The later part of this week brought even more Twitter Files thanks to Matt Taibbi, who has also released several batches before. On Thursday came the fourteenth edition, known as "THE RUSSIAGATE FILES," which currently serves as a pinned tweet on Taibbi's profile.
The tweets are included as Taibbi sent them out, with some of the numbering being off.
https://t.co/0PUOm212iv a crucial moment in a years-long furor, Democrats denounced a report about flaws in the Trump-Russia investigation, saying it was boosted by Russian “bots” and “trolls.”
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
It's not that we want to suggest Twitter is the good guy in this case. Rather the Democrats who pushed the Russia collusion narrative are shown even more so to be the bad guys, considering the social media platform tried to warn that the narrative "not only lacked evidence" but that they "had evidence the accounts weren't Russian," only to be "roundly ignored."
4.Twitter warned politicians and media the not only lacked evidence, but had evidence the accounts weren’t Russian – and were roundly ignored.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
6.The Nunes assertions would virtually all be verified in a report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz in December 2019. pic.twitter.com/uLFHwbsiJe
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
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We're given some names early enough on of those who sought to really discredit the points made by then Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) in his memo, which included mention of the Steele Dossier. This includes not only Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), but Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), whose name indeed keeps reappearing in all of this. They sought to discredit Nunes even though, as Taibbi goes on to point out, "they didn't call it incorrect."
9.On January 23rd, 2018, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) published an open letter saying the hashtag “gained the immediate attention and assistance of social media accounts linked to Russian influence operations.” pic.twitter.com/kOC3ab6mXS
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
10.Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal followed suit, publishing a letter saying, “We find it reprehensible that Russian agents have so eagerly manipulated innocent Americans.” pic.twitter.com/pwA1MAQ84t
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
Taibbi then mentions how Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), along with the fellow Democrats and, naturally, the mainstream media, fed the narrative about Russian manipulation, so as to get their fellow Americans on board.
In subsequent tweets, Taibbi goes on to explain how the source used by these members comes from the Hamilton 68 dashboard by former FBI counterintelligence officer Clint Watts, with help from the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD).
12.The dashboard, which featured a crude picture of Vladimir Putin deviously blowing evil red Twitter birds into the atmosphere, was vague in how it reached its conclusions. pic.twitter.com/bSrfMfSVi6
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
In another display of how Twitter tried to pump the breaks, Taibbi notes that the social media platform's "executives panned Watts."
14.“I encourage you to be skeptical of Hamilton 68’s take on this, which as far as I can tell is the only source for these stories,” said Global Policy Communications Chief (and future WH and NSC spokesperson) Emily Horne.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
She added: “It’s a comms play for ASD.” pic.twitter.com/PZRZC51K7f
16.“If ASD isn’t going to fact-check with us, we should feel free to correct the record on their work,” said Policy VP Carlos Monje. pic.twitter.com/fwGgTYt7SN
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
18.“We investigated, found that engagement as overwhelmingly organic, and driven by VITs” – Very Important Tweeters, including Wikileaks and congressman Steve King. pic.twitter.com/Q7Z9DrPWOR
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
Twitter's own investigations found no Russian connection to #ReleaseTheMemo, and that "the engagement are overwhelmingly organic" and came from noteworthy and legitimate accounts.
20.When Twitter spoke to a Blumenthal staffer, they tried to “wave him off” because “we don’t believe these are bots.” pic.twitter.com/0VGdFRkkOi
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
https://t.co/W7riHUVMyn Twitter exec even tried to negotiate, implying an undisclosed future PR concession if Blumenthal would lay off on this:
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
“It seems like there are other wins we could offer him.” pic.twitter.com/Kdf1EebXcV
24.Execs eventually grew frustrated over what they saw as a circular process – presented with claims of Russian activity, even when denied, led to more claims.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
26.Eventually Twitter staff realize “Blumenthal isn’t looking for real and nuanced solutions” but “just wants to get credit for pushing us further.” pic.twitter.com/GbMvgeLH6g
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
The subsequent series of tweets, as one can read above, focus heavily on Sen. Blumenthal, and how utterly relentless he was in pushing such a narrative. Twitter even appeared to offer concessions, with an executive writing in an email from January 23, 2018 that "it seems like there are other wins we could offer him." Nevertheless, the senator published a letter on Russian influence.
Twitter ultimately realized that the senator "just wants to get credit for pushing us further," as was acknowledged in an email also from January 23, 2018. Such a conclusion is hardly shocking, given that Blumenthal is a politician with an agenda to push, after all.
https://t.co/eOqNK7yE15 the story, if you give a mouse a cookie, he’ll want a glass of milk, which will lead to a wave of other exhausting requests, at the end of which he’ll want a glass of milk. And one more cookie. pic.twitter.com/ySlFfzGt1y
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
30.Despite universal internal conviction that there were no Russians in the story, Twitter went on to follow a slavish pattern of not challenging Russia claims on the record.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
Ultimately, Twitter caved, and went on to not challenge or question. Previous batches of the Twitter Files show this to be quite the common theme from the social media platform.
31.Outside counsel from DC-connected firms like Debevoise and Plimpton advised Twitter to use language like, “With respect to particular hashtags, we take seriously any activity that may represent an abuse of our platform.” pic.twitter.com/DW5nO9Syh5
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
Taibi continued to tweet tidbits throughout Thursday, mostly to do with how damning this edition looked to be for Democratic members of Congress, including and especially Rep. Schiff. As highlighted before, previous editions of the Twitter Files also look to be bad for the particular congressman, with journalist Paul Sperry, whom Schiff called on Twitter to suspend, considering legal action.
Friday even brought us a supplemental to hone in further on Schiff, though. This one was fittingly titled "More Adam Schiff Ban Requests, and 'Deamplification.'" The supplemental was featured in the Friday edition of RealClearPolitics.
2.Staff of House Democrat @AdamSchiff wrote to Twitter quite often, asking that tweets be taken down. This important use of taxpayer resources involved an ask about a “Peter Douche” parody photo of Joe Biden. The DNC made the same request: https://t.co/fM2Y2jxVKw pic.twitter.com/LIQMbns1B0
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
The thread begins in a hardly shocking manner, which is that the staff for Rep. Schiff's office routinely asked Twitter to take down tweets, including those that parodied now President Joe Biden during the presidential campaign.
Again, where Twitter may deserve some credit is that they didn't take down the tweet in question, though a Schiff staffer by the name of Jeff Lowenstein, who, according to Legistorm is the staff director for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, claimed it could be a "slippery slope."
4.Schiff staffer Jeff Lowenstein didn’t give up, claiming there was a “slippery slope concern here.” pic.twitter.com/qM1cJiZLFh
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
6.Even when Twitter didn’t suspend an account, that didn’t mean they didn’t act. Schiff’s office repeatedly complained about “QAnon related activity” that were often tweets about other matters, like the identity of the Ukraine “whistleblower” or the Steele dossier: pic.twitter.com/XKzY8AmB5R
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
We can't afford to get too excited or heap too much praise upon Twitter, though, as the social media platform would engage in "deamplification" of accounts, especially if there was "QAnon related activity" involved or discussion of the Ukraine whistleblower or Steele dossier.
8.Schiff’s office had a concern about “deamplification,” though: it might make it harder for law enforcement to track the offending Tweeters.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
10.For more, watch @ShellenbergerMD, @BariWeiss, @LHFang, @DavidZweig, @AlexBerenson, and others.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
Twitter had no editorial input. Searches were carried out by third parties, so the documents could be limited.
The office of @AdamSchiff said they "appreciate greatly" Twitter's efforts to deamplify certain accounts, but worried such shadow bans might "impede the ability of law enforcement" to search for certain accounts: https://t.co/ilCVAG5hoo
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
The attention on Friday ultimately did not end up being all about Schiff, though. Another California Democrat, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) just had to get in on the action as well, as he continuously threw Taibbi under the bus in a series of tweets and personal attacks.
What @mtaibbi leaves out is that the article he cites explains DOJ dropped the two cases because discovery would give the Russians information they could weaponize. @mtaibbi now wants you to doubt the DOJ’s case against 12 Russian agents. He’s spewing Kremlin talking points. https://t.co/DZmbqqR8sH
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) January 13, 2023
What @TedLieu leaves out is that the DOJ indicted 12 individuals they knew would never show up in court, but had to drop two related cases of companies that did fight back, rather than go through discovery: https://t.co/NPVKm3Pvgq https://t.co/xAMUHyZpLO
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
Also my story wasn’t about 2016 or the GRU. It was about the grossly dishonest campaign by your congressional colleagues to depict the #ReleaseTheMemo hashtag as driven by Russian influence. Care to address the actual story? https://t.co/xAMUHyYRWg
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
Congressman, I’m an American citizen, I love my country, and accusing me of repeating “Kremlin talking points” when I report something you find inconvenient is beyond reprehensible. You and your sleazy red-baiting pals in congress should be ashamed. https://t.co/ooBok40jxF
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
Of course, it's worth reminding that this is nothing new from Lieu. He similarly went after Taibbi last month as he attacked the independent journalist for revealing what the congressman didn't think other people should get to hear. "Ted Lieu" was trending over Twitter on Friday night as a result of the back and forth between him and Taibbi.
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