A Democratic congressman appears to have threatened Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi with up to five years in prison for allegedly lying under oath when he testified before Congress last month.
Stacey Plaskett (D-USVI) aired the threat in an April 13 letter to Taibbi, accusing Racket News journalists of contradicting his testimony from Congress via Twitter in a subsequent interview with MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan, as from a Copy of letter received by The Intercept reporter Lee Fang.
Hasan invited Taibbi to his show after speaking before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government – of which Plaskett is the senior member – on March 9 about his coverage of Twitter’s collusion with the federal government to suppress dissent online had spoken.
In his testimony, Taibbi said Twitter executives have taken direction from nonprofit organizations like the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP) and government agencies like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on which tweets should be censored.
“The news media has effectively become an arm of a state-sponsored system of thought police,” the 53-year-old said in his opening remarks. “We have learned that Twitter, Facebook, Google and other companies have developed a formal system to take “requests” in moderation from all corners of government: the FBI, DHS, HHS, DOD, the Global Engagement Center [the] Condition [Department]even the CIA.”
Democrat Stacey Plaskett threatens to jail Matt Taibbi for lying to Congress.C-SPAN
But Hasan accused Taibbi of associating CISA with a private nonprofit — the Center for Internet Security — to falsely claim the government agency was collaborating with Twitter.
Taibbi admitted to confusing one with the other in a tweet, but has said nothing about his testimony before Congress.
Plaskett told Taibbi in her letter that he had spread “misinformation” by “claiming that CISA — a government agency — is working with the EIP to have posts removed from social media.”
MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan initially accused Taibbi of lying to Congress.MSNBC
Hasan said Taibbi brought together a government agency with a private nonprofit to falsely argue collusion with Twitter.AP
“Although these inaccuracies may seem minor to you, they could cause Congress to rely on inaccurate statements when considering and/or passing new legislation that would affect all Americans,” she said. “In view of the possible serious consequences, I would like to offer you the opportunity to correct your statements before the panel.”
The Democrat ended her letter by reminding Taibbi that before the hearing he signed a form certifying “under penalty of perjury” that his testimony was true “to the best of my knowledge, belief, and belief.”
“Under the federal perjury statute … providing false information is punishable by up to five years in prison,” she added, not too subtly.
Plaskett derided Taibbi and reporter Michael Shellenberger as “so-called journalists” during the hearing, per AP
Plaskett, who is not allowed to vote in parliament, called Taibbi and fellow reporter Michael Shellenberger “so-called journalists” during the hearing and urged them to reveal their sources during the tense hearing.
Plaskett did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fang argued in a Substack post that Taibbi – who has since been “shadow banned” by Twitter CEO Elon Musk – did not commit perjury, contrary to Plaskett’s suggestion.
“[T]The records show that government agency CISA was involved in the creation of EIP,” he wrote, “and was one of the group’s key government partners to influence content moderation decisions at companies like Facebook and Twitter.”