THREAD

You guys want some bad Carter Page takes?

After even Sally Yates conceded that she wouldn’t have signed off on his surveillance if she had all the facts, I thought a trip down memory lane was in order.

You’ll recall that, once upon a time, we were told that Carter Page was actively colluding with the Russians because the FISA court and the FBI told us so.

All of those assertions have fallen to pieces, so I’m assuming we can get a follow up from @SpeakerPelosi?

Maybe @RepAdamSchiff, the chief architect of the Russian collusion fable, can provide us with an update?

Do you still believe that “the FBI acted lawfully and appropriately” even after the head of DOJ at the time said the opposite today under oath?

The real star of the show here is @tedlieu.

Any follow up about that memo, Congressman? Are you sure that the “FBI didn’t lie” and that it is a “false claim” to say that the “FISA process was abused”? Because former director Yates certainly doesn’t.

Really waiting with baited breath on @tedlieu because he was a clerk, you see.

@RepSwalwell is hot on the trail of stupid yet again.

And it wasn’t just the lower House. I have a feeling @SenJeffMerkley would like this one back.

And we’ve got bipartisan bullshit! Here’s @marcorubio who may wish he had this take back.

And our intellectual and moral betters in the media weighed in. Here’s @CillizzaCNN and @CNN, who may want to update what the “most important takeaway from the FISA release” is.

This aged like a fine wine. @TheAtlantic/ @NatashaBertrand

@MSNBC brought on myriad experts to explain why everything that has happened in the last two years related to FISA and Carter Page wouldn’t happen.

And it wouldn’t be a left-wing conspiracy theory if @JoyAnnReid wasn’t onboard.

And it wouldn’t be a Russian related conspiracy if @DavidCornDC weren’t involved.

I am as surprised as you are that @jonathanchait, who alleged that Trump has been a Russian asset since 1987, wanted in on this one, too.

Of course, the usual galaxy brain twitter power users weighed in, including Twitter’s most consistently wrong foulmouth @therickwilson.

He’s got me blocked so I hope someone can share this with him.

You’ve got to be almost impressed with @therickwilson’s propensity for predictive failure.

It wouldn’t be a thread if @JRubinBlogger didn’t find her way onto it.

Ditto for @SethAbramson, who also manages to shoehorn in the fabled Steele Dossier, which bears the distinction of having been even more fabricated than the FISA application against Page.

Speaking of, I would like to nominate this tweet by @funder for the Louvre.

I remain mistified at the testimony of my elders that, once upon a time, @tribelaw was taken seriously.

From the “the walls are closing in!” school of thought comes these tweets by @Amy_Siskind, who no longer seems so enamored with or interested in the story of Carter Page.

Curious.

Any follow up to the assertion that “there is still no reason to believe the FISA application for Carter Page was improper” @EvanMcMullin?

The people are wondering.

@JuddLegum, care to follow up on the notion that “there is no evidence anything was misused in the FISA court” related to Page?

Or, @NicolleDWallace, perhaps the reason @realDonaldTrump was at war with the FISA courts was that - stay with me here - they deserved the war?

The lesson here (as ever, with the Russian collusion narrative) is that maybe, just maybe, it’s worth a touch of caution, incredulity or reflection before jumping to the worst of conclusions, or taking a secretive, ill-intentioned process at face value.

Maybe next time.

I’ve done a few threads & I’ve got a few more coming but one thing is clear:

The ability of elected officials/those on the left & in the media to push a radical conspiracy theory, then have that conspiracy implode without any consequences or apologies, should terrify you.