This is an actual exchange from a VP who took an oath to defend the constitution and, as a citizen, is expected to abide by the law. May we one day have accountability for the grotesque lawlessness of this regime.
☀️ CEO, @americansunlight.org 🙅🏻♀️ Author, disinformation expert, advocate for targets of online abuse. 😆 Tucker Carlson once called me a “highly self confident young woman” and meant it as an insult
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This is an actual exchange from a VP who took an oath to defend the constitution and, as a citizen, is expected to abide by the law. May we one day have accountability for the grotesque lawlessness of this regime.
Many of my friends who used to report from Russia dealt with burdensome processes like this. Then foreign journalists started getting thrown in jail for their work. They don’t report from Russia anymore. Did Trump get this idea from Putin while canoodling in The Beast? rsf.org/en/usa-propo...
On our unilateral disarmament: America is reorienting its foreign policy to help governments that manipulate and suppress information. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
I’m sorry WHAT
About this Florida vaccine story: When they were little - 1 yr and 3 1/2 - my two older boys, who’d had all their shots, got whooping cough. We asked their pediatrician what would’ve happened if they hadn’t been vaccinated. “Oh, they’d have died.”
NEW X helped spread ill-informed conclusions about the motivations of the Minneapolis school shooter based on cherry-picked words or phrases to millions. with comment from @ninajankowicz.com @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social @rothschildmd.bsky.social @maargentino.com www.wired.com/story/disinf...
In a farcical Congressional hearing about alleged censorship in the EU and UK, Jim Jordan (R-4chan) screamed his 3yo conspiracy about the Disinformation Governance Board 3x. To learn the truth you can read my sworn deposition before his committee: static1.squarespace.com/static/6612c...
When Jordan says "Take my country back" was treated as hate speech, what he really means is the phrase appeared in a hypothetical scenario planning exercise adjacent to harassment of a Muslim 16 year old.
"You can say what you like, I don’t care, because that’s what free speech is," Nigel Farage has just told the House Judiciary Committee, about three hours after his party banned me from covering its conference this weekend.
☀️ @americansunlight.org is back from our summer pause! ☀️ 🇳🇴 Come for @benmshultz.com's new report on Russian influence in Norway 🐑 Stay for the sheep and the boat ⛴️ americansunlight.substack.com/p/truth-does...
When it stops serving that function, I’ll leave. Until then, I will continue: -suing the largest cable “news” network in the world -holding liars to account in Congress -doing research that drives policy change Those aren’t claims. That is my real life. And I can write about it wherever I like.
I am super critical of Substack leadership and have been for years; I was on the platform in its infancy and have left and come back twice, because for someone like me who wants to reach as many people as I can, esp those outside my bubble, it is still the best of bad options. 2/
You will notice that my Substack is free; I do not and will not offer a paid subscription. I am hosting my content on Substack because more people will see and benefit from it there than if I post it on my self-hosted site (tried that for over a year, got no views). 1/
BREAKING: Social Security Administration chief data officer and whistle-blower Charles Borges has resigned after bombshell report that SSA put highly-sensitive data at risk. He sent out an email to colleagues moments ago. Here is the text of his email shared with me:
I am really fucking tired of women's personhood, privacy, and agency being obliterated by tech companies that monetize our sexuality without our consent. They shrug when we report rape threats and gendered harassment. Why? Because they're secretly encouraging this behavior. It's good for business.
The world’s richest man behaves like a gross teenage dweeb www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...
I probably shouldn't put it this way, but uh the "hide reply for everyone" button feels great to press. You decide what your posts are a platform for
We, America. Our country. The royal we.
God, the reporting on the Minneapolis shooting and the essays from parents who lost children to AI chatbots are undoing me these past few days. How is this the future we are choosing? How can any elected official not want to regulate both of these industries to prevent future tragedy?
I wrote a whole post with some tips today bsky.app/profile/nina...
Thierry Breton, former EU Commissioner for Digital Affairs: "If we don’t push back now, we will get humiliation and instability. Will this latest assault on our digital laws finally be enough to wake us up?" www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... I tried to wake Europe up in my April parl. testimony:
"Once MAGA brands you as an enemy, your fortunes shift. No amount of strategic silence will change your new identity, so you may as well lean into it." I wrote about why I chose—and keep choosing—to speak up and fight back. wiczipedia.substack.com/p/on-resisti...
What did Putin think of the Alaska summit? Well, he just sent drones and missiles to hit an apartment building, a shopping mall and the headquarters of the European Union in Kyiv. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/w...
New, from me: America is no longer a functioning democracy. It is a competitive authoritarian system, hurtling rapidly toward authoritarianism. This was a hard piece to write but we can't move forward if we don’t acknowledge where we are. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-author...
Abbe Lowell and I represent CDC Director #SusanMonarez. Contrary to govt statements, Dr. Monarez has neither resigned nor yet been fired. She will not resign. We have issued the following statement:
The Trump administration is running Russian-style active measures…in Greenland www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reminds me of discussion at a conference in Montreal earlier this year, at which @taylorowen.bsky.social and @abridgman.bsky.social shared that Canadians considered the US likely to interfere in their elections 🙃 More reflections on that phenomenon: americansunlight.substack.com/p/democracie...
Trump allows Russia to kill Ukrainian civilians without consequence; meanwhile, he might sanction EU officials implementing the bloc’s social media regs based on the false premise they’re censoring Americans. Tilting at windmills, with a heaping side of empty morals. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
🙏
72% of adults surveyed in 25 countries see the spread of false information online as a major threat. Meanwhile the US is harassing the researchers and civil servants who studied the challenge and attempting to export that harassment campaign to other countries. 🙃 www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/...
If you ask Ukrainians “after 3.5 years of war, don’t you wish you’d just given in at the start,” you’ll get a hard no. Americans, of all people, should understand going “give me liberty or give me death” when a foreign dictator tells people to bow down. Except the US govt now opposes those values.
It’s hard to overstate how big a deal this is - for the economy (ours and globally), for the rule of law, and for the proper and efficient function of government. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08...
That's exactly what it is. Between this and Brazil, it seems that Trump is practicing a kind of authoritarian identity politics — going after any democracy brave enough to punish its would-be authoritarians the way the US tried (and failed) to punish him
JD Vance can't even *pretend* to be angry that Russia targeted an American company operating in Ukraine (which, recall, was supposedly a kind of security guarantee for Ukraine!). @timmiller.bsky.social on Vance's weakness:
Union station, DC
And I'm working on something new... on which more soon. 😇 If you want more of my writing direct to your inbox, I have a personal Substack, too. Thanks for being here. I won't stop fighting. I want my kids and yours to live in a peaceful, safe country with a shared reality. wiczipedia.substack.com
Now I lead @americansunlight.org, a small non-profit dedicated to increasing the cost of lies that undermine democracy. I'm really proud of the work we've done in the 18 mos we've been around. You can find it on our website and our Substack: americansunlight.substack.com www.americansunlight.org 7/
(We're waiting for a decision of our appeal against Fox, but I continue to receive big legal bills for the defensive actions I have to take regularly. By my math, my legal and security costs are somewhere in the $100k realm. If you can donate to my GoFundMe, it would be much appreciated.) 6/
I was subpoenaed by Jim Jordan's bogus investigation of the "weaponization" of government. I had a cyberstalker. I've been named in frivolous lawsuits. And my physical security has been changed forever. All driven primarily by Fox News. So I sued them. www.gofundme.com/f/help-nina-... 5/
Wrote a second book—HOW TO BE A WOMAN ONLINE—and tried to serve my country in my area of expertise. The right wing did not like this. They lied and threatened me and my then-unborn (now 3 yo) child. I resigned my post. I had my baby. The threats and lies continued. 4/ www.npr.org/2022/05/26/1...
Spent the next few years working on my first book, HOW TO LOSE THE INFORMATION WAR, at the (now defunct thanks to Trump, RIP) Wilson Center. HTLIW looks at Eastern Europe's approch to RU Disinfo. Also did a bunch of work on tech policy, including a study on gendered abuse and disinformation. 3/
The long version: In college & grad school I studied Russia & Eastern Europe; worked on Russia and Belarus early in my career. When Ukraine was invaded the first time, wanted to get out in the field and make a difference. Did a Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship in Kyiv 2016-17. Changed my life. 2/
News of my fake arrest has led to new followers- welcome! TLDR: I research bad stuff on the internet. Cut my teeth as a Russia expert; that's how I fell into this work. Did a short stint in USG that led to an ongoing campaign of lies & harassment. Wrote 2 books. Lead @americansunlight.org. Mom. 1/
The capitol lounge hasn’t been open in at least five years and I’m the mother of a small child, so don’t get out much these days. No.
Apparently the "media outlet" that posted this story has raised over $350k on GiveSendGo for their completely fabricated engagement bait. To start to balance the scales, support my legal fund here: www.gofundme.com/f/help-nina-... Or my nonprofit here: www.americansunlight.org/donate
...yes?
If researching bad stuff on the internet makes me a menace, then yes
I dunno why this post went up twice! The first time it threw an error…
Right? Who are the 280+ retweeters?
I am the mother of small child so beats me
Don’t forget, they believed I was single-handedly censoring the entire internet. How could I do that without some sick meta/physical powers?
I am extremely powerful
Some personal news: I was not arrested this weekend 😂 Sorry to disappoint!!
Some personal news: I was not arrested this weekend 😂 Sorry to disappoint!!
Happy Independence Day, Ukraine 💙💛
Why can’t a single American journalist do this? Trump has repeatedly claimed he’s ended numerous wars — he’s now increased the number to ten! — and he’ll surely do it again. Ask him to name the wars he says he’s won. Ask Leavitt. Ask Hegseth. Ask Rubio. Just fucking ask them & don’t let go.
This was my reaction, too
So they are just making it up and seeing what they find.
Bolton is the latest high profile target of the Trump retribution machine. I wrote this for MSNBC opinion last month after Comey and Brennan were placed under criminal investigation. www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
“He’s soft spoken in a certain way” 🤔🧐🤷♂️🤦♂️
Breaking: dough faced liar presumes to scold a foreign president who has bravely led his country through war
this is what a military machine does when it meets a civilian SUV
Trump did this before, and will probably do it again. Doesn’t make it less disturbing. (Gift link.) www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/u...
We @americansunlight.org are proud members of the Coalition for Independent Technology Research, because understanding the truth about how technology shapes our lives shouldn’t be a luxury. It should be a public right. Unfortunately, it's under attack. independenttechresearch.org/citr-report-...
Trump keeps advocating for trilateral negotiations involving Putin, Zelensky and himself. So far met with stony silence from the Kremlin. Putin has not refused outright, but has long made clear that he does not consider the Ukrainian president either legitimate or his equal. .
As if Zelenskyy needs to be reminded of the percent of his country that is occupied. 😑
I lived in Ukraine for more than a year and covered his campaign. I know.
Hilarious that Trump told the Finnish President “good job” 🙄
Yes. That was the point of my post.
All true, but there’s really no reason it shouldn’t be
Not only that, but plenty of countries make it a hell of about easier to vote than we do, including offering mobile voting (with roving teams that visit the disabled or infirm) and, y’know, public holidays on Election Day…
Tell me you know nothing about post Soviet history without telling me…
Ze tells better jokes in a non native language than any of these guys could dream of (Remember, his answer to barbs about his suit in Feb was that the eventual suit he’d wear would be nicer than Glenn’s)
I know this is a really high-stakes meeting and all, but I still can't get over someone thinking that this is what a mantelpiece should look like.
Putin killed an entire family in Kharkiv this morning: mom, dad, 18 month old and visiting grandma. All because this useful idiot couldn’t negotiate a ceasefire
The problem isn’t just the contents of the documents (though that’s bad enough)—they should have never been sent to and shared with a random hotel printer anyway. This is stuff anyone with a security clearance has drilled into them on day one www.nytimes.com/2025/08/17/u...
That’s already a given. He wears what he wears because his country is at war. When the war ends he’ll wear civilian clothes.
Why it matters: it doesn’t
States are not “agents” of the federal government when it comes to federal elections and the President *literally* has nothing to do with how they administer them. Also didn’t they spend years blaming Dominion Voting Systems for “switching votes”??
I agree with that, and think he needed to react more strongly to Putin late in his presidency, but Obama certainly didn’t “give” Crimea to *Ukraine* as Trump implied.
Am aware, read later in the thread
President Trump's inability to secure a ceasefire in Alaska directly led to the obliteration of this family.
You guys
7. Given all they’ve endured for freedom, Ukrainians are not going to give up large portions of their country because two corrupt old men say so. Trump is a disgrace. In his coddling of a murderous authoritarian, he is making the entire world less safe and prosperous. /end
6. And they continued to resist Russia’s violence for the next 11 years. They risked everything, and in some cases, lost everything. Parents left without their babies. Whole families wiped out. Whole cities destroyed. Just this year:
5. Ukrainians care about their sovereignty and freedom of association and refused to simply give up their country as Trump wants. They protested for months, and under fire, for those rights when a Yanukovych reneged on signing Ukraine’s assoc agreement with the EU at Putin’s urging.
4. And then, of course, years of violence followed. Russian war crimes are not contained to the three years since the full scale invasion. Russian forces tortured people. They shot a passenger airplane out of the sky. Over ten thousand people died before 2022, including civilians.
3. The fact that Trump praised the lack of violence in Crimea is maybe the most crazy thing here. Putin’s troops showed up without insignia and, threatening the use of force, TOOK a territory that it had recognized as part of Ukraine in 1997 (Obama didn’t give it?!) Sorry Volodya, no take backs.
And now, some facts: 1. The person who has had the power to end the war immediately is and always has been Putin. 2. Remember how it started: in 2014 Putin invaded a sovereign country.
These are full on Russian talking points. Every few words is disinformation. Did Putin write this content for him? TLDR What Trump is saying here is that he can forgive 11 years of war crimes if the conflict began “peacefully”. What kind of world does that leave us with? 🧵
Did you read the piece?
A few reflections on the path from Helsinki to Anchorage. The more things change, the more they stay the same. wiczipedia.substack.com/p/helsinki-t...
Ukrainians didn't surrender in 2014, when the world refused even to recognize russian aggression. Ukrainians didn't surrender in 2022, when the world expected us to fall in 72h. Ukrainians won't surrender in 2025, either. For us, freedom and sovereignty are not empty words.
Yes, ha... 🫠
Agree with all of the above but important to point out that the dems did put out a decent report in partial response, it just got absolutely zero traction; it was released on NYE 🫠. Of course they could and should have done much much more www.techdirt.com/2025/01/10/c...
The words "Putin made him his bitch" appear nowhere in the Constitution so it's hard to see why liberals claim that yesterday's summit was a failure. by Jonathan Turley
In April 2022 the entire right wing (and some on the left!) believed I was a partisan official who would send "men with guns" to the homes of Americans with whom I disagreed. It was a lie. This video is real. But somehow I don't think we'll be seeing any resignations.
