Judd Legum

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

@IntlPaperCo 6. @RepTomRice, who introduced the the “Defund Putin Act” on March 3, received 5K from @IntlPaperCo on 8/26/21. Rice told https://t.co/JhoV1QDaTS he was keeping the money, calling @IntlPaperCo a "great American company." https://t.co/1CzFSchyvJ https://t.co/ETwTu9BlPv — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

5. So @IntlPaperCo has committed to nothing. @IntlPaperCo's PAC has donated to 67 members of Congress since 2021 https://t.co/ZVDa0TVtqk contacted all 67 & asked what they were planning to do w/the cash in light of @IntlPaperCo's operations in Russia https://t.co/1CzFSchyvJ — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

@IntlPaperCo 4. Since the Russian assault on Ukraine began, @IntlPaperCo has issued a single press release that doesn't acknowledge, must less condemn the invasion @IntlPaperCo is exploring "strategic options" and considering a "possible sale" of its interest in Ilim https://t.co/1CzFSchyvJ https://t.co/dt0idGy7Dl — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

3. As a major corporation, Ilim (and @IntlPaperCo) is a significant source of tax revenue for the Russian government. But Ilim also maintains lease agreements directly with the Russian government to harvest wood from state-owned forests https://t.co/1CzFSchyvJ — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

@IntlPaperCo 2. @IntlPaperCo partners with Russian oligarch Zakhar Smushkin in a joint venture, @ilimgroup Ilim operates 5 plants in Russia that annually produce 3.6 million tons of products Here is a photo of Smushkin & Putin at a business conference in 2019 https://t.co/1CzFSchyvJ https://t.co/8yEpGogyXR — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

1. An American paper company, @IntlPaperCo, isn't just maintaining operations in Russia — IT HAS A DIRECT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT @IntlPaperCo also has financial ties w/dozens of members of Congress Follow this🧵 if interested https://t.co/1CzFSchyvJ — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

Cawthorn has called Zelensky a "thug," used white nationalist rhetoric, and relentlessly pushed Trump's false claims of election fraud. But he only lost McCarthy's "trust" when he said he was invited to an orgy by another member of Congress. — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

One of my favorite newsletters is back. Essential insights and reporting on the reality of the "sharing" economy. — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

By the company's own projections, even if Truth Social was wildly successful, it will never make much money. Rather, it will be a springboard to launch a streaming platform that will compete with Netflix. https://t.co/Me4ZMPriYc — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

The company still has an imputed valuation of about $10 billion, assuming its merger with a publicly-traded SPAC goes through — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

"Former president Donald Trump’s Truth Social app is seeing a 93% drop in signups and similarly steep decline in traffic after a rocky rollout last month" https://t.co/JBmvr3tRLP — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

RT @JuddLegum: 1. The conventional wisdom is the United States government is hopelessly divided — Republicans and Democrats can't reach a c… — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

It would cost $20 billion to end homelessness in the United States — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

The biggest winner in Biden’s massive defense budget: @northropgrumman $59 Billion over 6 years for a new bomber and intercontinental missile https://t.co/XiEFxMQ9xD — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

It was yesterday — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

I’m old enough to remember when a federal judge ruled that it was likely Trump committed multiple crimes while trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

My understanding is that both orgies and cocaine predated the flip phone — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

.@repcawthorn says that, since arriving in DC, he's been invited to orgies by his colleagues and seen other members doing cocaine Other members of the GOP caucus are upset. They say its not possible because they still use flip phones and fax machines. https://t.co/mnIkdCL6bo https://t.co/0vDSzsYjcG — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

"How Congress could impeach Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas" https://t.co/ztuOI30mpo https://t.co/p8aWnFoAYI — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

Former Senator David Perdue, now running for Governor, claims that he actually won reelection. "In my election and the president’s election, they were stolen. The evidence is compelling now." https://t.co/6uq9ITkNtj — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

RT @Cirincione: You must read this. Smart, tight analysis from ⁦@JuddLegum⁩ on the Pentagon budget. I support a strong defense but this sp… — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

11. If you are interested in this thread, you'll probably be very interested in our newsletter, Popular Information. It has actual punctuation and more original research, reporting, and analysis And it's free to sign up https://t.co/TfpCItdVSo — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

10. In 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of the dangers of the military-industrial complex. If military spending increased at the pace of inflation over the last 61 years, the current military budget would be about $455 billion. https://t.co/CFPe69v0Fl — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

9. How is this level of spending sustained? Between 2014 and 2019, the GAO found that 14 major defense contractors "hired about 1,700 recent former DOD senior civilian and military officials. https://t.co/CFPe69v0Fl — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

8. But there is an entire bipartisan caucus dedicated to advocating for more spending on F-35s. So it's likely we'll be buying closer to 100 more F-35s when the budget is approved. https://t.co/CFPe69v0Fl — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

7. Each F-35 costs $110 million The aircraft began development two decades ago and it still is not consistently available to perform missions The Biden administration requested ONLY 61 more F-35 https://t.co/CFPe69v0Fl — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

6. The Pentagon still uses other countries to justify large increases in military spending. Specifically, the Pentagon is focused on the "pacing" threat of China. We must match China's increases, even though they are starting from a much smaller base https://t.co/CFPe69v0Fl — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

5. The increase that the Biden administration is proposing for the next budget is roughly equivalent to the UK's entire defense budget. And the UK has the second-highest level of defense spending in the NATO alliance. https://t.co/CFPe69v0Fl — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

4. In 2020, the United States spent more on national defense than the next 11 countries — China, India, Russia, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, Italy, and Australia — combined. https://t.co/CFPe69v0Fl — PolitiTweet.org

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

3. In 2021, Biden withdrew U.S. forces from Afghanistan, where it was spending billions There's no talk of using these "savings" to reduce the Pentagon budget Instead, the pace of proposed increases has accelerated https://t.co/CFPe69v0Fl — PolitiTweet.org