Florida governor Ron DeSantis: Mark Joseph Stern, “Ron DeSantis Is Facing a Coronavirus Catastrophe,” Slate, March 30, 2020.
“Don’t sacrifice the country”: Isaac Stanley-Becker, Yasmeen Abutaleb, and Devlin Barrett, “Anthony Fauci’s Security Is Stepped Up as Doctor and Face of U.S. Coronavirus Response Receives Threats,” Washington Post, April 1, 2020. Nate Chute, “See What the ‘Operation Haircut’ Protest at the Michigan Capitol Looked Like,” Lansing State Journal, May 20, 2020. Lois Beckett, “Older People Would Rather Die than Let COVID-19 Harm US Economy: Texas Official,” Guardian, March 24, 2020. Rachel Weiner and Ariana Eunjung Cha, “Amid Threats and Political Pushback, Public Health Officials Are Leaving Their Posts,” Washington Post, June 22, 2020.
a MAGA-favorite firm: Jackie Northam, “State Department Halts Routine Visa Services Worldwide,” NPR, March 20, 2020. Nick Miroff, Maria Sacchetti, and Tracy Jan, “Trump to Suspend Immigration to U.S. for 60 Days, Citing Coronavirus Crisis and Jobs Shortage, but Will Allow Some Workers,” Washington Post, April 21, 2020. Molly O’Toole, “Trump Announces New Visa Restrictions on Immigrant Workers, but Exempts Agriculture, Food Service, Health,” Los Angeles Times, June 22, 2020. Linda Chavez and Scott Roehm, “Trump’s Coronavirus Order Scapegoats Immigrants and Doesn’t Make Us Safer,” USA Today, April 28, 2020. Muzaffar Chishti and Sarah Pierce, “Crisis within a Crisis: Immigration in the United States in a Time of COVID-19,” Migration Policy Institute, March 26, 2020. Spencer Ackerman and William Bredderman, “Trump’s Favorite Is Under Investigation—and Getting Big Bucks to Build the Wall,” Daily Beast, April 21, 2020. Nick Miroff, “Trump’s Preferred Construction Firm Lands $1.3 Billion Border Wall Contract, the Biggest So Far,” Washington Post, May 19, 2020.
a desperate detainee: Spencer Ackerman, “ICE Dodged Orders to Free Detainees—and Triggered an Outbreak,” Daily Beast, July 19, 2020. Tu Thanh Ha, “Canadian Dies after Being Held in U.S. Immigration Detention Center with COVID-19 Outbreak,” Globe and Mail (Toronto), August 6, 2020. Muslim Advocates, Letter to DHS and ICE, August 19, 2020, available at https://muslimadvocates.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2020.08.18-Krome-Letter-FINAL.pdf.
died from the virus in ICE detention: Spencer Ackerman, “ICE: No Plan to Free Immigrants in Jail, but Will Arrest Fewer Due to Pandemic,” Daily Beast, March 19, 2020. Tammy La Gorce, “ ‘Everybody Was Sick’: Inside an ICE Detention Center,” New York Times, May 15, 2020. Ryan Devereaux, “ ‘Burials Are Cheaper than Deportations’: Virus Unleashes Terror at a Troubled ICE Detention Center,” The Intercept, April 12, 2020. Author’s interview with Adham Hassoun, May 21, 2020. “COVID-19 ICE Detainee Statistics by Facility,” www.ice.gov/coronavirus, accessed June 23, 2020. Ryan Devereaux, “ICE Detainee Who Died of COVID-19 Suffered Horrifying Neglect,” The Intercept, May 24, 2020. Jeremy Redmon, “ICE Detainee Held in South Georgia Dies from COVID-19,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 25, 2020. “ICE Guidance on COVID-19,” www.ice.gov/coronavirus, accessed November 27, 2020.
VA’s burn-pit registry: Spencer Ackerman, “Military ‘Burn Pits’ Trashed These Veterans’ Lungs. Then the Virus Hit,” Daily Beast, April 16, 2020.
Crozier shamed his superiors: James LaPorta and Spencer Ackerman, “ ‘We’re Fucked’: Aircraft Carrier Outbreak Sends Troops Scrambling,” Daily Beast, March 26, 2020. Spencer Ackerman, “Military Imposes 60-Day Coronavirus Ban on Troops Coming Home from Overseas,” Daily Beast, March 25, 2020. CDR Salamander, “We Are Not at War. Sailors Do Not Need to Die,” US Naval Institute Blog, April 1, 2020.
Aviation Ordnanceman Chief Petty Officer: David Ignatius, “Acting Navy Chief Fired Crozier for ‘Panicking’—and Before Trump Could Intervene,” Washington Post, April 5, 2020. Spencer Ackerman, “The Navy Is Blaming the Captain It Fired for Accurate COVID-19 Warning,” Daily Beast, June 19, 2020.
“end endless wars”: Tyler Bellstrom, “Ending ‘Endless War’ Can’t Just Become an Empty Slogan,” Jacobin, February 20, 2020.
“maintain our focus”: Joseph R. Biden Jr., “Why America Must Lead,” Foreign Affairs, March–April 2020.
regretted his vote: Bernie Sanders, “Ending America’s Endless War,” Foreign Affairs, June 24, 2019. Jamie Ross, “Trump Blocks Measure to End U.S. Involvement in Yemen,” Daily Beast, April 19, 2019. The Fix Team, “Transcript: The December Democratic Debate,” Washington Post, December 19, 2019.
construct that veneer: Tim Reid, “Exclusive: Dozens of Republican Former U.S. National Security Officials to Back Biden,” Reuters, June 23, 2020. David Sanger, “Top Republican National Security Officials Say They Will Vote for Biden,” New York Times, August 20, 2020. Mike Memoli, “Biden Builds Out His Presidential Transition Operation,” NBC News, June 20, 2020. Charlie Savage, Power Wars: The Relentless Rise of Presidential Authority and Secrecy (New York: Little, Brown & Co., 2015), ch. 4, subch. 13. Karen DeYoung and Greg Miller, “CIA’s Deputy Director to Be Replaced by White House Lawyer,” Washington Post, June 12, 2013. Spencer Ackerman, “The Proxy War over a Top Biden Adviser,” Daily Beast, July 6, 2020.
Trump blamed everyone: Caitlin Oprysko, “ ‘I Don’t Take Responsibility at All’: Trump Deflects Blame for Coronavirus Testing Fumble,” Politico, March 13, 2020.
“no one condones looting”: Sean Loughlin, “Rumsfeld on Looting in Iraq: ‘Stuff Happens,’ ” CNN, April 12, 2003.
Floyd’s brother Philonise: Evan Hill, Ainara Tiefenthaler, Christiaan Triebert, Drew Jordan, Haley Wills, and Robin Stein, “How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody,” New York Times, May 31, 2020. Lauren Gambino, “ ‘Make It Stop’: George Floyd’s Brother Calls on Congress to Act over Police Violence,” Guardian, June 10, 2020.
largest mass movement: Larry Buchanan, Quoctrung Bui, and Jugal K. Patel, “Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest Movement in U.S. History,” New York Times, July 3, 2020.
three cops nightsticked: The author observed the nightsticking at Broadway and West Twelfth Street on May 31, 2020.
in the underground bunker: Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman, “As Protests and Violence Spill Over, Trump Shrinks Back,” New York Times, May 31, 2020.
“When the looting starts”: Barbara Sprunt, “The History Behind ‘When the Looting Starts, the Shooting Starts,’ ” NPR, May 29, 2020.
In truth, antifascism was a movement: Spencer Ackerman, “FBI is Investigating Regional ‘Nodes’ of Antifa, Director Christopher Wray Says,” Daily Beast, September 17, 2020.
the formless Antifa: Kelly Weill and Spencer Ackerman, “Trump’s ‘ANTIFA’ Threat Is Total Bullshit—And Totally Dangerous,” Daily Beast, May 31, 2020.
delivered apocalyptic speeches: William Barr, “Attorney General William P. Barr Delivers Remarks to the Law School and the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame,” Department of Justice, October 11, 2019. Transcript available at www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-william-p-barr-delivers-remarks-law-school-and-de-nicola-center-ethics.
Bowdich rallied his agents: Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Sergio Olmos, Mike Baker, and Adam Goldman, “From the Start, Federal Agents Demanded a Role in Suppressing Anti-Racism Protests,” New York Times, July 28, 2020.
no mention of Antifa: Erin Banco and Spencer Ackerman, “Bill Barr Promises to Sic Terror-Hunters on Protesters,” Daily Beast, June 1, 2020. William Bredderman and Spencer Ackerman, “ ‘Antifa’ Is Literally Never Mentioned in the First Prosecutions of Protest Violence,” Daily Beast, June 5, 2020. Ryan Devereaux, “What Law Did We Break? How the NYPD Weaponized a Curfew against Protesters and Residents,” The Intercept, June 28, 2020.
their forced complicity: Alex Ward, “U.S. Park Police Said Using ‘Tear Gas’ in a Statement Was a Mistake. It Just Used the Term Again,” Vox, June 5, 2020. Daniel Lippman, “ ‘What I Saw Was Just Absolutely Wrong’: National Guardsmen Struggle with Their Role in Containing Protests,” Politico, June 9, 2020.
“knowingly, willi
ngly betrayed his oath”: Spencer Ackerman, “Joint Chiefs Chairman Blasted as Uniformed ‘Prop’ for Trump’s ‘Fascist Political Stunt,’ ” Daily Beast, June 2, 2020.
CBP had flown drones: Spencer Ackerman and Erin Banco, “Justice Department Deputized Border Patrol as U.S. Marshals for Protest Response,” Daily Beast, June 9, 2020. Zolan Kanno-Youngs, “U.S. Watched George Floyd Protests in 15 Cities Using Aerial Surveillance,” New York Times, June 19, 2020.
advocated for the military: Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAr), “And, if necessary, the 10th Mountain, 82nd Airborne, 1st Cav, 3rd Infantry—whatever it takes to restore order. No quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters, and looters,” Twitter, June 1, 2020, 10:14 a.m., https://twitter.com/tomcottonar/status/1267459561675468800.
the chairman apologized: Hanna Trudo, Spencer Ackerman, and Sam Brodey, “These Generals Turned on Trump. Will They Go for Biden?” Daily Beast, June 13, 2020. Helene Cooper, “Milley Apologizes for Role in Trump Photo Op: ‘I Should Not Have Been There,’ ” New York Times, June 11, 2020. Brooks, by 2020 a rare Black four-star general, was, not coincidentally, the officer more inclined to discuss the righteousness of the protests than the risk of damaging civil-military relations.
moral authority in jeopardy: Matt Zapotosky, “Barr Forms Task Force to Counter ‘Anti-Government Extremists,’ ” Washington Post, June 26, 2020.
round up “the leaders of antifa”: Media Matters staff, “Tucker Carlson Unleashes Deranged Rant Calling for Protesters to Be Labeled Domestic Terrorists, Arrested and Paraded ‘in Front of Cameras Like MS-13,’ ” Media Matters, June 26, 2020.
denounced Barr’s politicizing: Spencer Ackerman, “ ‘The Lord’s Work’: House Republicans Unite behind Bill Barr amid Corruption Claims,” Daily Beast, June 24, 2020. Harry Siegel, Asawin Suebsaeng, and Erin Banco, “Berman Leaves SDNY in Trusted Hands after Bill Barr Fucks Up His Ouster,” Daily Beast, June 20, 2020.
FBI broke up: Derek Hawkins and Hannah Knowles, “Alleged Members of White Supremacy Group ‘The Base’ Charged with Plotting to Kill Antifa Couple,” Washington Post, January 18, 2020.
thirteen Michigan men: Tom Perkins, Kelly Weill, Will Sommer, and William Bredderman, “The ‘Wolverine Watchmen’ Accused of Targeting Michigan Guv Spooked Their Neighbors,” Daily Beast, October 8, 2020.
Counterprotesters used their cars: Hannah Allam, “Vehicle Attacks Rise as Extremists Target Protesters,” NPR, June 21, 2020. Spencer Ackerman, “Qaeda Pushes Snack Attacks, ‘Ultimate Mowing Machine,’ ” Wired, October 12, 2020.
Right-wing donors: Guardian staff, “Tucker Carlson Defends Actions of Teen Charged in Killings of Kenosha Protesters,” Guardian, August 26, 2020. Mark Guarino, Mark Berman, Jaclyn Peiser, and Griff Witte, “17-Year Old Charged with Homicide after Shootings during Kenosha Protests, Authorities Say,” Washington Post, August 26, 2020. Teo Armus, Mark Berman, and Griff Witte, “Before a Fatal Shooting, Teenage Kenosha Suspect Idolized the Police,” Washington Post, August 27, 2020. Julia Ainsley, “Internal Document Shows Trump Officials Were Told to Make Comments Sympathetic to Kyle Rittenhouse,” NBC News, October 1, 2020. Hannah Allam, “Kyle Rittenhouse, Accused in Kenosha, Wis., Shooting Deaths, Is Released on Bail,” NPR, November 25, 2020. Jorge Fitz-Gibbon, “Ricky Schroder Defends Helping Bail Out Kenosha Gunman Kyle Rittenhouse,” New York Post, November 24, 2020.
“the storming of the Bastille”: Alexis Zotos, “Experts Examine Whether It Was Legal for St. Louis Couple to Point Guns at Protesters,” KMOV-4 St. Louis, June 30, 2020. Stefene Russell, “A Decades-Long Renovation Returns a Midwestern Palazzo to Its Original Glory,” St. Louis Magazine, August 16, 2018. Chris King, “McCloskeys Were ‘Opposed to Cultural Diversity’ in Directions to Nanny in ’90s,” St. Louis American, July 2, 2020.
shown up at BLM protests: Christopher Mathias, “White Vigilantes Have Always Had a Friend in Police,” HuffPost, August 28, 2020.
“stand back and stand by”: Kelly Weill, “Trump’s Crew of Far-Right Vigilante Poll Watchers Is Coming,” Daily Beast, September 30, 2020.
Nunes, Carlson, and Roger Stone: Kelly Weill and Will Sommer, “Republicans are Adopting the Proud Boys,” Daily Beast, Octover 16, 2018.
Proud Boys and police: Kelly Weill, “Video Exposes Proud Boys and ‘Extra Friendly’ Philly Cops,” Daily Beast, October 16, 2020.
encouraging his colleagues: Jamie Ross, “Trump Spreads Baseless Conspiracy Theory that Video of Cops Shoving Elderly Man Was Antifa ‘Setup,’ ” Daily Beast, June 9, 2020. House Committee on the Judiciary, “Oversight of the Department of Justice: Political Interference and Threats to Prosecutorial Independence,” June 24, 2020, available at https://judiciary.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=3034. Jay Croft and Elizabeth Hartfield, “Buffalo Officers Quit Special Team after 2 Officers Are Suspended for Shoving a 75-year-old Protester,” CNN, June 6, 2020. Jacqueline Rose, Allen Kim, and Elizabeth Johnson, “Buffalo Protester Martin Gugino Has Been Released from the Hospital,” CNN, June 30, 2020. Katie Shepherd, “Philadelphia Police Suspend Joseph Bologna, Who Beat Protesters in Viral Videos. The Union Is Selling ‘Bologna Strong’ Shirts,” Washington Post, June 10, 2020. Hayley Fowler, “NC Cops Fired for Racist Remarks Had Been Demoted or Terminated Before, Records Show,” June 26, 2020. Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman), “Like the Guantanamo field-grade officer who jotted notes during a briefing from a CIA lawyer that read “if the detainee dies, you’re doing it wrong,” Twitter, June 3, 2020, 8:40 a.m., https://twitter.com/attackerman/status/1268160564502638594.
advocated for migrant child separation: Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Jesse McKinley, “Meet the Official Accused of Helping Trump Politicize Homeland Security,” New York Times, August 4, 2020.
escalate their nighttime resistance: House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing with Attorney General William Barr, July 28, 2020, comments of Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND). Available at www.c-span.org/video/?473384-1/attorney-general-barr-testifies-justice-department-mission-programs.
“baseball card” intelligence reports: Shane Harris, “DHS Compiled ‘Intelligence Reports’ on Journalists Who Published Leaked Documents,” Washington Post, July 30, 2020. Letter from Senate Intelligence Committee Democrats to Acting Undersecretary for Homeland Security Brian Murphy, July 31, 2020. Available at www.bennet.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/a/6/a6814d23-9fce-4e2d-9e82-94646b2fd36e/ED2E77294EBA1BFD9767F2FE281B17CC.intelligence-to-ia-murphy-letter.pdf.
broke his hand with batons: Sam Brodey and Spencer Ackerman, “Barr Calls Portland Protests ‘an Assault’ in Testy Hearing,” Daily Beast, July 28, 2020. Spencer Ackerman and Winston Ross, “Inside the Creepy Crackdown on Portland Protesters,” July 17, 2020. Statement of Drew Wade, spokesperson, U.S. Marshal Service, July 27, 2020. Marissa J. Long, “A Navy Vet Asked Federal Officers in Portland to Remember Their Oaths. Then They Broke His Hand,” Washington Post, July 20, 2020.
Jeh Johnson, the air force lawyer: Spencer Ackerman, Erin Banco, and Asawin Suebsaeng, “Trump Administration Plots Crackdown by Feds on Cities Nationwide,” Daily Beast, July 20, 2020. Former DHS official Juliette Kayyem warned of anti-DHS overreaction in “Trump Is the Problem. The Organizational Chart Doesn’t Matter,” The Atlantic, July 23, 2020. An exception came from Richard Clarke, the former Clinton/Bush counterterrorism czar, in his “Dismantle the Department of Homeland Security,” Washington Post, July 30, 2020.
Trump marshaled the language: Spencer Ackerman, “Trump ‘Surges’ Feds to Chicago Like It’s a War Zone,” Daily Beast, July 22, 2020.
promising to keep out: Colby Itkowitz, “Trump Lashes Out at Black Lives Matter, Accuses One Member of ‘Treason,’ ” Washington Post, June 25, 2020. Transcript, Trump rally in Oklahoma, June 21, 2020, www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/donald-trump-tulsa-oklahoma-rally-speech-transcript, accessed July 3, 2020.
may never be known: The Costs of War Project at Brown University assesses at least 801,000 dead “due to direct
war violence, including armed forces on all sides of the conflicts, contractors, civilians, journalists, and humanitarian workers.” It continues: “It is likely that many times more have died indirectly in these wars, due to malnutrition, damaged infrastructure, and environmental degradation.” Costs of War, “Summary of Findings,” Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University, https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/papers/summary.
Stanley McChrystal, the former JSOC: Author’s interview with Stanley McChrystal, May 5, 2020.
“stupid stuff for life”: Spencer Ackerman, “Government Case Collapses against Man Jailed Indefinitely under Patriot Act,” Daily Beast, June 22, 2020. Author’s interviews with Adham Hassoun, June 21, July 5, 2020.
Hassoun “still considers”: Author’s interview with Adham Hassoun, July 28, 2020. Spencer Ackerman, “Man Trump Detained Indefinitely under Patriot Act Is Free,” Daily Beast, July 22, 2020.
The head of the Texas Republican Party: Matthew Rosenberg and Maggie Haberman, “The Republican Embrace of QAnon Goes Far beyond Trump,” New York Times, August 20, 2020. Republican Party of Texas Staff, “Chairman Allen West’s Response to SCOTUS Decision,” press release, December 11, 2020, www.texasgop.org/chairman-allen-wests-response-to-scotus-decision, accessed February 10, 2021.
“an Islamic invasion”: Ally Mutnick and Melanie Zanona, “House Republican Leaders Condemn GOP Candidate Who Made Racist Videos,” Politico, June 17, 2020.
When she took her oath: Marjorie Taylor Greene (@mtgreenee), “Just sworn in!! It’s an honor to represent the people of Northwest Georgia! Time to get to work,” Twitter, January 3, 2021, 6:49 p.m., https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1345879942484135940.
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