It was a morning of Democrats bullying the press.
During Thursday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on the “Twitter Files,” Democrat Reps. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin islands) and Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) badgered journalist Matt Taibbi to reveal the sources of his internal Twitter information —but the former Rolling Stone journalist wouldn’t budge.
From Fox News:
Sourcing was a sensitive subject as it had already come up during the hearing when Taibbi was asked directly about it regarding his reporting on internal Twitter communications and accusations of government censorship. Garcia asked Taibbi when Twitter owner Elon Musk first approached him to partake in the “Twitter Files” project, which has allowed once-secret internal discussions to be exposed, revealing an array of issues.
Taibbi began to say he couldn’t reveal that information when Garcia insisted she simply needed a date.
“I can’t give it to you, unfortunately, because this is a question of sourcing, and I’m a journalist. I don’t reveal my sources,” Taibbi said.
Garcia said it’s not about the source, but rather chronology, but he didn’t agree.
“No, that’s a question of sources,” Taibbi said.
The Democrat from Texas continued to press the issue.
“You earlier said that someone had sent you through the internet, some message about whether or not you would be interested in some information,” Garcia said.
“Yes, and I referred to that person as a source,” Taibbi shot back.
Garcia asked, “So you’re not going to tell us when Musk first approached you?”
“Again, congresswoman, you’re asking a journalist to reveal a source,” Taibbi said.
Garcia asked if he considers Musk to be the direct source, but Taibbi was not amused.
“Now you’re trying to get me to say that he is the source, I can’t answer your question,” Taibbi said.
Watch the exchange above.
Ranking member Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin islands) also went after Taibbi’s sources.
Watch the clip below.
Why are Democrats attempting to coerce journalists into revealing their sources? pic.twitter.com/c0p8qrSBsu
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 9, 2023
Finally, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan got fed up, saying “First, the FTC is asking for your backgrounds and now the ranking member on the Committee on the Weaponization of Government is asking for your sources.”
Plaskett denied it, but it’s pretty clear that she was asking for sources.
Watch below:
WATCH @StaceyPlaskett just falsely claimed she did not ask @mtaibbi to reveal his sources for the #TwitterFiles
She did.
ROLL THE TAPE. pic.twitter.com/JUVSuD0n61
— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) March 9, 2023