Dem Creates Chaos During Weaponization House Hearing, ‘You Can’t Have It Both Ways! – WATCH
The heated House Judiciary Committee hearing on the “Twitter Files” Thursday saw Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D–Texas, accused of badgering journalist Matt Taibbi into revealing a source. Taibbi refused to do so, citing his right to keep his sources confidential.
The committee was discussing the internal Twitter communications and accusations of government censorship when Garcia began to ask Taibbi when Twitter owner Elon Musk first approached him to partake in the “Twitter Files” project.
Taibbi began to say he couldn’t reveal that information when Garcia insisted she simply needed a date. “I can’t give it to you, unfortunately, because this is a question of sourcing, and I’m a journalist. I don’t reveal my sources,” Taibbi said.
Garcia continued to press the issue, asking Taibbi if he considered Musk to be the direct source. Taibbi shot back that he couldn’t answer her question.
House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R–Ohio, then intervened and declared that Taibbi was entitled to keep his sources confidential. “He’s a journalist,” Jordan said. “He’s not going to reveal his source and the fact that Democrats are pressuring him to do that is such a violation of the First Amendment.”
Earlier in the hearing, Taibbi was asked by Ranking Member Stacey Plaskett, D–Virgin islands, who gave him access to the emails revealed in the “Twitter Files”, but he refused to say. Jordan then asked Plaskett if she was trying to get journalists to reveal their sources, but she denied the allegation.
The exchange between Garcia and Taibbi drew criticism from Republicans, who argued that the Democrats were trying to coerce a journalist into revealing confidential sources.
“The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of the press,” said Rep. Tom McClintock, R–California. “It’s essential to the functioning of a free society and it should be vigorously defended.”
Garcia’s actions were also condemned by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which said that forcing reporters to reveal sources “undermines the public’s right to access information about its government.”
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