Elections
WaPo reveals source who gave them fake quotes from Trump-Georgia call
After The Washington Post issued a long correction for a January 9 report alleging then-President Donald Trump pressured a Georgia election investigator specifically to “find the fraud” and that she would be a “national hero” if she did so, the newspaper revealed the source who supplied them the false quotes.
The Daily Wire earlier on Wednesday reported on this aspect of the Washington Post saga, too.
On Tuesday, The Post’s media critic, Erik Wemple, reported that the original story was “based on an account from Jordan Fuchs, the deputy secretary of state, whom Watson briefed on his comments.”
Fuchs had told The Post—and other media outlets afterward—that Trump pressured Frances Watson, chief investigator of the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, by requesting Watson “find the fraud.” An audio recording of the December 23 phone call published by The Wall Street Journal reveals that the then-president never used those exact words, instead saying, “you are going to find things that are unbelievable.”
MORE ON GEORGIA: Georgia county judge may unseal absentee ballots for fraud probe
“I won everything but Georgia, and I won Georgia, I know that, by a lot, and the people know it, and something happened there, something bad happened,” Trump told Watson on the call, according to The Journal‘s audio recording. “I hope you go back two years as opposed to just checking one against the other because that would just be sort of a signature check that doesn’t mean anything. But if you go back two years, and if you can get to [Fulton County], you are going to find things that are unbelievable. The dishonesty.”
Trump told Watson near the end of the call that “when the right answer comes out, you’ll be praised.”
However, it should be noted that Trump still did talk to Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger on the call about finding the number of votes that would have closed the gap between him and Joe Biden, who ultimately won the state.
“I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state,” the then-president told Raffensperger, adding later, “It’s not a problem that is going away.”
MORE ON GEORGIA: 2022 Midterms: David Perdue won’t run against Raphael Warnock
Fuchs stood by her remarks to The Post, contending that her statements were not meant to be published as direct quotes, but rather as her interpretation of the call.
“I believe the story accurately reflected the investigator’s interpretation of the call. The only mistake here was in the direct quotes, and they should have been more of a summary,” Fuchs told Wemple. “I think it’s pretty absurd for anybody to suggest that the president wasn’t urging the investigator to ‘find the fraud.’ These are quotes that [Watson] told me at the time.”
The Post, as well as other outlets like CNN, published corrections for their reports. The Post’s correction stated:
“Correction: Two months after publication of this story, the Georgia secretary of state released an audio recording of President Donald Trump’s December phone call with the state’s top elections investigator. The recording revealed that The Post misquoted Trump’s comments on the call, based on information provided by a source. Trump did not tell the investigator to “find the fraud” or say she would be “a national hero” if she did so. Instead, Trump urged the investigator to scrutinize ballots in Fulton County, Ga., asserting she would find “dishonesty” there. He also told her that she had “the most important job in the country right now.” A story about the recording can be found here. The headline and text of this story have been corrected to remove quotes misattributed to Trump.“
You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.
Matt Taibbi, a journalist who has been the top of the headlines for exposing Twitter censorship at the direction of the Department of Justice, had a surprise visit from an IRS agent at his home.
This visit occurred the same day that he was testifying before the Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government about what he had discovered inside of the Twitter files. The IRS did not immediately respond to Fox News digital when asked for comment. Now, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, demands to know why.
SaraACarter.com contacted the IRS media relations office Tuesday afternoon and was told by an IRS representative to send an email to their media relations office for comment. As of Tuesday evening the IRS has yet to respond to the immediate inquiry.
Jordan sent a letter Tuesday to the IRS questioning the visit by the agent to Taibbi’s home in New Jersey. Jordan could not immediately respond for comment.
In his letter, however, Jordan demanded that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen turn over documents and provide all information requested by the committee.
“As the Committee continues to examine how to best protect Americans’ fundamental freedoms and to assist the Committee in its oversight, we ask that you please provide the following documents and information:
- All documents and communications referring or relating to the IRS’s field visit to the residence of Matthew Taibbi on March 9, 2023;
- All documents and communications between or among the IRS, Treasury Department, and any other Executive Branch entity referring or relating to Matthew Taibbi; and
- All documents and communications sent or received by Revenue Officer [James Nelson] referring or relating to Matthew Taibbi.”
Jordan noted in the letter that his committee is committed to examining “the mounting evidence that the federal government pressured, coerced, and even directed technology companies to take certain actions related to digital content.”
The Republican lawmakers were astonished that “an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent visited, unannounced and unprompted, the home of one of the hearing witnesses, Matthew Taibbi, an independent journalist who has reported extensively on government abuse. In light of the hostile reaction to Mr. Taibbi’s reporting among left-wing activists, and the IRS’s history as a tool of government abuse, the IRS’s action could be interpreted as an attempt to intimidate a witness before Congress. We expect your full cooperation with our inquiry.”
The letter went on to say that “Mr. Taibbi joined fellow journalist Michael Shellenberger in testifying before the Select Subcommittee during its March 9 hearing. During the hearing, Mr. Taibbi described the serious government abuse on which he had been reporting and on which he testified to the Select Subcommittee. As he explained:
The original promise of the internet was that it might democratize the exchange of information globally. . . . What we found is in the [Twitter] files was a sweeping effort to reverse that promise and use machine learning and other tools to turn the internet into an instrument of censorship and social control. Unfortunately, our own government appears to be playing a lead role.”
Jordan’s inquiry into the IRS is not the first time the Congress has questioned the actions of this private government contracted agency.
In 2013, the IRS admitted that it had been targeting conservative groups that were seeking tax-exempt status. Lois Lerner, who had then headed the IRS, stated that her agency had been scrutinizing groups that had “tea party” or “patriots” in their names. These were almost all conservative non-profit organizations.
Those inquiries by the IRS mainly took place in 2009 and 2010, and as reported in NPR “hundreds of groups affiliated with the party had sought tax-exempt status as 501(c)(4) “social welfare” organizations. IRS demands for documents left many of them in bureaucratic limbo for a year or more.”
Taibbi’s investigation into Twitter’s actions prior to Elon Musk’s takeover revealed major concerns expressed by former President Donald J. Trump and his supporters that the social media giant was censoring supporters.
The investigations by Taibbi proved that shadow-banning was occurring and it was targeting primarily Republican activists, journalists, and politicians using the platform. The evidence proved the the FBI had advised Twitter to not allow stories or posts that revealed the Hunter Biden laptop scandal that had first been reported by the New York Post. Those accurate stories were censored by Twitter and later it was revealed that the laptop did belong to Hunter Biden.
Senate Republicans are also deeply concerned about the actions taken Taibbi. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, tweeted Tuesday that the IRS visit to Taibbi “this absolutely stinks to high heaven” because the “IRS has a troubling history of targeting the political enemies of 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. https://t.co/twY3KBcgXx
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 28, 2023
Two Democrat lawmakers at the hearing were attempting to get Taibbi to reveal his sources, which is unconstitutional. Taibbi refused to answer Representatives Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, and Stacey Plaskett, D-Virgin Islands questions.
It was during his testimony that Taibbi’s house was being raided by the IRS.
You can follow Alexander Carter on Twitter @AlexCarterDC
-
education2 days agoPolice found maps, manifesto made by TN school shooter and former student who identified as transgender
-
Nation2 days agoHouse demands Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg to release communications on ‘unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority’ against Trump
-
education5 days agoNo Democrats vote for ‘Parents Bill of Rights’ claiming it promotes ‘fascism’
-
Immigration4 days agoNearly 300 suspected terrorists apprehended at U.S. border in 2023 alone
