.

Rep. Mark DeSaulnier: (email); (510) 620-1000 • DC: (202) 225-2095
Rep. Barbara Lee: (email); (510) 763-0370 • DC: (202) 225-2661
Rep. Eric Swalwell: (email); (510) 370-3322 • DC: (202) 225-5065

What else you can do:

Heidi Rand Actions, Call and Email MoCs, Call Scripts, Congressional legislation, Rallies & Protests, Uncategorized

Act now to protect Mueller

Deadline: today and every day –

Hundreds of thousands of us took to the streets nationwide on November 8th to stand up for the rule of law and protect the independence of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia investigation. 

By forcing out Jeff Sessions, and illegally installing* the unqualified Matthew Whitaker as Acting Attorney General to oversee the Mueller investigation, Trump is blatantly moving to shut down the investigation into his own crimes and corruption. Whitaker has frequently criticized the Mueller investigation, echoing Trump’s “witch hunt” smear and proposed cutting Mueller’s budget. 

What to do NOW:

Contact your Members of Congress! Senators Feinstein and Harris have already spoken out, as have Representatives DeSaulnier, Lee, and Swalwell. Thank them and urge them to do everything they can to protect the independence of the investigation.

What to say:

My name is ______________, my zip code is ______, and I’m a member of Indivisible East Bay. Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker has a profound conflict and must be removed from overseeing the Mueller investigation. Please do all you can in Congress to hold Trump accountable and protect the Mueller investigation.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein: (email); (415) 393-0707 • DC: (202) 224-3841
Sen. Kamala Harris: (email); (415) 355-9041 • DC: (202) 224-3553
Rep. Mark DeSaulnier: (email); (510) 620-1000 • DC: (202) 225-2095
Rep. Barbara Lee: (email); (510) 763-0370 • DC: (202) 225-2661
Rep. Eric Swalwell: (email); (510) 370-3322 • DC: (202) 225-5065

What else you can do:

 

Indivisible East Bay members flooded the streets with their friends and fellow progressives in the several Bay Area Nobody Is Above the Law protests! Here are some photos from the El Cerrito event, which many IEB members helped organize.

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Photographs © Heidi Rand

*We don’t normally cite to news sources with paywalls, but in this case the linked article is an opinion piece in the New York Times, so we are citing to the original source

Heidi Rand Actions, Events, Get Involved, newsletter action, Rallies & Protests, Uncategorized

Rapid response protests called for 11/8 at 5 PM

BREAKING: PROTESTS CALLED FOR THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 5 PM LOCAL TIME, by the Nobody Is Above the Law network

Donald Trump has installed a crony to oversee the Special Counsel Trump-Russia investigation, crossing a red line set to protect the investigation. By replacing Rod Rosenstein with just-named Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker as special counsel Robert Mueller’s boss on the investigation, Trump has undercut the independence of the investigation. Whitaker has publicly outlined strategies to stifle the investigation and cannot be allowed to remain in charge of it.

The Nobody Is Above the Law network and its coalition of partners has demanded that Whitaker immediately commit not to assume supervision of the investigation, and its hundreds of response events are being launched to demonstrate the public demand for action to correct this injustice. The NIAL demands are:

  • Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker has a profound conflict and must be removed from overseeing the Mueller investigation.
  • Congress must exercise its Constitutional authority to hold the President accountable and pass legislation to protect the Mueller investigation.
  • Any future Attorney General appointed by Trump must issue a public order giving Mueller full independence to complete the investigation without political interference.

What to do NOW:

 

Some ways to prepare:

  • Read the ACLU’s article Know Your Rights: Free Speech, Protests & Demonstrations
  • Download the ACLU’s Mobile Justice app to record police activity and send it immediately to the ACLU affiliate nearest you. Get the California app, MobileJusticeCA
  • Put the National Lawyers Guild hotline numbers into your phone, and write them on your arm in ink:
    • to call from local jails ONLY: 415-285-1011
    • outside of jail calls, call NLG hotline volunteers: 415-909-4NLG (4654)
    • if no answer, send an email to the NLG Demonstrations Committee at nlgsfhotline@protonmail.com
  • Get your go-bag together:
    • charged cell phone and portable power if you have
    • water bottle and energy bars or other portable food
    • medications you may need
    • layers of clothing to add if it gets cold
    • a sign with your message

Note, these are the “red lines” previously issued by MoveOn, Indivisible, and many other groups:

    • If Trump fires Mueller or Rosenstein
    • If Trump pardons key witnesses
    • If Trump takes another action that prevents the investigation from being conducted freely, such as replacing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Mueller’s current supervisor or repealing the regulations establishing the office
    • Additional red line added on Sept. 24: The Mueller investigation releases findings showing significant wrongdoing by Donald Trump. Or Congress or the administration blocks the public from seeing Mueller’s findings.

 

Heidi Rand Actions, Congressional legislation, Events, Get Involved, newsletter action, Rallies & Protests, Uncategorized

A Rosenstein red line?

When last we met for a Trump-Russia investigation update, we were concerned that the August 21, 2018 convictions of Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen had shoved us closer to the precipice of a constitutional crisis.

Well, a month later it feels like we’re dangling by our fingertips. Breaking news on September 24 about Rod Rosenstein’s status as deputy Attorney General included conflicting accounts on whether he was planning to resign, had been fired, or remained in his post as Robert Mueller’s boss on the investigation. The White House eventually said that Rosenstein still had a job, but would meet with the Current Occupant on Thursday, September 27.

Because as of now Rosenstein has not been fired, the Nobody Is Above the Law network has NOT triggered the rapid-response plan. Indivisible National’s updated article makes an additional point that the administration is sowing chaos to distract from the ongoing fight over the Supreme Court, and until we have news that Rosenstein has been fired, we must focus on supporting the brave survivors coming forward to tell their stories and fight to keep Brett Kavanaugh from getting confirmed.

These are “red lines” issued by MoveOn, Indivisible, and many other groups, meaning that any of the following will trigger mass protest:

  • If Trump fires Mueller or Rosenstein
  • If Trump pardons key witnesses
  • If Trump takes another action that prevents the investigation from being conducted freely, such as replacing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Mueller’s current supervisor or repealing the regulations establishing the office
  • Additional red line added on Sept. 24: The Mueller investigation releases findings showing significant wrongdoing by Donald Trump. Or Congress or the administration blocks the public from seeing Mueller’s findings.

What you can do now:

Contact your Members of Congress! See our article for a historical overview of the bills introduced to protect the investigation, none of which have progressed.

  • Call your Senators and ask them to:
    • Demand a vote on, and to support the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act (S. 2644) to protect Mueller and the Russia investigation.
    • Protect the special counsel’s office, including preserving its files and staff and ensuring it receives the full cooperation of all federal government law enforcement assets.
    • Demand the creation of a modern-day version of the Senate Select Watergate Committee to investigate all matters involved in the Russia scandals and Trump’s abuse of power and obstruction of justice
  • Call your Representative and ask him or her to do all they can to pass legislation to protect the Special Counsel and the investigation, and to call for bipartisan hearings in the House Judiciary Committee on obstruction of justice and abuse of power

Sen. Dianne Feinstein: (email); (415) 393-0707 • DC: (202) 224-3841
Sen. Kamala Harris: (email); (415) 355-9041 • DC: (202) 224-3553
Rep. Mark DeSaulnier: (email); (510) 620-1000 • DC: (202) 225-2095
Rep. Barbara Lee: (email); (510) 763-0370 • DC: (202) 225-2661
Rep. Eric Swalwell: (email); (510) 370-3322 • DC: (202) 225-5065

And prepare if we need to hit the streets:

  • Read the ACLU’s article Know Your Rights: Free Speech, Protests & Demonstrations
  • Download the ACLU’s Mobile Justice app to record police activity and send it immediately to the ACLU affiliate nearest you. Get the California app, MobileJusticeCA
  • Put the National Lawyers Guild hotline numbers into your phone, and write them on your arm in ink:
    • to call from local jails ONLY: 415-285-1011
    • outside of jail calls, call NLG hotline volunteers: 415-909-4NLG (4654)
    • if no answer, send an email to the NLG Demonstrations Committee at nlgsfhotline@protonmail.com
  • Get your go-bag together:
    • charged cell phone and portable power if you have
    • water bottle and energy bars or other portable food
    • medications you may need
    • layers of clothing to add if it gets cold
    • a sign with your message

 

Heidi Rand Actions, Events, Get Involved, Rallies & Protests, Uncategorized

Manafort. Cohen. Trump? Guilty, Guilty, Guilty!

OMG! We witnessed on Tuesday August 21, in little more than an hour, a confluence of events that a political thriller screenwriter would reject as too far-fetched. But the head-spinning news was true, and, if you’re Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen or Donald Trump, the truth was astonishingly bad.

At almost exactly the same moment, in two courthouses only a few hours drive from each other, two of Trump’s key associates were found guilty on multiple counts for federal crimes.

In Virginia, at the trial of Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, a jury found the defendant guilty on eight counts of tax fraud and bank fraud. Since this was the first jury conviction in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, you might think this would be the worst news of the day for Trump and his base and enablers.

You’d be wrong.

At the same time as the Manafort jury delivered the guilty verdicts, Trump’s long-time personal lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen stood in a federal courtroom in New York City and pled guilty to five counts of tax evasion, one count of bank fraud, and, most critically for potential impact on Trump, a count of having violated campaign finance laws “in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office.” Trump isn’t named, but Cohen’s court filing refers to “Individual-1, who by January 2017 had become president of the United States.” The violation refers to payments Cohen made to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal to prevent them from going public with their salacious stories in the weeks before the 2016 election.

Tuesday’s events echo one of Doonesbury’s most memorable comic strips about Watergate:

Doonesbury.jpg

While no one expects Trump to admit it, the day’s events put the lie to any notion that the Mueller investigation is a “rigged witch hunt” or “hoax.” Quite the contrary.

We can’t overstate the shattering implications of what went down on Aug. 21. For starters, Cohen stated under oath in open court that “Individual-1” (evidently He Whose Name May Not Be Spoken, but who we all know is Donald J. Trump) conspired with him to commit a federal crime. Cohen further said that the charge linked to McDougal was done “for the principal purpose of influencing the election.” In normal times, this alone would be sufficient to initiate impeachment proceedings. Sadly, these are not normal times. Rather, these are times when a gutless GOP-controlled Congress won’t even think the “I” word for fear of Trump and his base turning on them.

Meanwhile, 69-year old Manafort faces a sentence that legal experts estimate from seven to 10 years, and a second trial on separate Russia-related charges due to start next month. The pressure for him to cut a deal for leniency in exchange for info about Trump appears immense.

Which is why Aug. 21 shoved us a huge step closer to the precipice of a constitutional crisis! Trump could pardon Manafort and/or Cohen. Most likely? A pardon of Manafort to try to keep his former campaign manager from “flipping.” And Manafort’s steadfast refusal (preceding his convictions) to bargain with prosecutors suggests he is counting on a pardon. Conversely, appearing on the Today show the Day After, Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis stated that his client would not accept Trump’s pardon, elaborating that Cohen “. . . considers a pardon from someone who acted so corruptly as president to be something he would never accept.”

Trump’s pardon of a key witness would be a serious, crisis-precipitating obstruction of justice; an attempt to impede the investigation into crimes his co-conspirator has plead guilty to, crimes that may have altered the outcome of the election and thus call into question the legitimacy of his victory.

This is one of the “red lines” on the list issued by MoveOn, Indivisible, and many other groups, that will trigger mass protest if Trump crosses one:

  • Firing Mueller
  • Pardons of key witnesses
  • Actions that would prevent the investigation from being conducted freely, such as replacing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Mueller’s current supervisor, or repealing the regulations establishing the office

What you can do now:

And prepare if we need to hit the streets:

  • Read the ACLU’s article Know Your Rights: Free Speech, Protests & Demonstrations
  • Download the ACLU’s Mobile Justice app to record police activity and send it immediately to the ACLU affiliate nearest you. Get the California app, MobileJusticeCA
  • Put the National Lawyers Guild hotline numbers into your phone, and write them on your arm in ink:
    • to call from local jails ONLY: 415-285-1011
    • outside of jail calls, call NLG hotline volunteers: 415-909-4NLG (4654)
    • if no answer, send an email to the NLG Demonstrations Committee at nlgsfhotline@protonmail.com
  • Prepare a go-bag with:
    • charged cell phone and portable power if you have
    • water bottle and energy bars or other portable food
    • layers of clothing to add if it gets cold
    • a sign with your message

Doonesbury comic strip © Garry Trudeau
Photo-montage of Michael Cohen, Donald Trump, and Paul Manafort © Getty Images

Ted Landau contributed to this article. Ted is a retired professor of psychology. He has also spent several decades as a tech journalist/author — writing primarily about Apple products. He has been politically active in the East Bay since moving here in 2004.

 

Heidi Rand Actions, Get Involved, Rallies & Protests, Uncategorized

Nobody Is Above the Law

Update 5/1/18:  On April 26, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed Senate bill 2644 , the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act, which would protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia investigation. Senator Grassley, chair of the committee, asked for a prompt vote by the full Senate. Majority Leader McConnell has previously said he would not bring a bill to protect the Mueller investigation to the Senate floor for a vote, however if 51 senators want to receive a vote, they can force one over McConnell’s obstruction. Please call your Senators to urge that they demand a floor vote on S. 2644.

Use Stand Up America’s resource to plan a visit to your Senator’s office, to speak to them or their staff in person.

Indivisible Guide is on high alert, and has prepared this updated page to guide us through what we need to do if Trump fires Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. As they explain, “By firing Rosenstein—Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s boss, the person overseeing the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election—Trump is obstructing justice. This means we are facing a full-on threat to our democracy and a constitutional crisis.”

MoveOn, Indivisible, and many other groups are using these basic “red lines,” which would trigger mass protest if Trump crosses one:

  • If Trump fires Mueller
  • If Trump issues pardons of key witnesses
  • If Trump takes another action that would prevent the investigation from being conducted freely, such as replacing Mueller’s current supervisor, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, or repealing the regulations establishing the office

What you can do now:

  • Read the Indivisible Guide toolkit
  • See MoveOn’s Mueller’s Firing Rapid Response – The Plan. It includes the general plan, and also addresses something that we’re all wondering — what happens AFTER we hit the streets?
  • Find and RSVP to attend a Nobody Is Above the Law rapid response rally near you (800 events as of April 10, 2018)
  • No local rally? Sign up to host one
  • Spread the word by sending the link to everyone who’d be interested
  • Call your Members of Congress, and urge them to do all they can to protect the Special Counsel.
    • Updated 4/30/18: call your Senators to ask them to demand a vote on and support the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act (S. 2644) to protect Mueller and the Russia investigation.
    • This is a historical overview of the bills introduced to protect the investigation, none of which have progressed:
      • As of April 11, 2018, the Senate Judiciary Committee moved forward with legislation to limit Trump‘s ability to fire Mueller. The bill merged S. 1735 and S. 1741 (see below). 
      • Senate: S. 1735 led by Senators Graham and Booker
      • Senate: S. 1741 led by Senators Coons and Tillis
      • House: H.R. 3654, led by Representative Jackson Lee –thank Reps Lee, DeSaulnier and Swalwell for co-sponsoring,
      • House: H.R. 4669, Discharge Petition to Require Speaker to Call a Vote on Special Counsel Integrity Act. Info here.
  • See Indivisible’s earlier article with info and a great call script.
  • See the Wall of Us action
  • Read background info at our original article, and our updated article
  • Read the Lawyers for Good Government 33-year timeline of Trump-Russia connections here

And prepare if we need to hit the streets:

  • Read the ACLU’s article Know Your Rights: Free Speech, Protests & Demonstrations
  • Download the ACLU’s Mobile Justice app to record police activity and send it immediately to the ACLU affiliate nearest you. Get the California app, MobileJusticeCA
  • Put the National Lawyers Guild hotline numbers into your phone, and write them on your arm in ink:
    • to call from local jails ONLY: 415-285-1011
    • outside of jail calls, call NLG hotline volunteers: 415-909-4NLG (4654)
    • if no answer, send an email to the NLG Demonstrations Committee at nlgsfhotline@protonmail.com
  • Prepare a go-bag with:
    • charged cell phone and portable power if you have
    • water bottle and energy bars or other portable food
    • layers of clothing to add if it gets cold
    • a sign with your message

Resistance go bag

Here’s some background: John Oliver dubbed it “Stupid Watergate,” but many believe the lies and smear campaigns Trump and many Republicans are flinging to discredit the FBI and derail investigations by Special Counsel Mueller and Congressional committees into Trump/Russia have already done more damage to our democracy than the GOP’s bungled break-in, attempted cover-up, and Saturday Night Massacre did back in 1973.

As Mueller’s investigation into collusion and obstruction of justice allegations closes in on the Current Occupant of the White House, fears of a constitutional crisis mount. Initially, the triggering event for a crisis was seen as Trump firing Mueller, mirroring Nixon’s orders to fire independent special prosecutor Archibald Cox. But in what is more like “Evil Watergate” the strategy has morphed into escalating assaults on the FBI, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and others. The Current Occupant, several GOP toadies, and right-wing media are sowing chaos, pushing fake scandals, and besmirching reputations, in not-even-thinly veiled attempts to divert, curtail, or shut down the investigations.

 

heathermclellan11 Actions, Security & Privacy

Cambridge Analytica: What, When, How, Why

In early 2013, Canadian data scientist Christopher Wylie pitched an idea to his boss, Steve Bannon, for a company that would change how political campaigns use data to change minds. The two men secured funding for their project from Republican billionaire donor Robert Mercer and, excited by their idea’s potential, set about founding and building a company called Cambridge Analytica. Wylie turned whistleblower and told this story to a British newspaper in March of 2018.

Like many things to do with the alt-right, the elevator pitch for Cambridge Analytica sounds harmless: the company would gather and analyze social media profile data to better target events and news stories to eligible voters in the US presidential election, in the British EU membership referendum, and in any other election a paying campaign wanted to win. Using Wylie’s innovative data mining and analysis techniques, the company would offer better targeting and stronger results for its campaigns.

But, like everything having to do with the alt-right, there was a lot more to it.

Preying on Fear in the West

Cambridge Analytica hit the ground running. Between June and August 2014, the company harvested data from around 50 million Facebook profiles using a methodology that involved pulling data from friends of people who took a personality test set up by a Russian academic. Per British newspaper The Guardian:

The data was collected through an app called thisisyourdigitallife, built by academic Aleksandr Kogan, separately from his work at Cambridge University. Through his company Global Science Research (GSR), in collaboration with Cambridge Analytica, hundreds of thousands of users were paid to take a personality test and agreed to have their data collected for academic use.

However, the app also collected the information of the test-takers’ Facebook friends, leading to the accumulation of a data pool tens of millions-strong. Facebook’s “platform policy” allowed only collection of friends’ data to improve user experience in the app and barred it being sold on or used for advertising.

Having access to such rich data allowed Cambridge Analytica to, as one of the firm’s managing directors put it in a video filmed undercover by a team from Britain’s Channel Four News program, “drop the bucket further down the well than anybody else, to understand what are those really deep-seated underlying fears, concerns.” He added: “It’s no good fighting an election campaign on the facts because actually it’s all about emotion, it’s all about emotion.”

“Information Warfare”

Once the company built profiles of voters using their Facebook data, they set to work on behalf of the Trump and pro-Brexit campaigns. They created and disseminated fake news stories designed to prey on people’s deepest fears and concerns. In videos secretly filmed by Channel Four, the company’s CEO Alexander Nix boasted about all of the shady tactics his firm could set loose on both the people it has profiled and the leaders they follow. 

These tactics were summed up by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation as “information warfare.” In an indictment for several companies and people associated with Russian troll farms, the Special Counsel said that groups using unbranded memes, fake news stories, and videos, “engaged in operations primarily intended to communicate derogatory information about Hillary Clinton, to denigrate other candidates such as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and to support Bernie Sanders and then-candidate Donald Trump.”

How deeply their actions influenced the presidential election and Brexit referendum in 2016 is currently an open question – but it’s one that both America and the United Kingdom have a vested interest in asking.

Russian Influence, Western Consequence

There are multiple lines of evidence that connect Cambridge Analytica to Russian influence, elevating this from being a question of morals and privacy to being a question of national security. Additional revelations suggesting that Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, SCL Global, had high-level contractor access to the British Ministry of Defence and the US State Department have raised the stakes even higher.

Within days of Wylie’s story being published in the British press, the British Parliament and parts of the U.S. Congress had called for representatives from Cambridge Analytica and Facebook to appear before them to answer questions.

Facebook has taken a pummelling from the developing news stories (including news that its employees shared office space with Cambridge Analytica in San Antonio during the Trump campaign), with its stock tumbling rapidly while its executives remain silent. For its part, Cambridge Analytica has suspended its CEO and continues to protest its innocence.

We Can Help Take Them Down

There’s no question that Cambridge Analytica and the companies that supported it in its work deserve to face transparent justice. The West needs to thoroughly investigate the extent of the company’s undue influence over critical, history-making elections held throughout 2016. With both of its senators on the Senate Intelligence Committee, California residents have outsized power to make sure this happens.

 

Image courtesy of rawpixel via Pixabay.

Heidi Rand Actions, Get Involved, Rallies & Protests, Uncategorized

Destroying Democracy: Worse than Watergate, More than Mueller

This article is current as of April 12, 2018, and includes background information (below). For latest developments, please see our updated article at: https://indivisibleeb.org/2018/04/12/nobody-is-above-the-law

On April 9, the FBI served a no-knock warrant on the office and hotel room of Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who paid $130,000 to hush up Stormy Daniels. Hours later an enraged Trump spoke about firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at a White House briefing on April 10 that Trump believes he has the power to fire Mueller. If you’re not up to speed, see our “background” section below.

MoveOn, Indivisible, and many other groups are calling for all of us to flood the streets if Trump fires Mueller, or if another “red line” is crossed:

  • If Trump fires Mueller
  • If Trump issues pardons of key witnesses
  • If Trump takes another action that would prevent the investigation from being conducted freely, such as replacing Mueller’s current supervisor, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, or repealing the regulations establishing the office

What you can do now:

  • See MoveOn’s Mueller’s Firing Rapid Response – The Plan. It includes the general plan, and also addresses something that we’re all wondering — what happens AFTER we hit the streets?
  • Find and RSVP to attend a Nobody Is Above the Law rapid response rally near you (800 events as of April 10, 2018)
  • No local rally? Sign up to host one
  • Spread the word by sending the link to everyone who’d be interested
  • Call your Members of Congress, and urge them to do all they can to protect the Special Counsel. This is a list of legislation pending in the Senate and House:
    • As of April 11, 2018, the Senate Judiciary Committee is moving forward with legislation to limit Trump‘s ability to fire Mueller. The bill merges S. 1735 and S. 1741 (see below). Ask Senators Feinstein and Harris to back this merged bill.
    • Senate: S. 1735 led by Senators Graham and Booker — ask Senators Feinstein and Harris to co-sponsor,
    • Senate: S. 1741 led by Senators Coons and Tillis — ask Senators Feinstein and Harris to co-sponsor,
    • House: H.R. 3654, led by Representative Jackson Lee –thank Reps Lee, DeSaulnier and Swalwell for co-sponsoring,
    • House: H.R. 4669, Discharge Petition to Require Speaker to Call a Vote on Special Counsel Integrity Act. Info here. Ask Reps Lee, DeSaulnier, and Swalwell to sign the Discharge Petition.
  • See Indivisible’s article with info and a great call script.
  • See the Wall of Us action
  • Read background info at our original article, and our updated article
  • Read the Lawyers for Good Government 33-year timeline of Trump-Russia connections here

And prepare if we need to hit the streets:

  • Read the ACLU’s article Know Your Rights: Free Speech, Protests & Demonstrations
  • Download the ACLU’s Mobile Justice app to record police activity and send it immediately to the ACLU affiliate nearest you. Get the California app, MobileJusticeCA
  • Put the National Lawyers Guild hotline numbers into your phone, and write them on your arm in ink:
    • to call from local jails ONLY: 415-285-1011
    • outside of jail calls, call NLG hotline volunteers: 415-909-4NLG (4654)
    • if no answer, send an email to the NLG Demonstrations Committee at nlgsfhotline@protonmail.com
  • Prepare a go-bag with:
    • charged cell phone and portable power if you have
    • water bottle and energy bars or other portable food
    • layers of clothing to add if it gets cold
    • a sign with your message

Resistance go bag

Here’s some background: John Oliver dubbed it “Stupid Watergate,” but many believe the lies and smear campaigns Trump and many Republicans are flinging to discredit the FBI and derail investigations by Special Counsel Mueller and Congressional committees into Trump/Russia have already done more damage to our democracy than the GOP’s bungled break-in, attempted cover-up, and Saturday Night Massacre did back in 1973.

As Mueller’s investigation into collusion and obstruction of justice allegations closes in on the Current Occupant of the White House, fears of a constitutional crisis mount. Initially, the triggering event for a crisis was seen as Trump firing Mueller, mirroring Nixon’s orders to fire independent special prosecutor Archibald Cox. But in what is more like “Evil Watergate” the strategy has morphed into escalating assaults on the FBI, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and others. The Current Occupant, several GOP toadies, and right-wing media are sowing chaos, pushing fake scandals, and besmirching reputations, in not-even-thinly veiled attempts to divert, curtail, or shut down the investigations.

See our previous articles here and here.