MATT TAIBBI ADMITS TWITTER FILES PR PLAY WAS A 'LIMITED HANGOUT'
Last Updated on October 1, 2024
Independent journalist Matt Taibbi alluded to the possibility that the Twitter Files — a series of information released by Elon Musk and Twitter/X in conjunction with well-known legacy journalists after Musk’s purchase of the platform — was in all likelihood not a complete release of communications between Twitter executives and the federal government in advance of the 2020 election.
Taibbi made the comments at a MAHA rally in Washington, D.C., where he spoke with other liberty-minded luminaries who have grown concerned about government intrusion and the proliferation of mandates.
Also present at the rally was Deep State Marauder Ivan Raiklin, who has been lobbying Elon Musk to release the full extent of the communications between Jack Dorsey’s Twitter executives and government agents who badgered the tech firm into heavily censoring news ahead of the Nov. 3, 2020 election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Twitter’s move into Texas, Raiklin contends, could present a scenario whereby Attorney General Ken Paxton could trigger a series of events that could provide for a fair election this fall.
READ: How Texas, Ken Paxton, and Twitter’s Move to the Lone Star State Could Save the American Republic
The admission by Taibbi that Twitter is likely holding onto more government communications comes after the proliferation of a so-called Deep State Target List which has been popularized by former Green Beret and constitutional attorney Ivan Raiklin.
Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat House Rep. whose wife Sarah Bloom Raskin happened to serve on the board of governors for the Federal Reserve, has called out Raiklin’s report “a deadly serious report.”
Investigative reporter Corinne Cliford elicited the bombshell statement from Taibbi.
When asked whether The Twitter Files series would release more Direct Messages between Twitter 1.0 and the Federal Government, Taibbi replied, “I’m not even sure that they exist. I signed a waiver. Nobody is allowed to have access to the DMs,” he said.
Cliford pressed Taibbi further, “Between Twitter and the government, you can’t get the DMs?”
“No,” Taibbi replied.
Taibbi recognized Raiklin’s efforts, and suggested as much to Cliford.
“I think [Raiklin]’s trying to get to the .. he would love to get more of those communications,” Taibbi said.
Cliford’s line of questioning also led Taibbi to admit to having obtained more secret messages between feds and Twitter 1.0.
“I found a couple, not through twitter, but through Freedom of Information Requests,” Taibbi admitted.
Taibbi says there’s still a lot of Twitter data that is not released
“so you don’t think Elon’s sitting on DMs between the Feds and Twitter,
“would Elon release it to you?”
“Not to me, I’m persona non grata at Twitter now, so.”
Can we get Elon to release the DMs between the government and Twitter?” CLIFORD
“Elon is not happy with me at the moment, but I would certainly encourage him to work with another journalist if he can find it in his heart to do that I think that would be great,” Taibbi said.
“My account is de-amplified also,” Taibbi claimed.
Taibbi continued.
“I think the people are placing their hopes in billionaire owners of tech companies to save them, and they are making a mistake,” Taibbi said.
TAIBBI RECOMMENDS AGAINST PUTTING FAITH IN TWITTER
After rambling a bit about the nature of federal intrusion into Big Tech, such as Pavel Durov’s Telegram and alluding to Dorsey ultimately caving to the feds who demanded access and control of the levers at Twitter, Taibbi ultimately recommended against placing their confidence with Silicon Valley tech billionaires.
“But people shouldn’t be placing their hopes in these business leaders. They should prepare for something else,” he said, perhaps alluding to more democratized, less centrally held tech or communications platforms.
Cliford continued to press Taibbi about the existence and release of the trove of DMs the Deep State Maurauder Ivan Raiklin has called on Musk to release.
“A more likely route to getting all those communications that you’re thinking about is gonna come through litigation and by congressional investigation, because there’s gonna be subpoena power and discovery,” Taibbi said.
“A journalist going to a billionarie and sayin, ‘Hey, can you give me some stuff,’ they can say yes, they can say no, and you never know whether they’re giving you everything,” Taibbi said, perhaps alluding to a scenario which actually played out in real life.
“When congress demands with a subpoena, or when a judge demands that people hand things over, they have to, and we’ve seen this with facebook, twitter, the global engagement center, all these different organizations.”
TAIBBI ALLEGES TWITTER IS HIDING MORE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATIONS
“Things will come out, it’s just gonna take time and it’s gonna take lawyers asking the right questions. Because one thing I’ve learned is that these companies and these government agencies, they defy subpoenas, they defy FOIA, so they really need to be pressured to hand everything over.”
Taibbi asserted that he was never in possession of any further DMs after Clifford pressed Taibbi about whether he was sitting on more DMs.
“We never had any DMs. We looked at Slack and email, that was it,” Taibbi asserted.
TAIBBI CALLS OUT JOHN KERRY AND KETANJI BROWN JACKSON
Taibbi recounted some comments made by John Kerry at a recent WEF meeting.
“The first amendment is a major block for us to stopping disinformation. We need to be hammering it out of existence. We need to win the right to govern, and be free to implement the change (be free of the bill of rights). He said ‘Democracies don’t move fast enough now.’
What they want is velocity, and that’s not what government is designed for.
In the American system, we put up with the slowness because we want our rights and we want our individuality,” he said.
“We also had Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in the Murphy v. Missourri case, she expressed concern that the first amendment is ‘hamstringing the government,’ This is a Supreme Court Justice that apparently hasn’t read the first amendment, because its express purpose, is to hamstring the government,” Taibbi recounted.
The Twitter Files were released beginning in December of 2022.
You can watch the full interview below.
BOTTOM LINE: Taibbi’s Twitter Files do not, evidently, represent all of the communications between the federal government and Jack Dorsey’s Twitter 1.0.
9.29.2024 Matt Taibbi response when I asked him about Elon Musk & are there any DMs between the FEDS & Twitter employees that need to be released to the public. Matt is very interesting…#matttaibbi#twitterfiles#news#washingtondc#x@elonmusk #elonmusk pic.twitter.com/5amS4lp2aS
— Corinne Cliford 🇺🇸 (@corinnecliford) September 30, 2024