[legerdemain]

When the Intercept published those reports, there was a stir among employees, because the internal messaging had also been "we work with HSI, not ERO, and the lamestream media are too stupid and venal to know the difference and are out to get us anyway, don't listen to them."

So the directors organized some small, private, closed, unrecorded sessions to placate employee concerns. The takeaway was: - Palantir wasn't consulted on that particular operation. - It's not as if we can control what the software is used for, anyway. - It is important to maintain ties with CBP regardless of what ERO does. - There is no red line that ERO could cross that would make us stop work with them, but we're definitely constantly evaluating the situation and doing what's best for us and for the nation.

I thought it was breathtakingly tone-deaf, but a lot of hobbits found it persuasive.