Author and journalist Matt Taibbi was asked a scathing question by House Democrats on Thursday as he sought to defend his contributions to the so-called “Twitter Files” during a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government.
The hearing become tense at times, with the top Democrat on the panel, Del Stacey Plaskett (US Virgin Islands), repeatedly pushing back against the top Republican, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Jordan and others in his party say federal agencies have unfairly targeted conservatives.
In an attempt to prove his point, new Twitter CEO Elon Musk allowed some internal company documents to be leaked late last year to a group of conservative journalists and commentators. The resulting article is supposed to prove that, under its previous leadership, Twitter has pushed a progressive agenda on its users and cooperated with federal agencies to silence conservative voices on the site. But critics say it’s short-lived, just illustrating how difficult it is to moderate content on large social media platforms.
Taibbi testified that the Twitter story was “the most serious” and “boldest story” he had ever worked on, even surpassing the 2008 financial crisis.
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The weaponization committee requested testimony from Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger, another writer who worked on a story about the alleged censorship.
Democrats in the House panel used the Twitter Files source to question the legitimacy of any conclusions drawn from them.
“Journalists should avoid receiving information that is served with a spoon, which is cherry-picked if it is likely to be biased, incomplete, or designed to reach conclusions that are irrefutable or incorrect,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.), quoted from the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics.
“Do you agree with that?” he asked.
Taibbi replied, “I think it depends.”
Wasserman Schultz then pointed to Taibbi’s December 2021 appearance on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, where he said: “If you start getting things, then you’re going to lose. They have you at that point and you have to get out of that habit. You don’t can cross that line.”
“You violate your own standards,” Wasserman Schultz said, over Taibbi’s objections.
Taibbi also took issue with the MP’s suggestion that he was profiting from Twitter Files, increasing the number of followers and newsletter subscribers.
Taibbi began by saying that he was “also reinvesting” before being cut off.
“You got money. Yes or no?” Wasserman Schultz asked.
Taibbi replied, “I think it’s a wash, to be honest.”
Wasserman Schultz insisted: “No. You’ve got money you didn’t have before, right?”
Taibbi replied, “But I have also spent money that I did not have.”
On another point, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) asked whether Taibbi had provided notes from the Trump White House asking Twitter to delete a tweet by model Chrissy Teigen, which then-President Donald Trump called “pussy ass.” bitch.”
Taibbi began, “No, but that’s probably because…”
Connolly jumps in: “Maybe it’s because of the disconfirmation bias that this is all about the … ‘left’ trying to control content when in fact the evidence is that the Trump White House is definitely trying to control content on Twitter.”
Twitter files provide evidence that the FBI has contacted social media companies with warnings about Hunter Biden’s laptop story published by The New York Post before the 2020 presidential election. The agency is concerned that the story could be part of a Russian disinformation campaign to influence the election, as was foreign enemy in 2016.
Asked if he believed there was a “legitimate goal” for the FBI to try to “stop foreign interference in our elections,” Taibbi said: “I think it’s a legitimate goal to stop actual interference.”
“Okay. I don’t know what the difference is, but that’s fine,” replied Rep. Dan Goldman (DN.Y.).
Taibbi then pointed to an email among Twitter staffers questioning the FBI’s assessment of foreign interference.