Properly called “The Russiagate Lies,” the latest installment of the “Twitter Files” detailed how far Democrats and their allies went to discredit former President Donald Trump as being bought and paid for by Russia.
The allegations that Trump somehow colluded with Russian interests in the 2016 presidential campaign are now thoroughly debunked, but Democrats continued to push the narrative through social media. This came even as many warned them that evidence did not back up their claims.
Their accusations overshadowed much of Trump’s presidency, and the compliant mainstream media was all too willing to play along. Twitter, to its shame, also marched in lockstep.
The 14th installment of the Twitter Files exposed that the social media platform helped Trump’s opponents push the false collusion narrative. “Bots” were blamed for postings that backed the former president, and they were used to discredit findings of flaws in the investigation.
Independent journalist and author Matt Taibbi reported that Rep. David Nunes (R-CA) correctly noted in 2018 the FBI abuses in the probe. The agency was accused of misrepresentations in “obtaining FISA surveillance authority against Trump-connected figures.”
Yesterday's edition of The Twitter Files by @mtaibbi revealed another huge scandal: When Twitter had evidence that Dems & press were falsely pushing another Russia hoax it kept quiet. @FDRLST https://t.co/QI8Q4SFm8z
— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) January 13, 2023
However, powerful Democrats and their media allies blasted Nunes’ report to the House Intelligence Committee.
Predictably, they blamed “Russian influence operations” for the public outcry to release the Nunes memo.
For their part, Twitter’s security officials did not find linkage between foreign actors and the push to reveal the writing. Even ex-trust and safety head Yoel Roth, who was discredited and resigned after his own censorship efforts were revealed, could not make the connection.
Taibbi reported that Roth’s review revealed none of the initial accounts calling for the memo’s release “show any signs of affiliation with Russia.”
But Twitter’s resistance to Democratic pressure and misinformation was short-lived. The platform allowed the party’s narrative to spread, and Russian bots were then blamed for nearly every controversial topic opposed by the party that sprang up on Twitter.
Nunes, who now works for Trump’s Truth Social platform, issued a statement in response to the latest Twitter Filed revelations. He asserted that “the Democrats falsely claimed Russians were behind the ‘Release the Memo’ hashtag.”
The former representative accused the party of creating “one of the greatest outbreaks of mass delusion in U.S. history.”
It is glaringly apparent that social media platforms must exist independently from the U.S. government. The collusion during the Trump administration was not with Russian actors, but rather with Washington’s influential players who wanted nothing more than to discredit the president.
