Headline Roundup May 27, 2023
IRS Worked Overtime to Probe Twitter Files Journalist Matt Taibbi on Christmas Eve
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The House Judiciary Committee led by Jim Jordan (R-OH) said Wednesday it received new information on an IRS probe into journalist Matt Taibbi.
The Details: The IRS opened a probe into Taibbi on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022, the same day he published a story on ties between Twitter and U.S. intelligence agencies. The probe sought Taibbi’s voter and concealed carry statuses.
Home Visit: An IRS agent visited Taibbi’s home on March 9, which Taibbi initially thought was a “coincidence," but now thinks was politically motivated. The IRS told Taibbi his 2018 digital tax return was rejected due to identity theft concerns, which he had “never heard” before, and after this week’s developments says was a “fictional issue.” According to Jordan, the case was closed on March 23, and the IRS determined it owed Taibbi money.
For Context: Taibbi testified before Congress about his reporting on March 10. Ranking Member Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-USVI) later requested Taibbi “correct the hearing record” to eliminate the possibility of facing prison time.
How The Media Covered It: The story was not widely covered. Several right-rated sources covered the story. Outkick the Coverage (Center) was the only center-rated source AllSides found to cover the story in print. Rising, a TV program by The Hill (Center) that is hosted by Robby Soave of Reason (Lean Right) and Briahna Joy Gray of Current Affairs (Left) interviewed Taibbi Thursday. AllSides did not find any left-rated sources that covered the story.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Twitter files journalist Matt Taibbi revealed some concerning information on Wednesday regarding IRS overreach.
Taibbi appeared on Fox News on Wednesday and discussed the timing of the opening of an IRS investigation.
Turns out, the IRS decided to launch their investigation as Taibbi was preparing to testify before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Government Weaponization.
A letter from Committee Chairman Jim Jordan referenced the timeline in a letter to Danny Werfel, the head of the IRS.
According to Jordan, the examination into Taibbi’s finances was opened on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2022....
MANUEL BALCE CENETA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
As House Republicans and the White House wrangle over a debt-ceiling deal, one GOP demand ought to be nonnegotiable. A politicized Internal Revenue Service has no business keeping its untrustworthy fingers on last year’s $80 billion cash infusion.
This week brought two more examples of IRS roguery that build on its already unsavory record of leaks, incompetence and partisan behavior. The first is the alarming story of journalist Matt Taibbi, who may have been targeted by the IRS in retribution for documenting the joint censorship efforts of Big Tech and the...
AP
The IRS opened an examination of journalist Matt Taibbi’s 2018 tax return on Christmas Eve of last year — three weeks after he exposed sensitive documents about government officials pressuring Twitter to censor content.
The House Judiciary Committee said Wednesday it obtained that detail and other information about the case from the IRS following the outcry over a tax agent visiting Taibbi’s home on March 9, 2022 — the same day he testified to Congress about the “Twitter Files.”
Documents provided to the committee “raise more questions than they answer,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan...
