Uber broke laws and secretly lobbied governments, leak reveals | First Thing

More than 124,000 confidential documents leaked to the Guardian expose attempts to lobby Joe Biden and other world leaders. Plus the US cruise ships using Canada as a toilet bowl

Good morning.

A leaked trove of confidential files has revealed the inside story of how the tech giant Uber flouted laws, duped police, exploited violence against drivers and secretly lobbied governments during its aggressive global expansion.

How did ex-Obama aides help sell firm to world? Uber sought access to leaders, officials and diplomats through David Plouffe and Jim Messina, who both previously worked for Barack Obama, the leak shows.

What has Uber said about the revelations? In a statement, Uber said: We have not and will not make excuses for past behaviour that is clearly not in line with our present values. Instead, we ask the public to judge us by what we've done over the last five years and what we will do in the years to come."

Why was the tweet so pivotal? The select committee will say Trump sent the tweet knowing that for those groups, it amounted to a confirmation that they should put into motion their plans for January 6. It was from that point that the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers seriously started preparations, and Stop the Steal started applying for permits.