Politics - News Analysis

Barr in Even More Trouble: In a ‘Gross Abuse of Power,’ DOJ Tried to ‘Unmask’ User Behind Devin Nunes Parody Twitter Account

Bill Barr may be in even more trouble than he was in last week when we wrote about the fact that a federal judge would release Barr’s memo justifying not charging Trump for obstruction of justice, a memo which the judge called disingenuous, and looks to be a big problem for Barr. This week brings another huge headache for the huge guy.

Whether it came at Trump’s request or Devin Nunes’ request, we cannot know, we only know that according to the Daily Beast, Barr’s Justice Department submitted grand jury subpoenas to Twitter in an effort to “unmask” a Nunes parody account that evidently some found a bit too biting. We all remember that word, “unmasking” because it was a big part of Trump’s outrage, that the “Obama administration unmasked people in the Trump campaign.” In reality, there was no such thing. When a Russian spy says, “It is great to talk to you again, Ivanka,” there is no one to “unmask.” (We simply use an example.)

Besides, there is a difference between Russian spies possibly infiltrating a campaign and an angry Congressman going after a Twitter parody account. One involves national defense, one is a gross abuse of process. According to the Daily Beast:

newly unsealed court filing reveals an attempt by the Justice Department, in the waning days of the Trump administration, to force Twitter to identify the person (or people) behind a parody account that poked fun at Republican congressman and Trump sycophant Devin Nunes (CA). On November 24, 2020, Twitter was served with a subpoena demanding the name of whoever was running @NunesAlt, along with a gag order prohibiting the company from going public about the request.

Not good:

“After receiving the Subpoena, Twitter’s counsel promptly contacted the Assistant United States Attorney who had issued it,” according to the filing. “Twitter’s counsel explained Congressman Nunes’s history of litigation and the Congressman’s numerous prior attempts to unmask accounts critical of the Congressman.” In the past two years, Nunes and his campaign committee have brought no fewer than nine lawsuits against various entities for criticizing him, two of which were other Twitter parodies, @DevinCow and @DevinNunesMom, it continues. “In each of these cases, Congressman Nunes sought damages for what he believes were targeted attacks against his reputation, by being called names such as a ‘treasonous cowpoke’ on Twitter, and sought to unmask anonymous commenters critical of his job as a politician,” the filing says. The feds tried to tell Twitter that it was looking into “potential violations of 18 U.S.C. Section 875(c) (threatening communications in interstate commerce).” But the government wouldn’t—or couldn’t—provide any examples or further information.

Umm, that is not a “threatening” communication. That is making fun of a guy who thinks he’s a bit of a big guy. Why is it that the loudest of the MAGAs are also the most thin-skinned? Never mind, we think we know.

But now Barr might be in trouble because the attempt to improperly “unmask” this person could be considered a crime in and of itself.

We will see.  It depends upon Barr’s motivation and whether he knew at the time that the entire process was meant to intimidate Twitter into shutting down these accounts to protect itself.

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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @JasonMiciak

meet the author

Jason Miciak is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is originally from Canada but grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He now enjoys life as a single dad raising a ridiculously-loved young girl on the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He is very much the dreamy mystic, a day without learning is a day not lived. He is passionate about his flower pots and studies philosophical science, religion, and non-mathematical principles of theoretical physics. Dogs, pizza, and love are proof that God exists. "Above all else, love one another."

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