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Cruz, Musk, and Jordan Call out Biden IRS Showing up at Matt Taibbi’s Home

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Matt Taibbi has been one of the Twitter Files journalists doing a bang-up job exposing a lot of the efforts to control and influence Twitter — and thereby our speech. For his temerity in questioning the powers that be who would seek to control us, he was smeared and attacked by the Democrats when he testified before Congress about the problem. He was called a “so-called journalist,” accused of participating in “extreme MAGA lies,” and they tried to find out his sources in a shameful anti-free speech effort. But as we noted, Taibbi didn’t back down and he stood up to their lies, even continuing to call them out on Twitter after the hearing and inject some truth and reality into the equation.

But as we reported, imagine his surprise to find out that while he was testifying before Congress — saying things that Democrats were very unhappy with — someone from the Biden IRS showed up at his home. This was on the heels of the FTC demanding that Twitter turn over the names of the journalists involved in the Twitter files.

“What an amazing coincidence,” Shellenberger said.

Taibbi said that the issues appeared to concern problems with electronically filed forms, not money. In other words, things that you would deal with by mail or through their office, not something for which you would have some guy show up at your door, unannounced. Unless they were trying to be intimidating and/or trying to make some point. No weaponization of government going on there, no siree, bob.

Now, Elon Musk, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and others are calling out the “coincidence.”

Indeed, it is odd if you believe in the rule of law. Unfortunately, it’s the Biden administration and this is not unprecedented. Let’s remember back to the days of Barack Obama and Lois Lerner, and how the IRS was weaponized at that time to go after conservatives like the Tea Party people. Joe seems to have learned at the feet of Barack.

Cruz let loose on the Democrats: “This absolutely stinks to high heaven. The IRS has a troubling history of targeting the political enemies of Democrats. The IRS should NEVER be in the business of harassing the American people.” The Democrats are constantly talking about protecting “democracy,” yet doing everything they can to fly in the face of the Constitution and the rights of the American people.

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH), who is also the Chair of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, wasn’t letting it go by. He sent letters to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen demanding answers and asking to see documents or communications relating to the visit to Taibbi’s home.

This is scary stuff we’re talking about here when they’re showing up on your doorstep. Talk about chilling speech — that’s an intimidating thing to have them show up at your door, even if you know that you’ve done everything right. It’s not just about Taibbi; this chills others and is a dangerous road to go down against free speech.

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NEW: While Matt Taibbi Was Testifying Before Weaponization of Government Committee, the IRS Knocked on His Door

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While Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi was in Washington, D.C. on March 9 testifying before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, his home in New Jersey had a curious visitor — an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent. Now, the House Judiciary Committee chair, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), is demanding that the IRS explain why.

According to the Wall Street Journal, whose editors have seen the document, Jordan sent a letter Monday to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen asking why Taibbi was the target of the unannounced and unusual home visit.

During that hearing, Taibbi was grilled by Democrats who attempted to get him to reveal his sources, in total ignorance of the First Amendment. The same week, FTC Chair Lina Khan demanded that Twitter produce a list of all journalists who’d been given access to the Twitter Files as part of their investigation into Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, a move Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Jordan pushed back on.

So, what did the IRS want with Taibbi?

The taxman left a note instructing Mr. Taibbi to call the IRS four days later. Mr. Taibbi was told in a call with the agent that both his 2018 and 2021 tax returns had been rejected owing to concerns over identity theft.

Mr. Taibbi has provided the committee with documentation showing his 2018 return had been electronically accepted, and he says the IRS never notified him or his accountants of a problem after he filed that 2018 return more than four-and-a-half years ago.

He says the IRS initially rejected his 2021 return, which he later refiled, and it was rejected again—even though Mr. Taibbi says his accountants refiled it with an IRS-provided pin number. Mr. Taibbi notes that in neither case was the issue “monetary,” and that the IRS owes him a “considerable” sum.

When people are contacted by the IRS, generally it’s by letter — especially for a first contact. We have the same questions and concerns the Wall Street Editorial Board has:

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.

The fear of many Americans is that, flush with its new $80 billion in funding from Congress, the IRS will unleash its fearsome power against political opponents. Mr. Taibbi deserves to know why the agency decided to pursue him with a very strange house call.

Does the IRS really want something from Taibbi, or are they simply attempting to send a message? Conservatives have been the subject of political targeting by the IRS in the not-distant past, and apparently nothing has been done to clean the agency up.

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