by Eric Lendrum
In the 14th installment of the Twitter Files, journalist Matt Taibbi revealed how Democrats chose to falsely accuse their opposition of being “Russian bots” even though Twitter directly disagreed with this assessment.
As reported by Fox News, shortly after then-Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes released his famous memo detailing the efforts that were undertaken to spy on the Trump campaign by intelligence agencies, high-profile Democrats began spreading the lie that Nunes’ information was being promoted by “Russian bots” on Twitter.
“At a crucial moment in a years-long furor,” Taibbi explained, “Democrats denounced a report about flaws in the Trump-Russia investigation, saying it was boosted by Russian ‘bots’ and ‘trolls.’”
“Twitter officials were aghast, finding no evidence of Russian influence,” Taibbi continued. Twitter executives sent an email to several Democrats in Congress, including Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) confirming that they had “not identified any significant activity connected to Russia with respect to Tweets posting original content to this [#ReleaseTheMemo] hashtag.”
“Twitter warned politicians and media they not only lacked evidence, but had evidence the accounts weren’t Russian – and were roundly ignored,” the thread noted. “On January 18th, 2018, Republican Devin Nunes submitted a classified memo to the House Intel Committee detailing abuses by the FBI in obtaining FISA surveillance authority against Trump-connected figures, including the crucial role played by the infamous ‘Steele Dossier.’ The Nunes assertions would virtually all be verified in a report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz in December 2019.”
“Nonetheless,” Taibbi pointed out, “national media in January and early February of 2018 denounced the Nunes report in oddly identical language, calling it a ‘joke.’” Democrats who initially began spreading the “Russian bot” lie included Schiff, Feinstein, and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). Much of the mainstream media followed suit, including “NBC, Politico, AP, Times, [and] Business Insider,” as noted by Taibbi.
The Twitter Files are an ongoing series of revelations about Twitter’s political bias and censorship efforts in recent years, published by independent journalists with the approval of Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk. Upon successfully purchasing Twitter for $44 billion in October and taking the company private, Musk has vowed to make the platform more transparent and more accepting of free speech, in stark contrast to prior leadership that overwhelmingly sided with the Left and censored conservative voices.
Read Taibbi’s reporting:
1.THREAD: Twitter Files #14
THE RUSSIAGATE LIES
One: The Fake Tale of Russian Bots and the #ReleaseTheMemo Hashtag— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
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Eric Lendrum graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was the Secretary of the College Republicans and the founding chairman of the school’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter.
Photo “Adam Schiff” by U.S. Congress. Photo “Dianne Feinstein” by Pax Ahimsa Gethen. CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo “Richard Blumenthal” by United States Senate. Background Photo “Twitter” by Yuri Samoilov. CC BY 2.0.
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