IRS visited home of Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi on same day he gave evidence to Congress on ‘weaponization of the federal government’
- The IRS visit occurred on the same day that the journalist appeared in front of the Select Subcommittee on the ‘Weaponization of the Federal Government’
The IRS visited Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi’s home on the same day that he gave evidence to Congress on the ‘weaponization’ of the federal government.
The federal agent showed up at his New Jersey property and left a note on March 9 – and now House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan is demanding an explanation over the visit.
According to the report in the WSJ, the note left by IRS asked Taibbi to call them four days later – and when he did, an agent told him his tax returns from 2018 and 2021 had been rejected.
They said the rejection was based upon identity theft concerns.
Taibbi gained the attention of millions of viewers with the first installment of the Twitter Files – focusing on its internal discussions leading them to censor the Hunter Biden laptop during the 2020 presidential election.
Independent journalist Matt Taibbi testifies before the House committee about the ‘Twitter Files’ on March 9 – the same day that an IRS agent showed up at his house in New Jersey
He was testifying on what he learned from the Twitter Files – which were a series of internal Twitter documents made public after Elon Musk released them to Taibbi.
The journalist wrote on Twitter: ‘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.’
In a follow up tweet, he added: ‘I’ve been reassured now that there’s no problem, but I still look forward to hearing an explanation.’
Chairman Jim Jordan sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel and the Department of Treasury, demanding to know why Taibbi’s home was visited by the IRS.
According to Taibbi, the 2018 and 2021 tax issues were not to do with money, and in fact, the IRS owed him money, WSJ reported.
In 2018, documents he gave the committee show that the IRS accepted his electronic filings, and nothing had been flagged about it in the last five years. In 2021, his return was rejected twice despite his accountants refiling with an IRS-provided PIN number.
On March 9, the House panel probing the ‘weaponization’ of the federal government’ and the subsequent release of the ‘Twitter Files,’ kicked off with a fiery start as the Republican-led hearing began with sniping attacks between Rep. Jim Jordan and the ranking member, Rep. Stacey Plaskett.
Chairman Jim Jordan sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel and the Department of Treasury, asking why Matt Taibbi’s home was visited by the IRS
The chairman’s opening statements included a tirade against the ‘cozy relationship’ between Big Tech and government agencies, with particular ire against Twitter for suppressing a story in 2020 about the release of embarrassing emails and photos from Hunter Biden’s laptop.
Jordan claimed that Twitter executives were tipped off that the Bidens would be the target of a ‘hack and leak operation’ by U.S. government officials, including the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
‘What a coincidence,’ Jordan snarked. Plaskett retorted that Republicans are pushing a misleading narrative and possess questionable motives.
‘There is something going on between Congressional Republicans and Elon Musk,’ she said. ‘Mr. Chairman, Americans can see through this. Musk is helping you out politically, and you’re going out of your way to promote and protect him, and to praise him for his work.’
‘Ridiculous!’ snapped Jordan as he continued to bicker with Plaskett, who complained that the Democrats didn’t get access to letters from the Federal Trade Commission until 8 p.m. the night before the hearing.
The chairman introduced the witnesses, including journalists Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger, who were given access by Musk to review ‘voluminous’ amounts of Twitter’s internal communications on possible working relationships between social media companies and government agencies.
In his opening statement, Taibbi told the panel that he attracted intense public interest when the first ‘Twitter Files’ reports came out.
‘My computer looked like a slot machine as just the first tweet about the blockage of the Hunter Biden laptop story registered 143 million impressions and 30 million engagements.’
