Sunday, February 23

Last Wednesday afternoon, I walked into the federal courthouse in San Francisco and took a seat in the back row of a 17th floor hearing room. Soon, the door behind me opened, and in walked Ahmad Abouammo.

Tall, with long curly hair, and a graceful disposition, Abouammo matched the descriptions I had heard about him while working on a story we published hours earlier. According to the FBI, Abouammo and a colleague at Twitter accessed private user information and reportedly passed it to Bader al-Asaker, the head of a charity belonging to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his private office. Saudi intelligence could’ve used this information to identify anonymous dissidents.

Now indicted for acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, Abouammo and his lawyers arrived in court for a conference with the prosecution and a judge about the schedule for the upcoming trial.

It was a scene to take in. Sitting a row ahead of me, Abouammo waited while the defendants with cases ahead of his approached the judge one by one. There was someone accused of a home invasion robbery, a man accused of selling drugs to an undercover cop, a few people offering guilty pleas, and a defendant who looked no older than sixteen. As the status conferences progressed, Abouammo texted on his phone.

Abouammo’s turn came last, and he and his lawyer, Jodi Linker, approached the bench. The case, in discovery phase, could take a while. The defense has terabytes worth of files to review, including tens of thousands of pages, Linker said. Abouammo’s lawyer seemed exasperated at the amount of work, unable to tell the judge when exactly she’d be able to get through it. They set the next conference date for April 22.

As Abouammo’s case winds its way through the legal system, it could unlock more insight into the dangers of “inside threats” and spies at tech companies like Twitter.

Until then, the drudgery of the legal system will dominate: Document review, conferences, dates in court, and long waits. It’s a mundane set of circumstances for such a dramatic alleged crime. A fascinating trial likely awaits. You can read the whole story here.

Peloton Breaks Away

Last week, a friend texted that 74,000 people had taken the Peloton course she was pedaling through. Another Peloton rider told me her Lady Gaga course had more than 113,000 people on it. That might be part of why competitor Flywheel At Home announced it would be shutting down its subscription service last week.

Peloton takes the labor of one instructor, who teaches one course, and distributes it to tens of thousands of people (sometimes more), who pay the company individually. This is a great deal for Peloton, and makes me believe the business — which charges for both the bike and memberships — is fundamentally strong. It’s less of a good deal for the instructors, since Peloton captures a large portion of the rewards of their labor.

For all the buzzy startups that have failed recently — WeWork, BlueApron, Brandless, etc. — the one that’s perpetually mocked, Peloton, may be in the best shape. Another reason I believe in it: There’s a whisper network of people who own Pelotons and don’t talk about it out of shame. A friend, who requested anonymity because she embarrassed she owns one, said that after talking to her physical therapist about a “stationary bike,” he admitted his office has a Peloton too, but he doesn’t tell people.

Disclosure: I am not paid by Peloton, don’t own their stock, or their bike. I like being outside. But I think it’s an underrated company.

The Weekly Book Pitch

Frontline came out with a terrific Amazon documentary this week. You can check it out on YouTube. I’ll share some more thoughts in a subsequent newsletter, but Amazon’s decision to provide a number of senior executives to talk on record, and on camera, struck me. As I noted last week, Amazon is determined to re-engage with the public amid a period of scrutiny.

When I was in Seattle reporting my new book Always Day One, I spent time with Amazon’s CEO of Worldwide Consumer Jeff Wilke, who is a key character in the documentary. Wilke and I spoke about founder Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s retail business, and how the company automates work (both blue collar and white collar). If you want to hear more, I’d be thrilled if you’d preorder:

The Last Word

If you’re looking for something to do tonight, I suggest watching Netflix’s Love Is Blind, one of the wildest dating shows I’ve ever seen. The concept: people date for ten days without seeing each other. Then, they get engaged, with a wedding set in thirty days. Drama ensues.

Have a nice weekend everyone. Please reply directly to this email with feedback, questions, comments, and Netflix recommendations. Thanks always for reading!