Fred Vultee

Fred Vultee

@fredvultee.bsky.social

Journalism professor, longtime rimrat. Tar Heel by way of Mizzou. Framing, news practice, securitization theory, editing, cats, beer, banjos. Not all those who wander are lost, but TBF quite a few of them are really, really lost.

1.9K followers2K following3.3K posts

Fred Vultee reposted

Anna Bower
@annabower.bsky.social

WaPo reports this no-bill was the Cassidy Hutchinson case www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

washingtonpost.comGrand jury declines to indict Cassidy Hutchinson over Jan. 6 testimonyHutchinson, a former White House aide, testified before lawmakers about President Donald Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021.
Anna Bower@annabower.bsky.social

Now we're on a break while the magistrate deals with grand jury returns. Neville Hedley for DOJ civil rights division shows up. Magistrate Faruqui: Do you have a return for us? DOJ: It's a non-concurrence, your honor. [AKA a no-bill 😂😅☠️]

Fred Vultee reposted

emptywheel
@emptywheel.bsky.social

Note: In 2016 Trump won with the help of coordinated messaging amplified by bots. He still relies on that coordinated messaging, tho the Epstein schism undermined that some. But this SEEMS to say you don't stay off Xitter and Facebook--you coordinate to game it.

Nicholas Grossman@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social

Pro-Lula Brazilians doing en masse digital organizing against the platforms is interesting. Basically took website/influencer growth hacking techniques—eg everyone go like/comment/share this, get the algorithm to pick it up—and applied them to electoral politics at a grand scale. Thread:

Fred Vultee reposted

Barb McQuade
@barbmcquade.bsky.social

No. The charges are already time barred. Under the relevant statute of limitations, an indictment must be filed within 10 years of the offense, which allegedly occurred on October 5, 2016. This DOJ is out of control.

Allison Gill@muellershewrote.com

I believe that DOJ has 30 days to get a grand jury indictment after charging on information unless Comey waived his right to a grand jury indictment, which I kind of doubt. That 30 days would expire 11/4. Is that correct @joycewhitevance.bsky.social @barbmcquade.bsky.social @rparloff.bsky.social ?

Fred Vultee reposted

Andrew Lawrence
@ndrew.bsky.social

it feels like its kinda being ignored but outside a couple outliers the only thing republicans are running on in the midterms is that theyre white and democrats arent

Fred Vultee reposted

The Bulwark
@thebulwark.com

RFK: "There's five hundred million Arabs in the world. And yet they don't produce science. They don't win the Nobel Prize. They don't win the Fields Prize. They don't win the Wolf Prize. They don't produce literature."

Fred Vultee reposted

Andy Craig
@andycraig.bsky.social

I know there's a lot going on but I feel it should probably be more of an above-the-fold story that members of Congress released a thoroughly documented report directly accusing the president of the United States of being a serial rapist.

Fred Vultee
@fredvultee.bsky.social

Whence the change in tone from “shit-house countries”? “Oct 25 (Reuters) - Libya's foreign ministry summoned the US chargé d'affaires on ​Sunday to protest against rally statements by ‌President Donald Trump it described as "offensive", after he called the North African nation ’terror-infested.’”

Fred Vultee
@fredvultee.bsky.social

Now he’s doing the “my friend, are you ready to do me this service?” bit with the Israeli electorate. And no, the Iranians weren’t chanting “Death to America” when Gerald Ford was president.

Fred Vultee reposted

Kate Starbird
@katestarbird.bsky.social

Our research team is doing real-time coverage of emerging news and rumors related to election integrity. We put out several outputs this week. Several of the rumors we covered are still percolating. Some of the stories may become seeds for conspiracy theories later in the cycle. Some highlights...

Fred Vultee
@fredvultee.bsky.social

The #DetroitNews, loyal acolyte of the Cult of the Orange Monkey-God, suggests mmmmmaybe Mike Rogers ought to stay off the stage, as Trump promises another barrage of drooling racist lies. Cheer up, Detroit News! Maybe he’ll just make weird noises and talk about guys’ butts until he falls asleep.

Fred Vultee
@fredvultee.bsky.social

Blanche’s screaming hizzy fit here is more than a bit unsettling.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

BASH: The worry is that we end up in a situation where President Trump tries to overturn the election and the result of that could be like what we saw after January 6-- BLANCHE: Stop it! You gotta stop it with that! That's crazy BASH: This is a president who has a history

Fred Vultee
@fredvultee.bsky.social

“You don’t read about it.”

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Trump: "Why do we always have to take people from shit house countries? We can't we take people from Norway and Sweden and Denmark? By the way, Denmark gave us Greenland ... what do you take, Venezuela or Greenland? We got them both!"

Fred Vultee
@fredvultee.bsky.social

Some fine reporting on election dirtbaggery.

steven monacelli@stevanzetti.bsky.social

Thread 🧵: the fraudulent transgender mailers have a connection back to Dallas, Texas, where a local Republican megadonor used a similar playbook years ago when he funded a fake BLM group to send letters to wealthy white parents that were designed to discredit the BLM movement.

Fred Vultee reposted

Aaron Rupar
@atrupar.com

“He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened up a Cheesecake Factory” — Obama

Fred Vultee
@fredvultee.bsky.social

The #NYTimes can still put the bat on the ball

Eric Lipton NYT@ericlipton.nytimes.com

JUST POSTED: Today at The NYT we are publishing a major investigation into how President Trump used his executive powers to expose millions of Americans to greater cancer risks. A six month-long investigation built on more than 10,000 pages of FOIA records. Read it www.nytimes.com/2026/10/24/c...

nytimes.comHow Trump Gave the Worst Polluters a Free Pass (Gift Article)The president temporarily waived clean-air rules for industrial facilities that spew cancer-causing gases. Then his appointees worked to gut the regulations altogether.
Fred Vultee
@fredvultee.bsky.social

Hats off to the reporter’s professionalism. MAGAts, he’s all yours.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

😳 WOMAN REPORTER: Do sexual abuse allegations mean nothing to you, sir? TRUMP: Wait. Wait! Wait wait wait. Slow down. Who are you with? REPORTER: NBC, sir. But they are very serious sex abuse allegations TRUMP: Quiet! Isn't she a fresh person? You're a horrible little reporter, aren't you?

Fred Vultee reposted

Judd Legum
@juddlegum.bsky.social

Ramaswamy has produced an attack ad weaponizing the rape of his opponent, Amy Acton, when she was 12 years old. It features Acton’s mother, who abandoned Acton after she was raped by her step-father, fleeing the state with her husband. Here is the corporate money helping fund that ad.