It’s as if various US government agencies have never heard of the expression, “when in a hole, stop digging:” not only are some of the most powerful ones, like the FBI, accused of involvement in online censorship, but now the IRS is suspected of trying to intimidate a journalist presenting those revelations.
“A very strange house call” is how the Wall Street Journal described the fact an agent of the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) went to the home of Matt Taibi, a journalist who has been going through internal Twitter documents to produce the scandalous Twitter Files, which show how the private social media company and the government cooperated (aka, colluded) to carry out censorship.
By doing this work, Taibi – who has since testified about all this before Congress – made himself the target of Democrats and journalists in their camp, and now, apparently, also of the IRS.
Namely, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has asked for an explanation about the unannounced home visit from IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. In a letter sent on Monday, Jordan expresses suspicion that this might be a case of attempted witness intimidation.
We obtained a copy of Jordan’s letter for you here.
On March 9, just as Taibbi was testifying before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, speaking about evidence of the government using pressure to make sure major tech companies censored content, the IRS agent was at his door in New Jersey where he left a note asking him to contact them.
The IRS alleges that the journalist’s tax filings for 2018 and 2021 were rejected over identity theft fears – but Taibbi said the first time he heard about it was the day he appeared before Congress.
Jordan’s letter states, “The circumstances surrounding the IRS’s unannounced and unprompted visit to Mr. Taibbi’s home, at the exact time that he was testifying to Congress about ‘the most serious’ government abuse he has witnessed in his career as a journalist, are incredible.”
According to the House Judiciary Committee chairman, what makes the visit even more worrying is that Taibbi says the IRS told him the problem was not monetary, “and he had never received any prior indication of any issues with his 2018 return.”
Jordan now wants the IRS and the Treasury to hand over all documents pertaining to the IRS agent’s visit to the journalist’s home, as well as other documents and communications about Taibbi.
