emptywheel

@emptywheel.bsky.social

Coverage of American authoritarianism with a focus on legal cases. An American-Irish in Limerick, Ireland. Legendary potty mouth!

@emptywheel.bsky.social

I didn't call him a brainless data mule. I called the BEHAVIOR of brainlessly disseminating Trump's fascist spectacle being a brainless data mule. It's the action. I stand by that. Willfully choosing to further his fascism, no matter the excuse, only helps him destroy truth.

@emptywheel.bsky.social

His posts are not a rational affirmation of bullshit. They are a functional means of always remaining the center of attention and always polarizing society on competing claims to truth that have been spun free of reality.

@emptywheel.bsky.social

WOWOWOW. I see you misspelled, "don't willfully play a part in his destruction of rationality," as "just ignore him." You are VERY LITERALLY insisting that participating in his willful destruction of rationality is a GREAT THING.

@emptywheel.bsky.social

No. His posts are about spectacle. If that's ALL you're doing, you are playing precisely the part he wants you to, as an opponent with an alternative truth, all while reinforcing his centrality to the polarization in society. You have to break the spectacle.

@emptywheel.bsky.social

GREAT!!! Give it attention. Maybe even present the evidence RATHER THAN being a brainless data mule reinforcing his spectacle, which has the effect of DROWNING OUT a lot of good reporting on his abuse.

@emptywheel.bsky.social

When you RT Trump's bullshit posts w/no filter, you help to make them go viral, you WILLINGLY confirm that he is the arbiter of truth, and you also drown out news reports on his abuse. He plays you all every single time.

@emptywheel.bsky.social

This post not only holds up, but it includes several of Trump's bullshit claims to deflect from his own incompetence. The Reflecting Pool Arrests Are an Attempt to Cover Up Trump's Corruption emptywheel.net/2026/06/21/t...

emptywheel.netThe Reflecting Pool Arrests Are an Attempt to Cover Up Trump's Corruption - emptywheelTrump is demanding arrests of people who witness the failure of his reflecting pool project. That distracts from the failure, sure, but it also covers up the corruption behind that failure.
@emptywheel.bsky.social

Especially when you look at the earlier motion disclosing their key witness was SENT BACK to the grand jury to reverse their testimony. Also note: Michael Bromwich was just added to his team... legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/28...

ccording to the newly disclosed transcript, the government excused M.R. at 11:36 am Exhibit 3 at 29. Twemy-one minwes later, at 11:57 am, the government recalled MR. and presented the additional testimony that the damage attributable to Mr. Hearn was “definitely” more than $1,000. /d. at 29-30. But by that time, the government should have known that this additional testimony was likely false or misleading, Just minutes before he was excused by government counsel at 11:36 am, MR. had given testimony establishing that no specific amount of damage was attributable to Mr, Hearn
@emptywheel.bsky.social

In our chat today (recorded at 12PM ET), I suggested one risk for Trump is you don't want to give all the evidence of your corrupt pool contract to @normeisen.bsky.social, who was on Hearn's defense team. On second thought, you REALLY don't want to do that! But now we all got it.

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