Yes more “conspiracy theory” thinking and dissident speculation was justified this past week when Matt Taibbi released the latest Twitter Files thread, this time on the topic of the Russiagate lies.
In his latest thread, Taibbi got straight to the point in exposing how Twitter employees know the lines being pushed by Democrats like California Rep. Adam Schiff were completely made up, saying:
1.THREAD: Twitter Files #14
THE RUSSIAGATE LIES
One: The Fake Tale of Russian Bots and the #ReleaseTheMemo Hashtag
2.At a crucial moment in a years-long furor, Democrats denounced a report about flaws in the Trump-Russia investigation, saying it was boosted by Russian “bots” and “trolls.”
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.”
4.Twitter warned politicians and media the not only lacked evidence, but had evidence the accounts weren’t Russian – and were roundly ignored.
So the Democrats and RINOs pushing the “Russian bots” story about the 2016 election were told it was untrue by those analyzing the data…yet they went ahead and kept pushing it anyway, destroying US relations with Russia in the process.
But that wasn’t all. Continuing, Taibbi went on to expose how Schiff and others worked to discredit a report that told the truth about the election, using information that Twitter was telling them to be untrue in an attempt to discredit the Nunes report. In other words, despite being told repeatedly that the line they were pushing was untrue, they pushed it anyway. Here’s what Taibbi said:
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”:
6.The Nunes assertions would virtually all be verified in a report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz in December 2019.
7.Nonetheless, national media in January and early February of 2018 denounced the Nunes report in oddly identical language, calling it a “joke”:
9.On January 23rd, 2018, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) published an open letter saying the hashtag “gained the immediate attention and assistance of social media accounts linked to Russian influence operations.”
9b. Feinstein/Schiff said the Nunes memo “distorts” classified information, but note they didn’t call it incorrect.
10.Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal followed suit, publishing a letter saying, “We find it reprehensible that Russian agents have so eagerly manipulated innocent Americans.”
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).
12.The dashboard, which featured a crude picture of Vladimir Putin deviously blowing evil red Twitter birds into the atmosphere, was vague in how it reached its conclusions.
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.
14.“I encourage you to be skeptical of Hamilton 68’s take on this, which as far as I can tell is the only source for these stories,” said Global Policy Communications Chief (and future WH and NSC spokesperson) Emily Horne.
She added: “It’s a comms play for ASD.”
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