Leaving the ‘Sphere

by · March 19, 2010

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Will

Will writes from Washington, D.C. (well, Arlington, Virginia). You can reach him at willblogcorrespondence at gmail dot com.

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Pierre Delecto Breaks the Internet
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Pierre Delecto Breaks the Internet
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[caption id="attachment_321437" align="aligncenter" width="750"]Pierre Delecto Photo by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons[/caption]

Presented without further commment:

For years, Pierre Delecto’s presence on Twitter largely went unnoticed. Operating a bare-bones account with the handle, “@qaws9876,” the user’s limited activity only revealed an interest in politics — namely supporting Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah). So when “Pierre Delecto” started trending Sunday on the social media platform, people were understandably confused.

“Why are we talking about Pierre Delecto,” one person asked.

“WTH is a Pierre Delecto & why is everyone going crazy about it?” another wanted to know.

On Sunday, Twitter users lost their collective minds when they learned that “Pierre Delecto” wasn’t a bot or a random Romney superfan, but an account run by the Republican senator himself. As Delecto, Romney, who has become one of President Trump’s most vocal GOP critics, used the account to like critical tweets about the president, while also occasionally defending himself against detractors. By early Monday, the unusual pseudonym was a trending moment on Twitter and had been mentioned in more than 47,000 tweets.

The Romney-Delecto connection was first made by Slate’s Ashley Feinberg, who went hunting for the secret account after the senator mentioned its existence to the Atlantic in a profile published Sunday. In a follow-up call with Atlantic reporter McKay Coppins, Romney confirmed that the account, which has since been made private, is his.

“C’est moi,” Romney said after being asked about Delecto.

When reached for comment late Sunday, a spokesperson for Romney responded by emailing The Washington Post a link to a tweet from Coppins that contained Romney’s brief confirmation.

Romney brought up his covert Twitter persona during an interview with the Atlantic as he discussed Trump lashing out at him on social media.

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A Moral Imperative
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A Moral Imperative
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AOC

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Tuesday she will not stage a vote on the House floor to officially launch an impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

The decision came after Democratic leaders, returning to Washington following a two-week recess, had reached out to members of their diverse caucus to gauge the party's support for such a vote.

After back-to-back meetings with party leaders and then the full caucus, Pelosi announced that no such vote would take place. Democratic aides emphasized, however, that the process remains fluid and that Pelosi may reverse course and stage such a vote at any point in the future.

"There's no requirement that we have a vote, and so at this time we will not be having a vote," Pelosi told reporters during a last-minute press briefing in the Capitol.Imp

Not with a bang, but a whimper.

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Aaron Dean Charged with Murder in Killing of Atatiana Jefferson
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Aaron Dean Charged with Murder in Killing of Atatiana Jefferson
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[caption id="attachment_321197" align="aligncenter" width="750"]aaron dean Body camera footage of Aaron Dean moments before the shooting of Atatiana Jefferson[/caption]

The former police officer involved in the killing of Atatiana Jefferson was arrested and charged with murder on the same day he resigned from the Fort Worth Police Department.

Police declined to say whether Dean was arrested by a Fort Worth officer or if he turned himself in. The department's major case and internal affairs units were "working diligently to conclude the criminal administrative investigation" into the shooting, said Sgt. Chris Daniels.

"We value the trust that we've had in our community, we will continue to build that trust," Daniels said. "To the citizens and residents of our city, we feel and understand your anger and disappointment."

Dean was served a written administrative complaint Sunday, placed on detached duty and stripped of his badge and firearm, interim Police Chief Ed Kraus said. He resigned Monday.

"My intent was to meet with him today to terminate his employment with the Fort Worth Police Department. However, the officer tendered his resignation this morning before we met," Kraus said.

If Dean had not resigned, he would have been fired for several policy violations, including the department's use of force and de-escalation policies, and unprofessional conduct, Kraus said.

The department has presented a preliminary case to the FBI to review the officer's actions for possible civil rights violations, Kraus said.

"None of this information can ease the pain of Atatiana's family but I hope it shows the community that we take these incidents seriously," he said.

Dean was hired in August 2017 and commissioned as a licensed officer in April 2018, Kraus said.

Numerous reports state Dean made bail and is awaiting his next court appearance.

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Beto O’Rourke Doubles Down on Revoking Tax-Exempt Status of Churches Opposed to Same-Sex Marriage
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Beto O’Rourke Doubles Down on Revoking Tax-Exempt Status of Churches Opposed to Same-Sex Marriage
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beto

After making controversial statements about gun confiscation, Beto once again grabbed the spotlight at the CNN Equality Town Hall by saying that Churches opposed to Same-Sex Marriage should have their tax-exempt status yanked.

He was asked if he meant this and said that this should also apply to Mosques and Conservative Black Churches as well.

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Two Rudy Giuliani Associates Arrested
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Two Rudy Giuliani Associates Arrested
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[caption id="attachment_319944" align="aligncenter" width="750"]ukraine Amazinggena via Wikimedia Commons[/caption]

The plot thickens...

Two Soviet-born donors to a pro-Trump fundraising committee who helped Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to investigate Democrat Joe Biden were arrested late Wednesday on criminal charges stemming from their alleged efforts to funnel foreign money into U.S. elections and influence U.S. politics on behalf of at least one Ukrainian politician.

Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two Florida businessmen, made a brief appearance in federal court in Virginia Thursday, dressed in T-shirts. Both men are U.S. citizens born in former Soviet republics. They were arrested at Dulles Airport on Wednesday while awaiting an international flight with one-way tickets, according to people familiar with the matter, a day before one of them was scheduled to testify before House committees.

Mr. Giuliani said in an interview Thursday that Messrs. Parnas and Fruman were headed to Vienna on Wednesday evening for reasons related to their business. He declined to elaborate on those reasons. He said the two men had also left the country about two weeks ago and had traveled to Vienna between three and six times in the last two months. He said he had been scheduled to meet with the two when they returned to Washington within days.

A federal prosecutor told a judge the government remains concerned that the men will flee. Attorneys on both sides said they would reach an agreement about the conditions of their bail and would return to the judge later Thursday or Friday.

In a 21-page indictment unsealed Thursday, federal prosecutors in Manhattan alleged Messrs. Parnas and Fruman were engaged in political activities in the U.S. on behalf of one or more Ukrainian government officials—including a lobbying campaign, targeted at a Republican congressman, to remove the U.S. ambassador in Kyiv. President Trump ordered the ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch, removed from her post in May, the Journal has reported.

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