US Congresswoman threaten Twitter Files journalist with arrest.
US Democratic Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett has been accused of threatening journalist Matt Taibbi with prosecution for perjury over his congressional testimony last month.
Taibbi was the first journalist selected by Twitter CEO
Elon Musk to report on internal communications that confirmed the extent of collusion between US government agencies and social media platforms.
He testified before Congress on March 9, 2023, regarding the relationship between Twitter and various government agencies.
Plaskett, who represents
the Virgin Islands, accused Taibbi of perjury in a letter to him, claiming that he had deliberately misrepresented the partnership between Twitter and US government agencies.
She based her allegations on claims made by MSNBC host Mehdi Hassan during a recent interview with Taibbi, accusations that had already been debunked by journalist Lee Fang in a recent Substack blog post.
Taibbi explained to GrayZone journalist Aaron Maté that Plaskett's accusation was based on a single tweet that he had deleted upon realizing his error.
He argued that Plaskett had failed to acknowledge the numerous other connections between Twitter, DHS, its contractors, and the Election Integrity Partnership, as detailed in the Twitter Files.
Plaskett ended her letter with seven questions demanding answers by a certain deadline.
She warned Taibbi of prosecution for perjury, which carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.
However, Taibbi claimed that he had not received the letter until after the deadline had passed.
Fang revealed that the letter had been co-written by staffers for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and former House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler.
This threat of prosecution is an attack on press freedom and the right of the public to access information.
It raises concerns about yet annother abuse of power to censor critical information from the American public.
Republican lawmakers have denounced the move as an intimidation tactic by their political opponents, and critics have warned of the dangers of curtailing the freedom of the press.
