In a shocking twist, IRS agents made a surprise visit to the home of GOP Rep Jim Jordan’s star witness from a recent Committee hearing. Matt Taibbi was a star witness at Jordan’s weaponization of government hearing where Matt used Twitter’s internal files to blow the whistle on what the federal government and organizations funded by them or closely aligned to them were up to.
In short, they were violating the US Constitution by trying to get social media companies to censor speech by American citizens. It should have been the biggest scandal in history but the media buried it.
But Jordan was furious to find out IRS agents visited Taibbi’s home the day he testified about the whole sordid affair. The Wall Street Journal broke down what happened. They wrote:
Democrats are denouncing the House GOP investigation into the weaponization of government, but maybe that’s because Republicans are getting somewhere.
That includes new evidence that the Internal Revenue Service may be targeting a journalist who testified before the weaponization committee.
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan sent a letter Monday to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen seeking an explanation for why journalist Matt Taibbi received an unannounced home visit from an IRS agent. We’ve seen the letter, and both the circumstances and timing of the IRS focus on this journalist raise serious questions.
Mr. Taibbi has provoked the ire of Democrats and other journalists for his role in researching Twitter records and then releasing internal communications from the social-media giant that expose its censorship and its contacts with government officials.
This effort has already inspired government bullying, with Chair Lina Khan’s Federal Trade Commission targeting new Twitter owner Elon Musk and demanding the company “identify all journalists” granted access to the Twitter files.
The bigger question is when did the IRS start to dispatch agents for surprise house calls? Typically when the IRS challenges some part of a tax return, it sends a dunning letter.
Or it might seek more information from the taxpayer or tax preparer.
If the IRS wants to audit a return, it schedules a meeting at the agent’s office. It doesn’t drop by unannounced.
The curious timing of this visit, on the heels of the FTC demand that Twitter turn over names of journalists, raises questions about potential intimidation, and Mr. Jordan is right to want to see documents and communications relating to the Taibbi visit.
Rep. Jim Jordan is demanding answers from Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Daniel Werfel after the IRS deployed an unannounced visit to journalist Matt Taibbi’s home, following his testimony before the panel on the “Twitter Files.” https://t.co/dm5A3STd5A
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) March 28, 2023
House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan is probing an unannounced, in-person visit by the IRS to the home of Matt Taibbi on the same day the “Twitter Files” journalist warned of a sprawling “censorship industrial complex” in testimony before the… https://t.co/Zl31gm3vIR
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) March 28, 2023
For those asking, I don’t want to comment on the IRS issue pending an answer to chairman @Jim_Jordan’s letter. I’m not worried for myself, but I did feel the Committee should be aware of the situation.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) March 28, 2023