Democrats Accuse Twitter Files Journalists of ‘Threatening’ Platform’s Employees

C-SPAN
Allum Bokhari

Rancor broke out in the opening minutes of the Judiciary Committee’s hearing on the weaponization of the federal government after the committee’s top Democrat accused journalists of “threatening” Twitter employees.

The bizarre claim was made by Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-USVI), the committee’s ranking Democrat member, against Twitter Files journalists Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger, who were testifying before the committee. It led to a stern rebuke from the committee chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who threatened to strike the comments from the record.

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 01: U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, delivers remarks during a business meeting prior to a hearing on U.S. southern border security on Capitol Hill, February 01, 2023 in Washington, DC. This is the first in a series of hearings called by Republicans to examine the Biden administration’s handling of border security and migration along the U.S.-Mexico border. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee  (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Rep. Plaskett began her remarks by playing a video of earlier testimony from Twitter’s former top censor, Yoel Roth, who claimed he had to vacate his house after the Daily Mail published his address.

“Following the Daily Mail’s decision to publish what I live, ultimately I had to leave my home and sell it. Those are the consequences for this kind of online harassment and speech,” said Roth in the video.

Despite the fact that neither witness was involved in the Daily Mail story, the ranking Democrat went on to accuse Taibbi and Shellenberger of “threatening” Twitter employees with their reporting.

“Mr. Chairman, I’m not exaggerating when I say that you have called before you two witnesses who pose a direct threat to people who oppose them,” said Rep. Plaskett. “This is unacceptable. Just as it was unacceptable for Kevin McCarthy to provide 41,000 hours of sensitive security footage to a biased talking head in an effort to rewrite what happened on January 6th. This is a new Republican playbook apparently – risking Americans’ safety and security to score political points.”

Plaskett’s allegations against the witnesses led to an admonishment from Rep. Jordan.

“We do not accuse witnesses of threatening others. That is out of line, and outside the rules of this committee,” said Jordan.

“I believe both of these individuals who are getting ready to testify, I believe they’re both Democrats. I don’t think they’re here to help us politically, I think they’re here to tell us the truth.”

The Ohio congressman went on to say Democrats wanted to conceal the truth from the American public.

“The first FTC letter to Twitter after the first set of Twitter Files, the very first question was, who are the journalists you’re talking to? And you guys don’t care. You don’t want the American people to see. You don’t want the American people to see what happened — the full video, transparent — and you don’t want two journalists who have been named personally by the Biden Administration’s FTC in a letter.”

Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. He is the author of #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election.

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