In December of 2022, independent journalist Michael Shellenberger revealed a shocking “Twitter Files” email. It indicated the FBI paid Twitter $3.5 million in taxpayer money as “reimbursement for the time spent processing requests from the FBI” from October 2019 to February 2021.
After buying Twitter, new owner Elon Musk released numerous internal documents showing the social media company working behind the scenes with the government to censor people, groups, and ideas. The censorship had a pro-pharmaceutical industry and left-leaning slant.
Judicial Watch has now filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Justice to obtain FBI payment records. The FBI failed to lawfully respond to the watchdog group’s original FOIA request for the information in December of 2022.
Judicial Watch’s initial FOIA requested the following information from the Justice Department:
- All records documenting any payments made to Twitter, Inc. and/or any employee thereof by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This request includes, but is not limited to, all related purchase orders, expense requests and approvals, and similar records.
- All contracts or similar records documenting the purpose or basis of any payment described in part one of this request.
In a January 30, 2023 letter, the FBI claimed that it could “neither confirm nor deny the existence of records responsive to your request pursuant to FOIA Exemption (b)(7)(E),” which refers to investigation techniques.
According to Shellenberger’s report, an email dated February 10, 2021 showed a Twitter employee telling then-Twitter Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker, former a controversial FBI General Counsel, and then-General Counsel Sean Edgett, “we have collected $3,415,323 since October 2019!”
The email explains that Twitter’s Safety, Content & Law Enforcement (SCALE) division instituted a “reimbursement program” in exchange for devoting staff hours to “processing requests from the FBI.”
Elon Musk fired Baker and Edgett in October 2022.
The notorious relationship between the FBI and Twitter includes millions in taxpayer cash. The Justice Department’s and FBI’s cover-up of this collusion show they have something to hide.
Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch President
Judicial Watch has recently produced a four-part documentary, titled “Censored and Controlled,” that details the coordinated effort by the FBI and other government agencies and Big Tech to censor and suppress information on topics such as Hunter Biden’s laptop, Covid-19, and election debates.
You can read more about Judicial Watch’s DOJ lawsuit here.
Additionally, watch Sharyl’s Full Measure feature story on the ‘Twitter Files’ here which aired Jan. 29.
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Might want to edit the following sentence, Sharyl:
“According to Shellenberger’s report, an email dated February 10, 2021 showed a Twitter employee telling then-Twitter Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker, former a controversial FBI General Counsel, and then-General Counsel Sean Edgett, “we have collected $3,415,323 since October 2019!”