Latest news with #TwitterFiles
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
I want to know what's in the Epstein files. But there could be a price.
I was watching the Benny Johnson show the other day, which I often do for my job, not my pleasure, when I caught an interview with Mike Benz, the former alt-right vlogger–turned–GOP conspiracy theory constructor. He'd been brought on the show to make sense of the bomb that had just been dropped on the MAGA base by Trump's Justice Department: The long-promised Epstein files weren't coming. There was no client list, the DOJ had announced in a memo a day earlier. Further, it said, Epstein had not blackmailed anyone and there was nothing suspicious about his death, case closed. Benz, like the rest of his MAGA cohort, was livid. 'Where's our WikiLeaks? Where's our Twitter Files?' Benz demanded. It was a telling admission — and offered a kind of warning about what might ultimately come from the release of thousands of pages of records, documents, and audio and video recordings related to the Epstein investigation and indictment. There's currently a strange moment of agreement between MAGA influencers like Benz, Democratic lawmakers and much of the mainstream public over publishing the Epstein files, but what each faction wants from them — and what they'll do next should they be published as a bipartisan group of lawmakers are calling for, on a 'publicly accessible website' — will probably ignite a whole new wave of conspiracy-mongering. For many on the far right and far left, it won't matter what's actually in those files. What will matter is what people want to find in them, and how fast they can spin it into content. The most red-pilled in the MAGA base want proof of a secret world order: one run by powerful (and often, in these fever dreams, progressive, Jewish) elites who prey on — and in the internet's worst corners, literally feed on — children. In this version, Epstein wasn't just a predator, he was a secret agent in a global blackmail network controlled by billionaires, the media and the so-called deep state. At the Turning Point USA summit last week, after an earlier Q&A included MAGA activists openly criticizing Trump over the handling of the Epstein files, Steve Bannon appealed to these conspiracy theorists when he told an uncharacteristically riled-up crowd that the release would answer a 'very simple' question: 'Who governs this country? The American people or the deep state?' Conspiracy theorists on the left, branded 'BlueAnon' by critics, have their own false fixations. Among them, an allegation — stemming from a now-dismissed lawsuit against the president — that he raped a girl procured by Epstein. (There is no evidence to support such a claim, and the story behind that 2016 allegation is more complicated.) This is the crowd of bipartisan conspiracy consumers that MAGA influencers like Benz are speaking to. And it's an audience researchers say can never be satisfied. Stephen Prochaska, a doctoral candidate who studies what's known in academia as collective sensemaking at the University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public, told me how it works: Conspiracy theories in the digital age thrive on a process where communities collaborate to interpret ambiguous evidence and create narratives. Sometimes known as participatory misinformation, the goal isn't necessarily to uncover truths, but to create content that resonates with the community's existing beliefs and to transform complex, sometimes totally unrelated information into pertinent, digestible and often misleading lines that can move the story along. To gut-check my unease with a public repository of the Epstein files, I called Joan Donovan, a researcher at Boston University who researches conspiracy theories and media manipulation. 'There will never be enough information to satiate the need for more clues for the next episode of this online conspiracy theory,' Donovan said. And we've seen how that ends. WikiLeaks published hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee in 2016 on a searchable website, which conspiracy consumers and opportunistic online creators mined to fuel a narrative that birthed 'Pizzagate,' the false belief that a pedophile ring was being run out of a Washington, D.C., pizza joint, and ultimately led to QAnon, a mass delusion that posited that these pedophiles ruled the world and that Donald Trump would stop them — a theory linked to multiple murders, kidnappings and various attempts to overthrow the government. With the Twitter Files, internal documents were selectively framed to stoke an irrational panic over censorship that sparked harassment campaigns against researchers and congressional show trials. In 2022, Elon Musk handed cherry-picked emails and records from his newly acquired company to ideologically aligned writers, who twisted internal debates over content moderation into claims of widespread censorship. As The Atlantic's Charlie Warzel noted, the result was 'a drawn-out, continuously teased social-media spectacle framed as a series of smoking guns.' Ultimately, the Twitter Files led to the shuttering of academic institutions that tracked misinformation and to a flood of harassment and threats directed at researchers who studied the phenomenon. Within both WikiLeaks and the Twitter Files, there was newsworthy content. They revealed a real plot against then-presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and the messy inner workings of a social media platform grappling with how to govern in an age of misinformation. But the actual facts got lost in a flood of conspiracy theories, fermented by a group project of people digging through documents, finding crumbs and spinning them into whatever story they wanted. Real people were hurt by these conspiracy theories, which traveled further and have remained in the public consciousness longer than any of the factual reporting. Similarly the Epstein files could address real questions in the public interest. About the source of Epstein's wealth (Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has been investigating these financial records for the last three years). About the full scope of Epstein's social circle — made somewhat public by Gawker's 2015 publication of his little black book — and what they knew. About the 'poor judgment' that led to a sweetheart deal by federal prosecutors that treated Epstein's victims as an afterthought. About how, exactly, a man in federal custody managed to kill himself in a facility so plagued by security failures that it was eventually shut down. For those late to the story: In 2008, Epstein struck a now-infamous nonprosecution agreement with then-U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta. With it, Epstein avoided federal charges and served just 13 months in a Florida jail on the charge of soliciting a minor for prostitution, with a work-release arrangement that allowed him to leave six days a week. More than a decade later, after dogged Miami Herald reporter Julie Brown renewed scrutiny in the case and fresh federal charges for sex trafficking and conspiracy followed, Epstein was arrested in New York. But before he could face trial, Epstein hanged himself in his Manhattan jail cell. It's likely Epstein would have been convicted; prosecutors secured a 20-year sentence for Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's longtime girlfriend and co-conspirator, on sex trafficking charges for her part in a kind of pyramid scheme in which Epstein allegedly paid minors to perform sexual massages and recruit ever-younger girls to do the same. (Maxwell's petition to vacate her sentence is currently pending before the Supreme Court.) The facts of the case were already fertile ground for conspiracy theories, but Epstein's death supercharged them. Over that weekend, Twitter lit up with claims that Epstein had become the latest entry on the infamous 'Clinton Body Count' list — an evidence-free allegation amplified by Trump himself, who reposted speculation that Epstein was murdered because 'he had information on Bill Clinton.' Now, six years later, we're in another frenzy over Epstein, this time sparked by the DOJ and FBI's 'case closed' memo and the administration's ham-fisted attempt to tamp things down. Trump has offered a dizzying set of reactions, including saying he didn't want the kind of supporters who fixate on Epstein or the files, which he now calls 'a big hoax that's perpetrated by the Democrats, and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net.' After a report Thursday in the Wall Street Journal detailing a cryptic 2003 birthday card to Epstein bearing Trump's name, the president is calling on the Justice Department to seek the unsealing of 'all pertinent' grand jury testimony in Epstein's sex trafficking case. (Earlier in the week, Trump had used the qualifier 'all credible' to describe the kind of files he'd be OK with Attorney General Pam Bondi releasing.) But this won't quiet anyone down. Democrats, joined by a few Republicans who've built followings off conspiratorial clout-chasing, are still demanding a vote to publish the Epstein files. And maybe, just maybe, the files contain disturbing, disqualifying or even criminal revelations about the people in Epstein's orbit. Maybe, as some Democrats, Musk and a growing chorus of once-MAGA faithful suggest, the files contain details that would ensnare the president. Whatever the Epstein files end up being, as a journalist, I want them. But I also know what happens when a big, messy cache of information gets dropped into the middle of a post-fact attention economy. And I'm not excited. I'm nervous. The details of the Epstein case have always attracted conspiracy theorists: a rich man, powerful friends, real crimes, a sweetheart deal and a suicide. But the files aren't just evidence, they're ammunition. Depending on which citizen researcher mines them or which influencers frame what they find, the files will be used in equal measure to 'prove' Trump's innocence or guilt in all things, to confirm a liberal cabal and a conservative cover-up. Who gets caught up in the theories that follow — or the real threats those stories might inspire — is impossible to predict. If the past is any predictor, it's not Epstein (he's dead) or Trump (he's Teflon) who will be caught up in the new round of conspiracy theories. It's regular, innocent people. Prochaska, from the University of Washington, put it this way: 'What we think we're going to see may not be what we get.' This article was originally published on Solve the daily Crossword
Gulf Insider
07-04-2025
- Automotive
- Gulf Insider
Musk Schools Italy on Migration, Censorship, and Rules
Elon Musk joined Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, leader of the League party, for an interview during the party's congress in Florence on Saturday. The world's richest man explored a broad range of issues, from mass immigration and censorship to tariffs and EU overregulation. Musk, who notably exposed massive government-tech collusion to censor free speech after releasing the 'Twitter Files,' fiercely criticized forces opposing free expression – which comes on the heels of EU regulators threatening to fine Musk up to $1 billion for not curbing alleged disinformation on the platform. 'You can tell which side is the good side and the bad side by which side wishes to restrict freedom of speech,' Musk told Salvini. 'The Hitlers, Stalins, and Mussolinis of the world had very strong censorship.' .@elonmusk: "You can tell which side is the good side and the bad side by which side wishes to restrict freedom of speech.""In pushing for censorship, it makes it very clear that the left is the side against freedom." — Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) April 5, 2025 'Restriction on speech and large government is fundamentally fascists. Ironically, in pushing for censorship, it makes it very clear that the left is the side against freedom,' the Tesla and SpaceX CEO added. Shifting focus, Musk addressed President Donald Trump's tariffs, advocating for a zero-tariff free trade zone between Europe and North America. He emphasized greater economic integration and urged Trump to ease restrictions on individuals living and working across the two regions. 'I'm hopeful that the United States and Europe can move, ideally in my view, to a zero-tariff situation. Effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America,' Musk said. 'That's what I hope occurs, and also more freedom for people to move between Europe and the U.S. If they wish to work in Europe or America, they should be allowed to do so, in my view. That has certainly been my advice to the President,' the billionaire added. 🚨 ELON MUSK: "With the tariffs, that at the end of the day, I hope it is agreed that both Europe and the United States should move to a zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America." — DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) April 5, 2025 This week, President Trump imposed tariffs on numerous countries, including a 20% levy on the European Union, prompting EU officials to pledge retaliation and French authorities to call on domestic firms to suspend investment plans in the United States. Musk also lambasted Europe's stifling regulatory environment, calling it a significant obstacle to entrepreneurial success and pushing for sweeping deregulation. 'Europe is over regulated. There are too many rules and regulations that make it very difficult to create a company and be successful,' Musk told Salvini. 'So I think radical deregulation is necessary in Europe. And if that means leaving the EU, it means leaving the EU,' he added bluntly. .@elonmusk: "Europe is over regulated. There are too many rules and regulations that make it very difficult to create a company and be successful.""Radical deregulation is necessary in Europe." "If that means leaving the EU, it means leaving the EU." — Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) April 5, 2025 Finally, Musk delivered a dire warning about unchecked mass immigration, asserting that a nation's identity lies in its people, not its borders, and that unrestricted inflows could spell a country's demise. 'Mass immigration is insane and will lead to the destruction of any country that allows unfettered mass immigration — That country will simply cease to exist,' Musk warned. 'A country is it's people, not it's geography. This is a fundamental concept.' Elon Musk: 'Mass immigration is insane and will lead to the destruction of any country that allows unfettered mass immigration — That country will simply cease to exist… A country is it's people, not it's geography. This is a fundamental concept.' — America (@america) April 5, 2025 Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni campaigned on a promise to reduce illegal immigration, and her efforts are showing clear results. In 2022, Italy saw 105,131 illegal arrivals, a figure that jumped to 157,651 in 2023 due to worsening global conditions. However, by 2024, the number of arrivals plummeted to 66,317—a nearly 60% decrease, the Institute of New Europe reports. Also read: Elon Musk's X Suffers Major Outage; Global Users Report Access Issues
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nina Jankowicz's Defense of Government Censors Is Based on Misinformation
Nina Jankowicz is the former director of the Department of Homeland Security's Disinformation Governance Board, an entity that purported to advise the Biden administration on how best to counter online misinformation but was shuttered after drawing the ire of conservatives and libertarians. Like so many other purported disinfo experts, Jankowicz's record of identifying actual lies is decidedly mixed: She had dutifully joined the intelligence community and much of the mainstream media, for instance, in wrongly asserting that the New York Post's Hunter Biden laptop story was disinformation peddled by Russia. She personally expressed the view that the straightforward explanation—Hunter Biden left his laptop at a repair shop—was a "fairy tale." Oops. But like so many other former government intelligence officials who were fundamentally wrong about pivotal issues pertaining to their area of expertise, Jankowicz is fated to fail upward. She is now the president of the Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting transparency, though the group does not disclose its sources of funding. That intriguing policy—some would say execrable hypocrisy—was noted by Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R–Wash.) during a fiery congressional subcommittee hearing on Tuesday. Jankowicz testified alongside one of her most ardent critics, the independent journalist Matt Taibbi, whose work exposing the federal government's efforts to compel social media companies to censor contrarian speech was a major driver of negative attention to projects like the Disinformation Governance Board. Taibbi's Twitter Files (as well as similar projects, like Reason's Facebook Files) demonstrated that aggressive moderation of dissident opinions online was not a choice freely made by social media companies—it was forced on them by government agents who were themselves misinformed about the facts. Jankowicz defended the Sunlight Foundation's lack of transparency on grounds that she has personally faced bullying as a result of her antidisinfo advocacy, and she wished to spare her backers from such a fate. She also tore into Taibbi, accusing him of failing to understand the implications of the information he uncovered and the social media censorship stories he had reported on. "Mr. Taibbi said when he was first searching through the so-called Twitter Files, he didn't know what he was looking at," said Jankowicz. "Well, he still doesn't. Everything looks like a conspiracy when you don't know how anything works." That's a bold claim from someone who bought into a conspiracy theory about the Hunter Biden laptop story. Jankowicz proceeded to flatly assert that the State Department's Global Engagement Center, charged with countering foreign propaganda, was never engaged in anything approaching censorship. This claim is abjectly false and collapses under scrutiny. At issue are two independent antidisinfo organizations, NewsGuard and the Global Disinformation Index, that received funding from the State Department. In her testimony, Jankowicz acknowledged that these organizations were federally funded, although she defended the grants as focused on combatting Chinese government propaganda rather than encouraging censorship of American media entities. We will return to that in a moment. Jankowicz subsequently took issue with the idea that NewsGuard was biased against right-leaning news sources, noting that several "conservative" organizations including The Wall Street Journal, the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, and Reason (i.e., this magazine) had received favorable evaluations. Neither Reason nor Cato identifies as conservative, of course; alas, this is precisely the sort of sloppiness one has by now come to expect from the antidisinfo experts. It is true, in any case, that NewsGuard favorably evaluated Reason. But the Global Disinformation Index (GDI) is another matter entirely. This organization—a British nonprofit, backed by the State Department—listed Reason as one of the 10 "riskiest online news outlets" and warned advertisers against appearing on the website. The GDI's stated rationale for this purported danger was inscrutable; the disinfo cops accused Reason of having unclear authorship policies, which is simply not true. Reason was far from the only disfavored news source: The GDI targeted the New York Post, RealClearPolitics, The Daily Wire, Blaze Media, The American Conservative, and the Washington Examiner. The Examiner subsequently took a closer look at the GDI's operations and determined that its missives to advertisers to avoid "risky" libertarian and conservative news sites were partly based on the idea that these outlets were promoting COVID-19 misinformation. Specifically, the GDI was shaming these websites for including commentary that COVID-19 may have leaked from a Chinese lab. This theory, labeled a "coronavirus conspiracy" by the GDI, is now judged by the FBI, the CIA, and the Energy Department to be the most plausible explanation for the pandemic's origins. Oops, again. But wait a minute: Wasn't Jankowicz defending the State Department's decision to fund these antidisinfo organizations on grounds that they were merely using taxpayer dollars to counter Chinese government propaganda? The GDI tried to suppress the idea that COVID-19 could have emerged from a Chinese lab under lax safety conditions, a disaster that was subsequently hidden by Chinese officials. Given that millions of people died all over the world as a result of the pandemic, any organizations running cover for the Chinese government on this topic are effectively complicit in the Chinese government's most essential propaganda campaign. So much for the State Department paying disinfo cops to counter foreign misinformation. When it came to COVID-19's origins, the GDI enforced the misinformation. And Jankowicz is still defending it. The post Nina Jankowicz's Defense of Government Censors Is Based on Misinformation appeared first on
Express Tribune
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
X influencers spotted with 'Epstein Files: Phase 1' binders at White House, sparking online debate
A group of X influencers, including Jack Posobiec, DC Draino, Libs of TikTok, Mike Cernovich, Chad Prather, and Liz Wheeler, were seen carrying binders labeled "Epstein Files: Phase 1" at the White House on Thursday. Their appearance followed an announcement by Attorney General Pam Bondi that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) would release additional files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The sighting quickly sparked reactions on social media, with many users comparing the event to the release of the 'Twitter Files.' Some critics argued that the distribution of the documents to select influencers instead of direct public access raised concerns about transparency. One X user commented, "Trump did exactly what I was afraid of, just like Elon did with the 'Twitter Files.' The Epstein files should have been released on a website to the public, not just to a few select people." Pam Bondi should give the Epstein Files to Ricky Gervais and have him present them at the Oscars tonight. It would be the most watched event in human history. — Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) February 27, 2025 The Epstein Files Phase 1: — drefanzor memes (@drefanzor) February 27, 2025 Another user expressed skepticism, writing, "Not blackpilling, but today's Epstein stunt is unfortunately delegitimizing and a poor attempt at recreating some kind of 'Twitter Files' exposé." The 'Twitter Files,' released between December 2022 and March 2023, were internal Twitter communications obtained by independent journalists Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss, with the backing of Elon Musk. These documents were presented as evidence of alleged coordination between social media companies and the government to control narratives and limit free speech. As debates continue, calls for full public disclosure of the Epstein files remain strong, with many urging the DOJ to make the documents widely accessible.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Who Is the Anonymous Data Expert Telling Elon Which Cuts to Make?
Since Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) swept into Washington last month, an anonymous X account called DataRepublican has taken the government demolition crew's supporters by storm. The account, and its alleged findings of mismanaged government agency spending, has been shared by Musk often, as well as Utah Senator Mike Lee. The account is followed by Vice President J.D. Vance. The woman behind the account, who's described herself as a Deaf software engineer, has appeared anonymously on NewsNation, and on several right-wing programs this month, like Glenn Beck's Blaze Media show, wearing sunglasses and a hooded sweatshirt to obscure her identity, even as she's billed as a government spending expert. The account accused neoconservative pundit Bill Kristol of being a 'deep state agent,' asserting his nonprofit, the Defending Democracy Together, is an 'indirect beneficiary of USAID,' the U.S. Agency for International Development, a government agency that Musk moved to shutter. The argument here was, in effect, that USAID gave money to a nonprofit donor-advised fund that gave some money to another nonprofit that then gave some money to Kristol's organization — so he's then benefiting from USAID spending. Donations can't be traced this way, and this basic misunderstanding of how donor-advised funds work led several pundits to analyze DataRepublican's claims, with one dubbing it the new 'Twitter Files.' But DataRepublican's fans think her work is genius. Nicole Shanahan, who was Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 2024 vice presidential nominee and financier, recently interviewed DataRepublican on her show, telling her: 'While you are not necessarily in this administration, what you have done is extraordinary.' Conservative host Steve Deace called her a 'genius software engineer,' adding 'we want to keep her personal identity secure so she is free from corporate media types who would love to do something to intimidate her.' So who is this government information data guru? The woman behind the account shared her full name Tuesday evening, after a man on Facebook posted that he knew her from the Deaf community, prompting DataRepublican to confirm her identity as Jennica Pounds. Pounds is indeed a Deaf, female software engineer from Utah, who until this week worked as a senior software engineer at an AI lending company called Upstart, a company that has tangled with regulations from the Consumer Federal Protection Bureau (CFPB) for years. Pounds wrote on Tuesday, 'I recently resigned from my job to pursue DOGE-adjacent efforts full-time.' But versions of Pounds' LinkedIn viewed by Rolling Stone as recently as late last week showed she listed herself as a current employee of Upstart. Some time this week, the LinkedIn was edited to show a February end to her Upstart tenure. Earlier this month, Musk famously tweeted 'CFPB RIP' as DOGE moved to gut the agency and the administration paused its work Replying to Musk's post, DataRepublican tagged Senator Elizabeth Warren (the CFPB was Warren's brainchild), writing: 'Hey @ewarren look at this.' Musk has quoted DataRepublican on X at least 24 times over the last three weeks, telling people to follow the account, and replying 'noted' to her claim on Jan. 21 that she found 'a quick billion' of federal spending for DOGE to cut. Her suggested cuts were funds going to groups like Global Refuge, a faith-based organization that provides safety and support services to immigrants, migrant refugees and asylum-seekers around the world. Two weeks later, Musk declared at 3:14 a.m. on a Sunday that DOGE was 'rapidly shutting down' supposedly 'illegal payments' to Global Refuge. A newly-launched corresponding website lets users search for charities and nonprofit officers. A false claim that Jeffrey Epstein was paid by USAID appears to have started with people using the website and mixing up the notorious sex offender with another Jeffrey Epstein. On Friday, DataRepublican announced she's adding an ActBlue donor search element to the website, which Musk then amplified, quoting her tweet and saying 'interesting.' At Upstart, Pounds was a Senior Distinguished Machine Learning Engineer since 2023, a high-level position at the publicly-traded San Mateo, California-based company, where she works remotely. A software engineer who has knowledge of the company told Rolling Stone that Pounds' position was one of the highest levels an engineer could reach there. Upstart received Series A funding and additional later funding from the far-right billionaire Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, and co-founder Paul Gu was a Thiel Fellow before launching Upstart in 2012. Thiel, of course, founded PayPal with Musk. Upstart has a complicated relationship with CFPB regulations. The company received a special designation from the CFPB in 2017, during Trump's first administration, allowing it special regulatory treatment by immunizing the lender from being charged with fair lending law violations with respect to its underwriting algorithm. Upstart was the first company to receive such a letter. The no-action status was renewed in November 2020, and the company then immediately closed its first public offering and began trading on Nasdaq. In February 2020, Sens. Warren and Cory Booker, and then-Sens. Kamala Harris and Robert Menendez, wrote to the company, expressing concern about the company's adherence to fair lending laws and asking for insight into how the company made credit determinations. But in 2022, the company asked for its no-action status to be terminated, the bureau wrote, rather than have the CFPB review 'significant changes to its artificial intelligence model,' as the CFPB required, 'effectively ending the company's special regulatory status, and allowing it to be able to make changes to its model without need for CFPB review and approval.' Pounds' job at Upstart involved working on that AI model, two sources say, although she started with Upstart a year later, in May 2023. Upstart's CEO and cofounder Dave Girouard participated in the U.S. Senate AI Insight Forum in November 2023, telling senators that his AI lending company is an example of AI working well without added legislation. 'In 2012, before even launching the company, we naively marched up to the San Francisco office of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and introduced ourselves,' he stated. 'This was not one of the new 'Offices of Innovation' — this was the local enforcement team. But what did we know? We were convinced that we were the good guys and were committed to innovating within the law.' Later that month, Upstart was subpoenaed by the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding disclosures related to use of its artificial intelligence models and loans, according to the company's quarterly report. Before co-founding Upstart, Girouard was President of Enterprise at Google. He posted on X in December about the CFPB looking to AI for a new lending model, joking, 'Hath hell frozen over?' 'It costs NYC 8-12X more than EUROPEAN cities to build a mile of subway! We need DOGE for every state and city gov.,' he posted in January. In a statement to Rolling Stone, Pounds wrote: 'My former employer has nothing to do with my activities. Leave them out of it.' Girouard and Gu did not immediately reply to comment. Before becoming DOGE's favorite anonymous expert, Pounds ran a Github that analyzed election data in Florida and North Carolina, two states she has lived in. Prior to her role at Upstart, Pounds worked at Snap Inc., eBay and Amazon. Pounds and her husband, who worked for a decade at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also own a distillery in Salt Lake City. Pounds registered a Utah company called Redata, LLC in 2020. The couple purchased a McMansion with an indoor pool and movie theater in 2021. The DataRepublican site has a donations section, with options for one-time and recurring donations: 'I'm @DataRepublican, working hard to bring you the most transparent and insightful data on government spending and contracts. If you find value in what I do, would you consider supporting financially? It helps me continue this journey, ensuring that I can keep providing these insights independently. Every little bit supports the mission, and I truly appreciate your consideration.' DataRepublican posted this week that 'a generous benefactor has reached out and offered to cover AI expenses,' and she is undergoing a 'background check' as she seeks to work with DOGE. After Pounds posted about what she called her 'doxxing,' Trump's interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, replied to her: 'We are here for you, Jennica, just like you are here for America when we need you most. It is wrong and illegal to threaten anyone, and we will not tolerate a threat to a federal worker.' Martin, who recently described himself as 'President Trump's lawyer,' has pledged to use his office to 'protect DOGE' and 'hold accountable those who threaten workers.' The threats Martin referenced regarding Pounds were not immediately clear. 'I join your mother @data_republican in awe and appreciation of your excellent work,' Martin added. 'We got your back.' More from Rolling Stone Trump Eviscerates a Bedrock Public Health and Environmental Protection Law Trump Posts Grotesque Video Imagining Glitzy 'Trump Gaza' Musk's Attempt to Overhaul FAA Reveals Shocking Lack of Air Travel Knowledge Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
