WATCH: House Dems Try To Bully Twitter Files Journos Into Revealing Sources, Fail Miserably

Democrats repeatedly attempted to bully independent journalists Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger into giving up their #TwitterFiles sources — and the answer, every time, was a resounding and emphatic “NO.”

Taibbi and Shellenberger appeared before Congress for a Thursday morning hearing with the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government — and in addition to badgering them for information on their sources, the Democrats on the committee They were verbally attacked, calling them Elon Musk’s Twitter owner “personal scribes.”

Delegate Stacey Plaskett, D-USVI, was the ranking member of the committee. She began her attack by referring to Taibbi as well as Shellenberger in her opening speech. “so-called journalists” Before they were even called upon to answer the first question.

Plaskett claimed then that “all the so-called ‘Twitter Files’ really showed was a discussion on content moderation,” They argued that the two journalists were only there to help Republicans because their work on Twitter Files was politically advantageous.

“Ranking Member Plaskett, I’m not a so-called journalist,” Taibbi objected and added, “I’ve won the National Magazine Award, the I.F. Stone Award for Independent Journalism, and I’ve written 10 books, including four New York Times bestsellers.”

Plaskett tried to get them to disclose their sources repeatedly.

WATCH:

BREAKING NEWS: Democrats Strive to Forcibly Force Taibbi’s Sources to Be Named in an Open Hearing He REFUSES pic.twitter.com/pHLnT2UxYY

— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) March 9, 2023

“Who was the individual that gave you permission to access the emails?” Plaskett asked.

“The attribution for my story is ‘sources at Twitter’ and that’s what I’m going to refer to,” Taibbi answered.

“Okay, did Mr. Musk contact you?” Plaskett tried something different.

“Again, the attribution for my story is ‘sources at Twitter,'” Taibbi continued.

Plaskett turned to Shellenberger asking the same question. “Did Mr. Musk contact you?”

Shellenberger stated that he did not know the answer and that he had been asked by Bari Weiss (a Twitter Files journalist), to assist him with the story.

“Mr. Taibbi, have you had conversations with Elon Musk?” Plaskett attempted again, but Taibbi conceded, so she tried harder. “Did Mr. Musk place any conditions on the use of the emails —”

Jim Jordan, the Chairman of the Committee, interjected and directly asked Plaskett if she was trying get a journalist, or a source, to share her source.

“No, I’m not,” Jordan retorted, insisting on her point. “Well, it sure sounds like it.”

Later on, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia of Texas tried a new approach to obtain the source information.

WATCH:

Rep. Garcia: “So you’re not gonna tell us Musk first approached you?”

Matt Taibbi: “You’re asking a journalist to reveal his sources.”

Garcia: “So you consider Musk to be the direct source of all this?”

Matt Taibbi: “Now you’re trying to get me to say he’s the source.”… https://t.co/JmY0IUClz4 pic.twitter.com/JLjm6MIQ4F

— Real Mac Report (@RealMacReport) March 9, 2023

Garcia began by asking when Musk had approached Taibbi about writing the Twitter Files — and he refused to answer, saying it went to the issue of sourcing and that he was not going to divulge that information.

“When was the first time that Mr. Musk approached you about writing the Twitter Files?” She was curious. “I just need a date, Sir.”

“Again, Congresswoman, that would be — but I can’t give it to you, unfortunately, because this is a question of sourcing, and I don’t give up — I’m a journalist, I don’t reveal my sources,” He responded.

Garcia insisted that it was not a question of sourcing so much as timing — but Taibbi remained firm in his position and did not answer. Jordan was then prompted to change her mind and ask him directly about Musk. Do not interrupt She should be chastised for her repeated attempts to get him to reveal his source.

“What he has said is he is not going to reveal his source, and the fact that the Democrats are pressuring him to do so is such a violation of the First Amendment,” Jordan stated.

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) Used her time to attempt to first discredit Taibbi himself — claiming that simply agreeing to be a witness before a Republican-led committee undermined his objectivity as a journalist — and then to discredit the story by suggesting the sources had “motives.”

“Every reported story that I’ve ever done across three decades involves sources who have motives,” Taibbi shot back.

Wasserman Schultz replied by claiming that Taibbi had used his work on Twitter Files to make personal profits.

His reply was: “I think it’s probably a wash, honestly.”

“From WATCH: Twitter Files Journos Are Bullied by House Dems.“

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