Auditioned in Congress, the journalist who revealed the “Twitter files” under fire from the Democrats

During the hearing in Congress of Matt Taibbi for his contribution to the “Twitter files”, elected Democrats wanted to put him in difficulty both by seeking to discredit him personally and by trying to make him reveal his sources, in vain.

American journalist Matt Taibbi testified on March 9 before the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives about the “Twitter files”, to which he actively contributed, in particular by highlighting the political and media pressure to which the network was confronted. society in recent years. As evidenced by the interventions of several of his interlocutors during his recent hearing in Congress, the saga of the “Twitter files” seems to have left a particularly bitter taste within the Democratic camp.

Some of them have indeed sought to discredit Matt Taibbi on a personal level, even before his opening statementin which he recalled his experience as an information professional, as well as his attachment to the First Amendment of the American Constitution which, among other things, prohibits Congress from hindering the freedom of the press.

Madam Delegate Plaskett, I am not a “so-called journalist” […] I have written ten books, four of which are bestsellers New York Times

Stacey Plaskett, Democratic delegate to the House of Representatives since 2015, thus attacked the interviewee of the day by presenting him from the outset as belonging to a group of “so-called journalists”. “Madam Delegate Plaskett, I am not a ‘so-called journalist’, I have won the National Magazine Award, the IF Stone Award for Independent Journalism and have written ten books, including four best-selling New York Times“, then replied the main interested party during his presentation.

Matt Taibbi also had to respond to efforts by other Democratic MPs to challenge him on his professional ethics, including asking him to reveal the sources he spoke to in connection with his recent investigations. .

“You consider Musk the main source in all of this? […] The logical conclusion is that he is your source”, for example encouraged him to admit, on several occasions, Sylvia Garcia, elected Democrat to the House of Representatives in November 2018. “No, you are trying to make me say that he is the source and I cannot answer this question”, retorted the journalist in particular by refusing to direct his detractor on the identity of the interlocutors with whom he was able to exchange for his work related to “Twitter files”.

Still others, such as Daniel Sachs Goldman (a lawyer who has been particularly active in the proceedings relating to a impeachment of Trump and who entered the House of Representatives earlier this year), aggressively insisted that the New Jersey-born journalist validate or question accusations against Donald Trump in the context of the highly publicized Russiagate , for which Matt Taibbi participated in highlighting the fragility of key elements in this affair, as well as the massive misinformation about him within the political and media landscape of his country.

As a reminder, Matt Taibbi devoted an episode of the Twitter files to the malaise experienced by some of the Twitter teams in early 2018 in the face of repeated efforts by the Democratic camp to support the thesis of alleged massive Russian interference on the social network, in particular by accusing Russia, in vain, for having considerably amplified certain episodes relating to American political life.