Rudy Giuliani inadvertently created a hyperlink in a tweet last week, which resulted in another Twitter user creating a website with a succinct message about Giuliani's client, President Donald Trump. (Photo: screenshot)
Trump Lawyer and Cybersecurity Adviser Rudy Giuliani Accuses Twitter of 'Invading' His Account After Typing Error Results in Anti-Trump Website Link
"Giuliani spent 16 years as a security consultant and was originally brought on to the Trump team as a cybersecurity adviser. Be terrified."
Rudy Giuliani, who is serving as President Donald Trump's attorney as his legal troubles mount, claimed late Tuesday night that Twitter is behind conspiracy to "invade" his account. The false accusation came days after another user noticed that Giuliani had inadvertently created a hyperlink within a tweet last Friday, allowing the user to create a website with a message about Giuliani's presidential client.
A punctuation error in Giuliani's tweet regarding Michael Cohen's guilty plea and Special Counsel Robert Mueller's indictment of 12 Russian agents last July resulted in a link to the domain name "G-20.In"--a website which did not exist until a user named Jason Velazquez saw Giuliani's mistake, quickly purchased the domain, and created a no-frills webpage containing only the statement "Donald J. Trump is a traitor to our country" and a link to a Reddit thread on former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's cooperation with the Mueller probe.
The makeshift website quickly went viral, with nearly 50,000 Twitter users "liking" Giuliani's tweet and posting anti-Trump messages in the replies. The former New York City mayor reacted in outrage, claiming that the so-called "committed card-carrying anti-Trumpers" at Twitter had "allowed someone to invade" his tweet.
Giuliani's orginal tweet had included a second punctuation error, he reasoned, but that hadn't resulted in a link.
But as a number of critics pointed out, the G-20.in link was possible because .in is India's equivalent of .com--something a person hired as the president's cybersecurity advisor might have realized.
Velazquez told NBC News that he had simply seen Giuliani's inadvertent hyperlink as an opportunity to "do something funny" and that he has no contacts at Twitter who could have helped him to "invade" the attorney's tweet--which Twitter confirmed would be impossible even if Velazquez had been so inclined.
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just hours left in our Spring Campaign, we're still falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Rudy Giuliani, who is serving as President Donald Trump's attorney as his legal troubles mount, claimed late Tuesday night that Twitter is behind conspiracy to "invade" his account. The false accusation came days after another user noticed that Giuliani had inadvertently created a hyperlink within a tweet last Friday, allowing the user to create a website with a message about Giuliani's presidential client.
A punctuation error in Giuliani's tweet regarding Michael Cohen's guilty plea and Special Counsel Robert Mueller's indictment of 12 Russian agents last July resulted in a link to the domain name "G-20.In"--a website which did not exist until a user named Jason Velazquez saw Giuliani's mistake, quickly purchased the domain, and created a no-frills webpage containing only the statement "Donald J. Trump is a traitor to our country" and a link to a Reddit thread on former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's cooperation with the Mueller probe.
The makeshift website quickly went viral, with nearly 50,000 Twitter users "liking" Giuliani's tweet and posting anti-Trump messages in the replies. The former New York City mayor reacted in outrage, claiming that the so-called "committed card-carrying anti-Trumpers" at Twitter had "allowed someone to invade" his tweet.
Giuliani's orginal tweet had included a second punctuation error, he reasoned, but that hadn't resulted in a link.
But as a number of critics pointed out, the G-20.in link was possible because .in is India's equivalent of .com--something a person hired as the president's cybersecurity advisor might have realized.
Velazquez told NBC News that he had simply seen Giuliani's inadvertent hyperlink as an opportunity to "do something funny" and that he has no contacts at Twitter who could have helped him to "invade" the attorney's tweet--which Twitter confirmed would be impossible even if Velazquez had been so inclined.
Rudy Giuliani, who is serving as President Donald Trump's attorney as his legal troubles mount, claimed late Tuesday night that Twitter is behind conspiracy to "invade" his account. The false accusation came days after another user noticed that Giuliani had inadvertently created a hyperlink within a tweet last Friday, allowing the user to create a website with a message about Giuliani's presidential client.
A punctuation error in Giuliani's tweet regarding Michael Cohen's guilty plea and Special Counsel Robert Mueller's indictment of 12 Russian agents last July resulted in a link to the domain name "G-20.In"--a website which did not exist until a user named Jason Velazquez saw Giuliani's mistake, quickly purchased the domain, and created a no-frills webpage containing only the statement "Donald J. Trump is a traitor to our country" and a link to a Reddit thread on former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's cooperation with the Mueller probe.
The makeshift website quickly went viral, with nearly 50,000 Twitter users "liking" Giuliani's tweet and posting anti-Trump messages in the replies. The former New York City mayor reacted in outrage, claiming that the so-called "committed card-carrying anti-Trumpers" at Twitter had "allowed someone to invade" his tweet.
Giuliani's orginal tweet had included a second punctuation error, he reasoned, but that hadn't resulted in a link.
But as a number of critics pointed out, the G-20.in link was possible because .in is India's equivalent of .com--something a person hired as the president's cybersecurity advisor might have realized.
Velazquez told NBC News that he had simply seen Giuliani's inadvertent hyperlink as an opportunity to "do something funny" and that he has no contacts at Twitter who could have helped him to "invade" the attorney's tweet--which Twitter confirmed would be impossible even if Velazquez had been so inclined.