The Patriot Post® · IRS Weaponized Against Twitter Files Journalist

By Anthony Brian Logan ·
https://patriotpost.us/articles/96098-irs-weaponized-against-twitter-files-journalist-2023-03-30

The IRS paid Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi a visit at his home on the day of his congressional testimony about the weaponization of government. Since Taibbi was obviously not home, agents left a note on his door with instructions to call back four days later. It is strange for the IRS to show up at someone’s home unannounced, especially for something as simple as what wound up being two previous tax returns rejected due to suspicion of identity theft. Taibbi did not owe the IRS money. In fact, the IRS owed him a substantial refund. So the obvious question is this: Did the IRS visit his home out of grave concern or to intimidate him?

Taibbi and fellow journalist Michael Shellenberger testified before Congress earlier in March. They were there to speak about the information found in the Twitter Files as it relates to the weaponization of government. Both journalists were accused by leftist politicians of being pawns and “scribes” for Elon Musk. In full disclosure, Musk did provide Taibbi, Bari Weiss, and potentially Schellenberger with a treasure trove of data to dig through and report on. However, Musk also gave them full autonomy to report whatever they saw fit, including information that could be damaging to Musk himself. Taibbi and the other journalists assigned to this task did their jobs without bias from political pressure — and that might actually be the problem.

The information found within the Twitter Files was not just about Twitter. The entire federal government, all major social media platforms, and a plethora of private entities working alongside politicians and bureaucrats were exposed. The federal government had set up an official system of social media content moderation. Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms would get tips directly from the government to censor certain content.

This is obviously why the Hunter Biden laptop story, which came from a reputable source in the New York Post, was censored across all major platforms. Taibbi was most likely paid a visit by the IRS for the intimidation factor because he is getting too close to something that government sees as indispensable — the ability to manipulate the general public through lack of access to information. The government also seeks to create a “list” of undesirable people who spread “misinformation.” This list reeks of China’s “social credit score” system, just not as obvious or public.

The House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Twitter Files revealed obvious bias from politicians. Clearly, many of the people on Capitol Hill align with the federal government’s “unofficial” policy of this new-age digital McCarthyism. Delegate Stacey Plaskett (D-VI) labeled Taibbi a “so-called” journalist during her opening statement. Taibbi has been a journalist since the early 1990s and has written 10 books, four of them New York Times bestsellers. Plaskett immediately attempted to discredit Taibbi to render his Twitter Files findings and testimony during the House hearing tainted or useless. Again, this shows clear bias from the political establishment and further points toward the IRS visit not being an accident or happenstance.

Social media is a powerful tool that world governments do not take lightly. The United States is currently attempting to ban the Chinese social media app TikTok altogether. The federal government, and many state governments, have banned the app from employees’ cellphones. The bill that is floating through Congress right now seeks to take the small bans that already exist and stretch them out to the everyday citizen.

The devil, however, is in the details. The bill gives the government the power to go after everyone deemed a national security risk. If a person is placed on such a “list,” then the government would have the power to access everything connected to the Internet, such as a person’s computers and video games. It is sort of an Internet Patriot Act. And not much has to be done to create this “list” — since it most likely already exists due to the very thing that Taibbi and other journalists have been reporting on.