The country’s banking system is shaky, we’re getting closer to war with Russia in Ukraine, and East Palestine, Ohio is still a mess, so I can see how this exchange could collapse last week. Matt Taibbi testified before the House Subcommittee on Armaments of the Federal Government. Taibbi, a former contributing editor of Rolling Stone magazine, decided to go freelance and devote himself full-time to writing for the successful Substack newsletter. Taibbi blames the liberal media for their serial failures, especially on the Russia collusion hoax. This style of reporting has led many progressives to label him a Trump supporter and conservative, even though he is anything but; Taibbi is a staunch liberal.
However, he is also a supporter of free speech and is very wary of the censorship apparatus created by the political class, the intelligence community and huge tech – all of which has been documented in a series of articles titled Twitter Files. Evidence supporting the conservative bias was discovered after Elon Musk purchased the company.
I don’t think people understand the implications of allowing a federal agency to designate the information landscape as “critical infrastructure” and provide the right to protect it through censorship. https://t.co/OBPhUtg39N
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) March 14, 2023
Taibbi has had to fend off attacks that accuse him of being a MAGA supporter, a beacon of disinformation and a peddler of conspiracy theories against Democrats who likely haven’t read his previous work while working at Rolling Stone magazine. He only drew the line when Democrats demanded he reveal his sources, although Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VIS), the committee’s top ranking official, denied Taibbi’s claim that he was subpoenaed to make such disclosures. Taibbi mentioned her earlier comments to close this little tete-a-tete (via Flame):
Your direct quote was: “Who gave you access to these emails?” https://t.co/uGq2dlWH78
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) March 12, 2023
TO WATCH @StaceyPlaskett she just falsely claimed she didn’t ask @mtaibbi disclose the sources of your information #TwitterFiles
She did it.
ROLL THE TAPE. pic.twitter.com/JUVSuD0n61
— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) March 9, 2023
After testifying before the House subcommittee on federal weapons last Thursday, Taibbi blasted Republican Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) for appearing to accuse him of promoting “extreme Republican lies, disinformation and outright MAGA conspiracy theories.”
Taibbi responded: “Congresswoman, how does telling a non-MAGA, non-Republican journalist to drop a source mean fighting the ‘extreme lies of MAGA Republicans’?”
[…]
Plaskett, a ranking member of the subcommittee, defended her Democratic colleague, saying there was no pressure on Taibbi to reveal his sources.
“Nobody is interested in revealing the sources of ‘journalists’,” she said. “What we ALL should be interested in are the discussions, promises and/or deals Elon Musk has with Taibbi[,] Shellenberger[,] @DomGOP[,] and definitely Jim Jordan @HouseJudiciary.”
On Sunday, Taibbi responded that Plaskett was not being forthright and was using her own words to prove her words.
“Your direct quote was, ‘Who gave you access to these emails?'” Taibbi replied.
Democrats were caught in a lie, which means this day ends with a “y”.
