Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
Twitter Live: The 14th episode of the ‘Twitter Live’ was released on the social media platform by the author Matt Taibbi. It exposed how the Democratic Party leaders and the mainstream media organizations used the ‘Russiagate theory’ to discredit the 2016 victory of the former US President Donald Trump.
Twitter Live Thread
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
Matt Taibbi emphasized that Twitter employees found no evidence of Russian influence in the 2016 US elections, yet they continued to allow Democrats and media organizations to use their platform to push the notion that Trump had Moscow’s backing.
3.Twitter officials were aghast, finding no evidence of Russian influence:
“We are feeding congressional trolls.”
“Not any…significant activity connected to Russia.”
“Putting the cart before the horse assuming this is propaganda/bots.” pic.twitter.com/r8O21QacME— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
“Twitter warned politicians and media they not only lacked evidence but had evidence the accounts weren’t Russian – and were roundly ignored,” he pointed out.
5.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”: pic.twitter.com/uhl7TXYsBC
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
Former US House of Representative, Devin Nunes, had submitted a classified memo to the House Intel Committee on January 18th, 2018, pointing out several flaws in the Russiagate conspiracy theory.
Report Verified By The US Justice Department
Although the report was verified by the US Justice Department a year later in December 2019, the Democrats went all-out to cast aspersions on the memo presented by Devin Nunes.
6.The Nunes assertions would virtually all be verified in a report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz in December 2019. pic.twitter.com/uLFHwbsiJe
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
Also read: “Twitter Live” Episode 7: The FBI & The Hunter Biden Laptop
Interestingly, Democrats and their lap-dog media had unilaterally relied on an online dashboard called ‘Hamilton 68’, published by a national security advocacy group ‘Alliance for Securing Democracy’ to further their claims. The dashboard claimed to expose Twitter activity related to the supposed ‘Russian disinformation campaign.’
11.Feinstein, Schiff, Blumenthal, and media members all pointed to the same source: the Hamilton 68 dashboard created by former FBI counterintelligence official Clint Watts, under the auspices of the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD). pic.twitter.com/sifFJhBTn6
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
13.Inside Twitter, executives panned Watts, Hamilton 68, and the Alliance for Securing Democracy. Two key complaints: Hamilton 68 seemed to be everyone’s only source, and no one was checking with Twitter.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
However, internal communications now show that Twitter employees (who are mostly Democratic Party supporters) had failed to gather any evidence that could lend credence to the Russiagate conspiracy theory.
17.Roth couldn’t find any Russian connection to #ReleaseTheMemo – at all. “I just reviewed the accounts that posted the first 50 tweets with #releasethememo and… none of them show any signs of affiliation to Russia.” pic.twitter.com/wJJ3rmI3Ks
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
Involvement of Twitter Global Head Of Trust & Safety
The former Global Head of Trust & Safety at Twitter, Yoel Roth pointed out, “I just reviewed the accounts that posted the first 50 tweets with release the memo (hashtag) and…none of them show any signs of affiliation to Russia.”
19.A staffer for “DiFi” – Feinstein – agreed it would be “helpful to know” how Hamilton 68 goes by “the process by which they decide an account is Russian.”
But, only AFTER Feinstein published her letter about Russian influence. pic.twitter.com/ysPYDuEtOH
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
‘Twitter Files 14.0’ revealed how attempts made by top executives to stop Democrats from posting unverified claims about Russiagate were in vain.
“It might be worth nudging Blumenthal’s staffer that it could be in his boss’ best interest not to go out there because it could come back to make him look silly,” emphasized one concerned Twitter employee about the political well-being of Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal.
21.Added another: “It might be worth nudging Blumenthal’s staffer that it could be in his boss’ best interest not to go out there because it could come back to make him look silly.” pic.twitter.com/tP6VZF0PPC
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
https://t.co/W7riHUVMyn Twitter exec even tried to negotiate, implying an undisclosed future PR concession if Blumenthal would lay off on this:
“It seems like there are other wins we could offer him.” pic.twitter.com/Kdf1EebXcV
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
Journalist Matt Taibbi wrote, “Executives eventually grew frustrated over what they saw as a circular process – presented with claims of Russian activity, even when denied, led to more claims.”
25.They expressed this explicitly to Blumenthal’s camp, saying “Twitter spent a lot of resources” on this request and the reward from Blumenthal shouldn’t be round after round of requests.”
“We can’t do a user notice each time this happens.” pic.twitter.com/pcixoeYIyH
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
It became clear that Democrats went ahead with their outlandish claims about the ‘bogus’ Russian disinformation campaign, despite warnings from top Twitter employees.
Later, it dawned upon the Twitter employees that they were being exploited by the Democratic Party leader. “Blumenthal isn’t looking for real and nuanced solutions,” noted one executive.
Also read: “Live Tweeting” Fifth Episode : The Removal Of Trump From Twitter
“Despite universal internal conviction that there were no Russians in the story, Twitter went on to follow a slavish pattern of not challenging Russia claims on the record,” noted journalist Matt Taibbi.
“…Reporters from the AP to Politico to NBC to Rolling Stone continued to hammer the “Russian bots” theme, despite a total lack of evidence,” the author of ‘Twitter Files 14.0’ added.
Matt Taibbi said, “Russians weren’t just blamed for #ReleaseTheMemo but #SchumerShutdown, #ParklandShooting, even #GunControlNow – to “widen the divide,” according to the New York Times.”
33.Russians weren’t just blamed for #ReleaseTheMemo but #SchumerShutdown, #ParklandShooting, even #GunControlNow – to “widen the divide,” according to the New York Times. pic.twitter.com/L7qZWwcyON
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
Also read: Twitter New Feature “Live Tweeting” First Episode: Hunter Biden Story
Interestingly, the above-mentioned news outlets and Democratic Party leaders who peddled the Russiagate conspiracy theory refused to speak to Matt Taibbi.
While speaking about the matter, ex-US House of Representative member Devin Nunes said, “Schiff and the Democrats falsely claimed Russians were behind the Release the Memo hashtag, all my investigative work.”
He added, “By spreading the Russia collusion hoax, they instigated one of the greatest outbreaks of mass delusion in U.S. history.”
38.This #ReleaseTheMemo episode is just one of many in the #TwitterFiles. The Russiagate scandal was built on the craven dishonesty of politicians and reporters, who for years ignored the absence of data to fictional scare headlines.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
“This #ReleaseTheMemo episode is just one of many in the #TwitterFiles. The Russiagate scandal was built on the craven dishonesty of politicians and reporters, who for years ignored the absence of data to fictional scare headlines,” journalist Matt Taibbi concluded.
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