The moment Democrats came out with their claims that “Russian bots” helped former President Donald Trump win the election against Hillary Clinton in 2016, everyone knew it was a lie. Trump knew it was a lie. Democrats knew it was a lie. Conservatives knew it was a lie. And now, as newly released Twitter Files show, Twitter also knew it was a lie.
Despite knowing the claims were false, Twitter still entertained Democrats and the mainstream media-pushed conspiracy theory.
As journalist Matt Taibbi shared, “Twitter officials were aghast, finding no evidence of Russian influence.”
He noted that they said things like: “We are feeding congressional trolls,” and “putting the cart before the horse assuming this is propaganda/bots.”
“Twitter warned politicians and media the[y] not only lacked evidence, but had evidence the accounts weren’t Russian – and were roundly ignored,” Taibbi revealed.
He also highlighted the classified memo submitted by Congressman Devin Nunes, which exposed the FBI using FISA courts to “approve surveillance against individuals linked to Trump, and the critical role played by the discredited Steele Dossier.”
Breitbart reports:
Democrats including Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), along with Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) claimed that Russian bots were boosting the Nunes report through the hashtag “#ReleaseTheMemo.”
“We find it reprehensible that Russian agents have so eagerly manipulated innocent Americans,” wrote Blumenthal, in a letter to Jack Dorsey, then CEO of Twitter.
But Twitter could not find any significant evidence of Russian bots boosting the hashtag. “I just reviewed the accounts that posted the first 50 tweets with #releasethememo and… none of them show any signs of affiliation to Russia,” wrote Yoel Roth, who would briefly become head of Trust & Safety under Elon Musk, in an email to colleagues.
“We investigated, found that engagement as overwhelmingly organic, and driven by VITs.” VITs is a reference to Very Important Tweeters — prominent accounts that drive engagement.
Twitter then attempted to persuade Blumenthal that the allegations of Russian bot activity were overblown — only for Blumenthal to release his letter publicly, putting more PR pressure on the company.
One Twitter official stated, “Blumenthal isn’t looking for real and nuanced solutions” but “just wants to get credit for pushing us further.”.
Here’s a kicker: not only did Twitter officials call the Russia-obsessed Democrats “trolls,” but also compared them to the children’s story “If you Give a Mouse a Cookie.” In the story, the author gives a mouse a cookie, hoping to appease him and make him ago away, which only led to the mouse demanding more and more.
“I’m legit embarrassed I didn’t think of that first,” a Twitter executive said of the metaphor.
“Despite universal internal conviction that there were no Russians in the story,” Taibbi added, “Twitter went on to follow a slavish pattern of not challenging Russia claims on the record.”
Whew! Lots of information and major lies being exposed with every Twitter file release.
