'Abuse of power': Legal experts blast Barr DOJ’s use of secret grand jury to unmask Devin Nunes parody Twitter account
Attorney General Bill Barr's Dept. of Justice, in a possibly illegal move, used used its full weight and power to try to determine the identity of the person behind a Twitter account parodying a top Trump-supporting congressman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA).
On November 24, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice, via a secret grand jury, served Twitter, Inc. with not only a subpoena ordering the social media company to reveal the identity of Twitter user "@NunesAlt," but also with a gag order requiring the company to not reveal the existence of the subpoena, The Daily Beast reports.
The Wall Street Journal's Kevin Poulsen shows that Twitter recently tried to quash the subpoena:
This was just unsealed. In the last weeks of the Trump administration, William Barr's Justice Department tried to use a secret grand jury subpoena to unmask @NunesAlt, a Devin Nunes parody account.https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.224281/gov.uscourts.dcd.224281.3.0.pdf\u00a0\u2026— kpoulsen (@kpoulsen) 1621272650
It's not that the Twitter account was posting state secrets or classified government intelligence. The account's bio even reads: "Yes, it's parody."
So what does @NunesAlt, aka "Devin Nunes' Alt-Mom," tweet?
A random selection:
I'm going to tell my grandkids that this was Pizzagate.https://twitter.com/BleedingMarine/status/1343182875785535489\u00a0\u2026— Devin Nunes' Alt-Mom (@Devin Nunes' Alt-Mom) 1609134689
https://twitter.com/PreetBharara/status/1345804919526326273\u00a0\u2026— Devin Nunes' Alt-Mom (@Devin Nunes' Alt-Mom) 1609700020
Translation: I betrayed my country in a desperate late-stage ploy to gain power in the twilight of my lackluster political career, and now everyone hates me.https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1348834040577626116\u00a0\u2026— Devin Nunes' Alt-Mom (@Devin Nunes' Alt-Mom) 1610427060
Legal experts are expressing outrage.
NBC News and MSNBC Legal Contributor:
All hail @DevinCow and @NunesAlt. Long live @DevinCow and @NunesAlt!— Katie S. Phang (@Katie S. Phang) 1621278657
Former federal prosecutor Ken White, now a criminal defense, white collar crime and First Amendment litigation attorney:
This is absolutely outrageous.https://twitter.com/kpoulsen/status/1394344671761993731\u00a0\u2026— EveryKneeShallBowHat (@EveryKneeShallBowHat) 1621278931
First Amendment and defamation lawyer, and Free Speech Counsel at TechFreedom, a tech policy think tank:
Let's be clear about this: the DOJ attempting to secretly unmask a social media account that parodies an elected official is a gross abuse of government power and a severe threat to the First Amendment.https://twitter.com/kpoulsen/status/1394344671761993731\u00a0\u2026— Ari Cohn (@Ari Cohn) 1621282211
National security lawyer:
Clearly a great use of time and resources by DOJhttps://twitter.com/kpoulsen/status/1394344671761993731\u00a0\u2026— Bradley P. Moss (@Bradley P. Moss) 1621276232
Former Federal Prosecutor:
Every day we learn about more corruption in Bill Barr\u2019s DOJ. They actually served a grand jury subpoena on Twitter to unmask the identity of the person behind a Devin Nunes parody account. DOJ not only acted as Trump\u2019s personal law firm, they were also working for Nunes!https://twitter.com/kpoulsen/status/1394344671761993731\u00a0\u2026— Ron Filipkowski (@Ron Filipkowski) 1621279212
Attorney:
I repeat, Bill Barr was HANDS DOWN, the worst, most venal, corrupt and immoral Attorney General America has EVER had. \n\nHe should be prosecuted in his own right for abuse of power and obstruction of justice.https://twitter.com/kpoulsen/status/1394344671761993731\u00a0\u2026— Pam Keith, Esq. (@Pam Keith, Esq.) 1621281757
Attorney:
So while extremist groups were openly talking about their plan to use violence to keep Trump in power, the DOJ\u2014filled with stalwart Republicans who have since been picked up by corporate law firms\u2014was ignoring that and instead going after @NunesAlt with a secret subpoena. https://twitter.com/kpoulsen/status/1394344671761993731\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/TuRUHF6DoH— Max Kennerly (@Max Kennerly) 1621282569
