News/Commentary

Matt Taibbi on ‘outrageous’ Dem conduct at Twitter hearing: ‘They’d never treat a NYT reporter like that’

March 12, 2023 | | Print Article

Journalist Matt Taibbi has done more than expose the collusion between U.S. intelligence agencies and Twitter.

In testifying before the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government this week, Taibbi, by virtue of simply showing up, exposed the depths to which Democrats are willing to sink to maintain control of the Biden administration’s chokehold on the official narrative it wishes to spoonfeed all Americans.

(Video: Fox News)

For his first interview since the hearing, Taibbi joined Fox News host Dan Bongino to discuss the “outrageous” treatment he and fellow journalist Michael Shellenberger received at the hands of Democratic Representatives such as Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Stacey Plaskett (D-VI).

“You are the one who exposed this malfeasance, and, stunningly, you became the focus of their ire,” Bongino noted before playing clips from the hearing for his audience.

The attempts to discredit and diminish Taibbi and Shellenberger proved to a large extent the very government-level intimidation and bullying the hearing was meant to investigate.

“Matt, this is disgusting,” Bongino said. “‘Tin foil cap.’ You were ‘paid off.’ You are a ‘so-called journalist,’ despite a resume to die for. That had to bother you personally.”

“Well, I expected that,” Taibbi replied. “But I think the thing that’s extraordinary about what happened to both me and to Michael Shellenberger, the other witness, is they would never treat a New York Times reporter like that or a Washington Post reporter like that and suggest that it was somehow, you know, wrong for a reporter to make money, which was, came out during the hearing.”

“They asked me if I’ve been paid to testify, which was totally outrageous,” Taibbi stated. “They called us a ‘direct threat’ to people who oppose them. That’s very ominous language for the government to talk about with regard to journalists.”

“Ominous,” and completely contrary to the First Amendment, something every Representative in the chamber swore to uphold.

It was a blatant attempt by elected officials to destroy the reputation of American citizens who dared to report inconvenient truths about government overreach and corruption, and it should horrify all Americans, regardless of party preferences.

“And again,” Taibbi stressed, “they would never do that with somebody they considered one of their own, which, you know, a typical mainstream reporter.”

“I think that was very, very disturbing what happened yesterday,” he said.

But Taibbi hasn’t backed down.

Back on Twitter, he has been fending off attacks and correcting the record on selectively-edited clips like a superhero under siege.

In one instance, he called out liberal Vox.com journalist Aaron Ruper for misleading his readers.

“If you’re going to excise text from a quote, it’s standard to at least put an ellipsis in there to let readers know something’s been cut,” Taibbi told his disingenuous colleague. “You couldn’t even do that?”

Twitter users fact-checked Ruper, filling in the blanks he conveniently created with his tweet.

In another tweet, Taibbi called out Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), who wrote, “To hide their inability to legislate, Republicans have launched a dangerous political circus that’s sole purpose is to inject extremist politics into our justice system.”

“I will continue to fight Extreme MAGA Republican lies, misinformation, and outright conspiracy theories,” Garcia vowed.

“Congresswoman, how does badgering a non-MAGA, non-Republican journalist to give up a source constitute fighting ‘Extreme MAGA Republican lies’?” Taibbi asked. “Can you please identify something @ShellenbergerMD or I said that is extreme, a lie, or a conspiracy theory?”

The chorus of crickets was deafening.

But from Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Taibbi received a much warmer welcome, one for which the embattled journalist was clearly grateful.

“Thank you chairman @Jim_Jordan for inviting @ShellenbergerMD and me to speak today,” Taibbi tweeted. “It was an honor, and as Michael and I both worried this frightening issue would be ignored, we are very grateful you and your committee took the time to explore it.”

Republished with permission from American Wire News Service

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Melissa Fine
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