The Twitter Files

I don't know what to make of that one. It's possible that this sort of scrutiny from the IRS isn't that uncommon for someone in his situation. I imagine being self employed with the sort of non standard income streams he has is kind of a head scratcher for anyone looking at his taxes.

wonder if it was a rogue agent, pissed off at him over the Twitter files

Or someone hopelessly bored desk jockey with an excuse to go out and become a character in an ongoing news story.

All the world's indeed a stage
We are merely players
Performers and portrayers
Each another's audience outside the gilded cage

Thanks Jimmy, now this will be stuck in my head. lol

https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/irs-matt-taibbi-twitter-files-jim-jordan-daniel-werfel-lina-khan-84ee518

Quote

The IRS Makes a Strange House Call on Matt Taibbi
An agent shows up at the home of the Twitter files journalist who testified before Congress.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan sent a letter Monday to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen seeking an explanation for why journalist Matt Taibbi received an unannounced home visit from an IRS agent. We’ve seen the letter, and both the circumstances and timing of the IRS focus on this journalist raise serious questions.

Mr. Taibbi has provoked the ire of Democrats and other journalists for his role in researching Twitter records and then releasing internal communications from the social-media giant that expose its censorship and its contacts with government officials. This effort has already inspired government bullying, with Chair Lina Khan’s Federal Trade Commission targeting new Twitter owner Elon Musk and demanding the company “identify all journalists” granted access to the Twitter files.

Now Mr. Taibbi has told Mr. Jordan’s committee that an IRS agent showed up at his personal residence in New Jersey on March 9. That happens to be the same day Mr. Taibbi testified before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government about what he learned about Twitter. The taxman left a note instructing Mr. Taibbi to call the IRS four days later. Mr. Taibbi was told in a call with the agent that both his 2018 and 2021 tax returns had been rejected owing to concerns over identity theft.

Mr. Taibbi has provided the committee with documentation showing his 2018 return had been electronically accepted, and he says the IRS never notified him or his accountants of a problem after he filed that 2018 return more than four-and-a-half years ago.

He says the IRS initially rejected his 2021 return, which he later refiled, and it was rejected again—even though Mr. Taibbi says his accountants refiled it with an IRS-provided pin number. Mr. Taibbi notes that in neither case was the issue “monetary,” and that the IRS owes him a “considerable” sum.

Weird the IRS sent an agent to his house, instead of contacting him by mail first.

https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1640512613317591040?s=20

Quote

For those asking, I don’t want to comment on the IRS issue pending an answer to chairman @Jim_Jordan’s letter. I’m not worried  for myself, but I did feel the Committee should be aware of the situation.

Thats not just weird thats .... Dangerous.

My first thought was: is that really an IRS agent?
My second thought was: I wouldn't put it too far past dems to intimidate but they usually aren't very good at it.
My third was: The IRS did look to add thousands of Agents.  Gun toting agents.  Maybe this is part of that.
Then, finally my fourth thought: 'Mr. Taibbi notes that in neither case was the issue “monetary,” and that the IRS owes him a “considerable” sum.'
How does a journalist have the kind of income that lets him get huge tax writeoffs and have the irs owe him a lot of money? 

Matt Taibbi has written several best selling books. He also makes a lot from his substack.

Matt Taibbi has written several best selling books. He also makes a lot from his substack.

Aaahhh.  That does help.  Tho why he gets alot back, I haven't a clue but I assume he's correct.

https://mobile.twitter.com/noclador/status/1642239798474600449

So I guess the algorithm is out.  In it there's a list of topics to downrank.  They include;

coordinated harmful activity
untrusted urls
misleading information
not safe for work content
medical misinformation
hateful content
violent content

and also the war in Ukraine which in the code it's labeled as the "Ukraine Crisis".  An odd way to label it.  I guess it's shorter than special military operation.

I guess that really only affects people who want their tweets to reach people who don't follow them? Twitter never should have got in the game of tinkering with who sees what. The one thing I always liked about Twitter is that you create your own timeline, you add people you are interested in following,  and it's as if the rest of Twitter barely exists.

I guess that really only affects people who want their tweets to reach people who don't follow them? Twitter never should have got in the game of tinkering with who sees what. The one thing I always liked about Twitter is that you create your own timeline, you add people you are interested in following,  and it's as if the rest of Twitter barely exists.

Well they have to.
Someone starting out would have a blank profile.  No timeline, no posts, nothing.
So they search for tags to find things then like it and subscribe.
But what happens if there's no updates?  Your timeline gets very boring and you're likely to stop using it.

So to keep things fresh, new content that you didn't know you wanted pops up.  Basically targeted advertising but with other posts.
This gives posters more exposure and gives consumers more content to consume that they might like.

And as such, twitter gets to keep selling your data to advertisers to keeo the servers running.

Quote from: Space Cowgirl on April 01, 2023, 01:42:57 PM

I guess that really only affects people who want their tweets to reach people who don't follow them? Twitter never should have got in the game of tinkering with who sees what. The one thing I always liked about Twitter is that you create your own timeline, you add people you are interested in following,  and it's as if the rest of Twitter barely exists.

Well they have to.
Someone starting out would have a blank profile.  No timeline, no posts, nothing.
So they search for tags to find things then like it and subscribe.
But what happens if there's no updates?  Your timeline gets very boring and you're likely to stop using it.

So to keep things fresh, new content that you didn't know you wanted pops up.  Basically targeted advertising but with other posts.
This gives posters more exposure and gives consumers more content to consume that they might like.

And as such, twitter gets to keep selling your data to advertisers to keeo the servers running.

This model is also why I turfed Facebook.

I wanted simply just the updates from the people I had on there and perhaps business or news outlets I personally liked. Instead, I got bombarded with dozens of pages and news shit I never even heard of. And the ads and I'd be scrolling and scrolling before I finally might find an update from my friend or family. It is a horrible model but I guess the allure of the social media is too much and many people put up with it. Or get sucked into it and happily deviate from the very reason they opened the app in the first place


Nice to know I'd hate Twitter myself. Dont feel bad for not having it. I tried to sign up a few weeks ago but it said it 'could not create a profile at this time'. I wonder if it has something to do with the thousands of staff layoffs that worked with its IT infrastructure. Seems I'm not missing anything, I wont bother it again

Quote from: Lorddave on April 02, 2023, 01:17:42 AM

Quote from: Space Cowgirl on April 01, 2023, 01:42:57 PM

I guess that really only affects people who want their tweets to reach people who don't follow them? Twitter never should have got in the game of tinkering with who sees what. The one thing I always liked about Twitter is that you create your own timeline, you add people you are interested in following,  and it's as if the rest of Twitter barely exists.

Well they have to.
Someone starting out would have a blank profile.  No timeline, no posts, nothing.
So they search for tags to find things then like it and subscribe.
But what happens if there's no updates?  Your timeline gets very boring and you're likely to stop using it.

So to keep things fresh, new content that you didn't know you wanted pops up.  Basically targeted advertising but with other posts.
This gives posters more exposure and gives consumers more content to consume that they might like.

And as such, twitter gets to keep selling your data to advertisers to keeo the servers running.

This model is also why I turfed Facebook.

I wanted simply just the updates from the people I had on there and perhaps business or news outlets I personally liked. Instead, I got bombarded with dozens of pages and news shit I never even heard of. And the ads and I'd be scrolling and scrolling before I finally might find an update from my friend or family. It is a horrible model but I guess the allure of the social media is too much and many people put up with it. Or get sucked into it and happily deviate from the very reason they opened the app in the first place


Nice to know I'd hate Twitter myself. Dont feel bad for not having it. I tried to sign up a few weeks ago but it said it 'could not create a profile at this time'. I wonder if it has something to do with the thousands of staff layoffs that worked with its IT infrastructure. Seems I'm not missing anything, I wont bother it again

Yeah.  I mean, the algorithm gives me what it thinks I want: Conservative and heavy right wing meme pages.  Why?  Because I post on them alot.  Commenting.  Arguing.

So naturally, it gives me more of what I interact with.

Facebook has always been the devil.

I use ublock origin, so I generally don't see things I don't want to see. I don't see tweets from people I don't follow on my timeline unless someone I follow retweets them. I don't see promoted tweets, unless Twitter changes slightly, but then ublock updates and I don't see those anymore for awhile.

Yeah I have FB locked down pretty tightly too. I still don't use it because even some of the posts from people I do know are just bastshit idiotic.

https://leefang.substack.com/p/house-democrat-threatens-twitter

The backlash against journalists reporting on the Department Homeland Security’s reach into social media platforms took an ominous turn in recent days.

In a letter I exclusively obtained, Rep. Stacey Plaskett, D-V.I., falsely claimed that “Twitter Files” journalist Matt Taibbi lied under oath in his congressional testimony, floating the possibility of criminal prosecution. Plaskett, the same lawmaker who described Taibbi as a “so-called journalist” during his March 9 testimony, also demanded sourcing information and asked that he detail his interactions with Elon Musk.

The Plaskett letter claimed that Taibbi "intentionally" provided false information during his testimony and mentioned the potential consequences of such actions. "Under the federal perjury statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1621, providing false information is punishable by up to five years imprisonment," Plaskett wrote.

The letter was swiftly condemned by press freedom organizations when reached for comment.

...

Although the letter came from Plaskett, it was a group effort that involved senior figures in the House Democratic Caucus.  Plaskett referenced the letter in an April 13 press release, but the link to the letter was initially broken. I reached out to her office for a copy this week and earlier today, received a PDF with the file. Notably, after speaking to multiple officials in Plaskett’s office, a response to my inquiry was finally sent not by her staff, but by Earnestine Dawson, an advisor to House Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. The metadata on the letter shows it was authored by Jacqui Kappler, a lawyer with the House Judiciary Committee who works closely with former House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y.

This is not good. The Dems should not start behaving like Trump!

https://leefang.substack.com/p/house-democrat-threatens-twitter

Quote

The backlash against journalists reporting on the Department Homeland Security’s reach into social media platforms took an ominous turn in recent days.

In a letter I exclusively obtained, Rep. Stacey Plaskett, D-V.I., falsely claimed that “Twitter Files” journalist Matt Taibbi lied under oath in his congressional testimony, floating the possibility of criminal prosecution. Plaskett, the same lawmaker who described Taibbi as a “so-called journalist” during his March 9 testimony, also demanded sourcing information and asked that he detail his interactions with Elon Musk.

The Plaskett letter claimed that Taibbi "intentionally" provided false information during his testimony and mentioned the potential consequences of such actions. "Under the federal perjury statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1621, providing false information is punishable by up to five years imprisonment," Plaskett wrote.

The letter was swiftly condemned by press freedom organizations when reached for comment.

...

Although the letter came from Plaskett, it was a group effort that involved senior figures in the House Democratic Caucus.  Plaskett referenced the letter in an April 13 press release, but the link to the letter was initially broken. I reached out to her office for a copy this week and earlier today, received a PDF with the file. Notably, after speaking to multiple officials in Plaskett’s office, a response to my inquiry was finally sent not by her staff, but by Earnestine Dawson, an advisor to House Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. The metadata on the letter shows it was authored by Jacqui Kappler, a lawyer with the House Judiciary Committee who works closely with former House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y.

This is not good. The Dems should not start behaving like Trump!

Agreed.  Ugh....stupid dems.

Lee Fang on The Hill.

https://leefang.substack.com/p/house-democrat-threatens-twitter

Quote

The backlash against journalists reporting on the Department Homeland Security’s reach into social media platforms took an ominous turn in recent days.

In a letter I exclusively obtained, Rep. Stacey Plaskett, D-V.I., falsely claimed that “Twitter Files” journalist Matt Taibbi lied under oath in his congressional testimony, floating the possibility of criminal prosecution. Plaskett, the same lawmaker who described Taibbi as a “so-called journalist” during his March 9 testimony, also demanded sourcing information and asked that he detail his interactions with Elon Musk.

The Plaskett letter claimed that Taibbi "intentionally" provided false information during his testimony and mentioned the potential consequences of such actions. "Under the federal perjury statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1621, providing false information is punishable by up to five years imprisonment," Plaskett wrote.

The letter was swiftly condemned by press freedom organizations when reached for comment.

...

Although the letter came from Plaskett, it was a group effort that involved senior figures in the House Democratic Caucus.  Plaskett referenced the letter in an April 13 press release, but the link to the letter was initially broken. I reached out to her office for a copy this week and earlier today, received a PDF with the file. Notably, after speaking to multiple officials in Plaskett’s office, a response to my inquiry was finally sent not by her staff, but by Earnestine Dawson, an advisor to House Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. The metadata on the letter shows it was authored by Jacqui Kappler, a lawyer with the House Judiciary Committee who works closely with former House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y.

This is not good. The Dems should not start behaving like Trump!

Predictable though. For the most part, dems don't care about their policies any more than the right does. As power hungry individuals, they just want to be to the left of as far right as is allowed so as to be the reasonable option. Both the left and right in the US are right wing.

This is especially evident with Hilary Clinton's tactic to make Trump the forerunner on the republican side when they ran against each other.

New Twitter Files https://x.com/shellenberger/status/1793666016704356735

Or read it here https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1793666016704356735.html

The is the CIA edition.

I've got to say the evidence he lays out doesn't do a very convincing job supporting his accusations.  It seems to amount to some of the key figures were once employed by the government and assuming they secretly still work for the government.

There is much that we still do not know about the effort. We do not know if officials within the CIA or any other IC organization ran the operation. It is possible that the only individuals involved in the effort were the ones we discovered. And none of the individuals involved responded to our request for information except for one.

Is this the accusation?

I was referring too this one;

a new Twitter Files investigation reveals that a member of the Board of Trustees of the CIA’s mission-driven venture capital firm and ostensibly “former” IC and CIA analysts were involved in a 2021-2022 effort to take over Twitter’s content management system.

At the time of the messages he used as evidence, didn't Nina Jankowicz still work for the US govt? I remember about her being on some disinfo project regarding Trump (or something like that). Oh, she was the one on Biden's "Disinformation Governance Board".

I think it's pretty bad that so many requests for censorship came from former FBI and CIA. I have the same suspicions when they get hired by cable news as analysts. It would be naive to think they're not still loyal to the FBI or CIA, and that they're not more than willing to propagandize for the govt.

The more of these messages I read, the more sympathy I have for Twitter's former administration. They were trying to resist! No wonder they snapped up Elon Musk's offer. Also, it makes so much more sense that there was such howling outrage from the media about Musk taking over and allowing all this to be exposed.

Matt Taibbi likes to reply to the trolls on Twitter with evidence. Like when some of the deny coordinating with the government, and then he shows that they were funded by the DHS. lol  https://x.com/mtaibbi/status/1794188833736753613

At the time of the messages he used as evidence, didn't Nina Jankowicz still work for the US govt? I remember about her being on some disinfo project regarding Trump (or something like that). Oh, she was the one on Biden's "Disinformation Governance Board".

I think it's pretty bad that so many requests for censorship came from former FBI and CIA. I have the same suspicions when they get hired by cable news as analysts. It would be naive to think they're not still loyal to the FBI or CIA, and that they're not more than willing to propagandize for the govt.

The more of these messages I read, the more sympathy I have for Twitter's former administration. They were trying to resist! No wonder they snapped up Elon Musk's offer. Also, it makes so much more sense that there was such howling outrage from the media about Musk taking over and allowing all this to be exposed.

Matt Taibbi likes to reply to the trolls on Twitter with evidence. Like when some of the deny coordinating with the government, and then he shows that they were funded by the DHS. lol  https://x.com/mtaibbi/status/1794188833736753613

Nina did not appear to work for the government at this time.  The author implies that she still secretly works for the government but doesn't present any evidence beyond misunderstanding how Federal Acquisition Regulation works and what a SOW is.  It's not a binding contract.  It's one of the CDRLs generated from a contract that lists an ordered set of tasks to be accomplished.  Personnel isn't included in this CDRL.  He doesn't say why personnel would be specified in the SOW(very unusual) or why these personnel wouldn't be interchangeable(also unusual)

Assuming that former employees of the government are still secretly working for the government is something we do with the GRU.  And a healthy amount of skepticism is good. But this isn't Russia.  It's unreasonable to assume that anyone who has ever interacted with the Intelligence Community is forever working for the Intelligence Community.

Perhaps the Twitter files are meant to be read in their entirely.  Perhaps they build upon each other.  But this one, by itself, I'm just going to need more evidence before I agree with his conclusions.

The Twitter Files are too much to read entirely... well, for me anyway. It is confusing. I can only imagine what it must be like to have access to the files, and search for relevant information. I still come away from it thinking there has been a lot of shenanigans! Especially when certain news people try to insinuate that it's all conspiracy theories.

One does not simply, stop working for the CIA.