Trump AG tried to use secret grand jury to unmask identity of Devin Nunes' mom parody author

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Conservatives are too stupid to understand parody or to have a sense of humor. The fact that the Barr DOJ tried to unmask a parody twitter account is sad and the attorney who was responsible needs to be fired and disbarred

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In 2019, Nunes sued Twitter and others for $250 million.

According to recently unsealed court filings, the Department of Justice under Attorney General Bill Barr sought to unmask the author behind another parody account, @NunesAlt.

"It appears to Twitter that the Subpoena may be related to Congressman Devin Nunes's repeated efforts to unmask individuals behind parody accounts critical of him. His efforts to suppress critical speech are as well-publicized as they are unsuccessful," Twitter wrote in a motion opposing the unmasking of the author. "Given Congressman Nunes's numerous attempts to unmask his anonymous critics on Twitter—described in detail herein—Twitter is concerned that this Subpoena is but another mechanism to attack its users' First Amendment rights.",,,,,

"Seemingly unsuccessful in gaining any traction with this lawsuit and in therefore identifying the user, Twitter is concerned that a government investigation is now being used to target the same user for political speech on Twitter. As one recent lawsuit alleges, members of the public suspect that Congressman Nunes may be relying upon the government to unmask his critics," Twitter wrote.

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[Me.]

1. Totally Agree With Your OP

what a disgrace using a grand jury for hurt fee fees. Shame on Bill Barr, he should be disbarred for abusing the law this way,

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. From the NYT

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[LetMyPeopleVote]

12. Good comments from Andrew Weissmann

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[flying_wahini]

2. Where is Bill Barr, anyway? He sure has been quiet.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. This is an abuse of power and someone needs to be disbarred

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[Buns_of_Fire]

5. Has the cow weighed in on this yet?

And what did Devin intend to do with their bank account and credit card numbers, hmmm?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. Here is what I found

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[smirkymonkey]

7. They are all just a bunch of whiny snowflakes and victims.

And worst of all, NONE of them have a sense of humor.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

8. It is time for Barr to be disbarred

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[LetMyPeopleVote]

9. Trump DOJ tried to unmask a Twitter account behind 'mean tweets and bad memes' that teased nunes

Bill Barr needs to be disbarred and the attorney who brought this suit for the DOJ fired and disbarred. This a clear abuse of power. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/18/devin-nunes-twitter-doj/

The subpoena is the latest turn in a years-long legal beef between Nunes and several Twitter accounts with names like “Devin Nunes’ Cow” and “Devin Nunes’ Mom.” The congressman attempted to sue the owners of those accounts and Twitter itself for defamation in 2019, claiming that the nameless critics had tried to “intimidate” him and “intended to generate and proliferate false and defamatory statements.”

But Nunes’s efforts to find those responsible for biting tweets calling him a “treasonous cowpoke” and “udder-ly worthless” have often backfired by propelling those accounts to viral success. While “Devin Nunes’ Cow” had a mere 1,000 followers when the congressman took aim at the account, today it has more than 770,000. @NunesAlt, the account targeted by the DOJ, now has more than 121,000 followers.

A Virginia judge tossed his defamation case against Twitter last summer, citing a law that protects social media companies from being held liable for content posted to their websites.

About five months later, the Justice Department stepped in with its grand jury subpoena, arguing that it needed to identify the person behind the @NunesAlt account because of a criminal investigation that involved “threatening communications in interstate commerce.”

The request was made under the leadership of Michael R. Sherwin, who had been appointed by Attorney General William P. Barr as acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. The Justice Department also filed a gag order that prevented Twitter from speaking publicly about the case.

[ScratchCat]

10. Barr MUST be disbarrer

Abuse of Power doesn't even begin to describe these actions. Trying to get not only a persons identity, but their bank account info..? AYFKM?

At some point, AG Garland is going to need to hold a prime time press conference and reveal to the American people all of the crimes and actions like these undertaken by the Trump DOJ. And I would hope it would be the preface to the indictments he is announcing. This stuff can't stand without actions being taken.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

11. For this thread

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