The Twitter Files Part III: The Banning of Donald Trump

By Jeff Charles | 7:39 PM on December 09, 2022 

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AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura

Elon Musk has released the third installment of “The Twitter Files,” detailing the decision to ban former President Donald Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Only a day after the company dropped the second installment related to the company’s content moderation practices, the company is now divulging the forces surrounding the decision to remove the former president from the platform.

What is noteworthy about this release is that it also discusses Twitter’s collaboration with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) when it comes to moderating the platform. Journalist Matt Taibbi, who released the first part of the series, notes that “the internal communications at Twitter between January 6th-January 8th have clear historical import” and that the company’s employees “understood in the moment that it was a landmark moment in the annals of speech.”

5. Whatever your opinion on the decision to remove Trump that day, the internal communications at Twitter between January 6th-January 8th have clear historical import. Even Twitter’s employees understood in the moment it was a landmark moment in the annals of speech. pic.twitter.com/tQ01n58XFc

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 9, 2022

The journalist explains how Twitter executives “started processing new power” after they banned Trump and laid the groundwork for future decisions regarding the banning of presidents.” The employees said the Biden administration would “not be suspended by Twitter unless absolutely necessary.”

6. As soon as they finished banning Trump, Twitter execs started processing new power. They prepared to ban future presidents and White Houses – perhaps even Joe Biden. The “new administration,” says one exec, “will not be suspended by Twitter unless absolutely necessary.” pic.twitter.com/lr66YgDlGy

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 9, 2022

Twitter executives said they removed Trump because of the “context surrounding” the actions of Trump and his supporters throughout the 2020 election season.

7. Twitter executives removed Trump in part over what one executive called the “context surrounding”: actions by Trump and supporters “over the course of the election and frankly last 4+ years.” In the end, they looked at a broad picture. But that approach can cut both ways. pic.twitter.com/Trgvq5jmhS

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 9, 2022

Prior to the riot, the company employed a more “subjective moderation” approach.

9. Before J6, Twitter was a unique mix of automated, rules-based enforcement, and more subjective moderation by senior executives. As @BariWeissreported, the firm had a vast array of tools for manipulating visibility, most all of which were thrown at Trump (and others) pre-J6.

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 9, 2022

Taibbi notes that after the riot, communications on Slack showed Twitter executives “getting a kick out of intensified relationships with federal agencies.”

The journalist goes on to discuss a Slack channel in which Twitter would converse about “election-related removals,” particularly related to “ accounts, which are called “VITs,” or “Very Important Tweeters.” He wrote:

On October 8th, 2020, executives opened a channel called “us2020_xfn_enforcement.” Through J6, this would be home for discussions about election-related removals, especially ones that involved “high-profile” accounts (often called “VITs” or “Very Important Tweeters”).

14. On October 8th, 2020, executives opened a channel called “us2020_xfn_enforcement.” Through J6, this would be home for discussions about election-related removals, especially ones that involved “high-profile” accounts (often called “VITs” or “Very Important Tweeters”). pic.twitter.com/xH29h4cYt9

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 9, 2022

The smaller group consisting of former CEO Jack Dorsey, former head of legal, policy, and trust Vijaya Gadde, and former cybersecurity head Yoel Roth, were a “high-speed Supreme Court of moderation,” according to Taibbi. They made content moderation decisions “on the fly, often in minutes and based on guesses, gut calls, even Google searches, even in cases involving the President.”

It appears these individuals did not put much thought into decisions to ban, or otherwise punish, accounts tweeting views with which they disagreed.

16. The latter group were a high-speed Supreme Court of moderation, issuing content rulings on the fly, often in minutes and based on guesses, gut calls, even Google searches, even in cases involving the President. pic.twitter.com/5ihsPCVo62

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 9, 2022

Meanwhile, these executives were “clearly liasing” with federal agencies regarding the moderation of content related to the 2020 election.

17. During this time, executives were also clearly liaising with federal enforcement and intelligence agencies about moderation of election-related content. While we’re still at the start of reviewing the #TwitterFiles, we’re finding out more about these interactions every day.

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 9, 2022

In fact, Roth met weekly with officials from the FBI and DHS, and also the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

This post about the Hunter Biden laptop situation shows that Roth not only met weekly with the FBI and DHS, but with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI):

20. This post about the Hunter Biden laptop situation shows that Roth not only met weekly with the FBI and DHS, but with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI): pic.twitter.com/s5IiUjQqIY

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 9, 2022

In a report to these three agencies, Roth wrote:

We blocked the NYP story, then we unblocked it (but said the opposite) … and now we’re in a messy situation where our policy is in shambles, comms is angry, reporters think we’re idiots, and we’re refactoring an exceedingly complex policy 18 days out from the election.

21. Roth’s report to FBI/DHS/DNI is almost farcical in its self-flagellating tone:
“We blocked the NYP story, then unblocked it (but said the opposite)… comms is angry, reporters think we’re idiots… in short, FML” (fuck my life). pic.twitter.com/sTaWglhaJt

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 9, 2022

The FBI even sent Twitter reports highlighting certain tweets, one of which involved Indiana Councilor and Republican named John Basham in which he said: “Between 2% and 25% of Ballots by Mail are Being Rejected for Errors.”

24. Here, the FBI sends reports about a pair of tweets, the second of which involves a former Tippecanoe County, Indiana Councilor and Republican named @JohnBasham claiming “Between 2% and 25% of Ballots by Mail are Being Rejected for Errors.” pic.twitter.com/KtigHOiEwF

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 10, 2022

Twitter decided that these tweets were “proven to be false” and that one of them was “no vio on numerous occasions.”

25. The FBI-flagged tweet then got circulated in the enforcement Slack. Twitter cited Politifact to say the first story was “proven to be false,” then noted the second was already deemed “no vio on numerous occasions.” pic.twitter.com/LyyZ1opWAh

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 10, 2022

What is also noteworthy is that the journalists did not “see one reference to moderation requests from the Trump campaign, the Trump White House, or Republicans generally.”

27. Examining the entire election enforcement Slack, we didn’t see one reference to moderation requests from the Trump campaign, the Trump White House, or Republicans generally. We looked. They may exist: we were told they do. However, they were absent here.

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 10, 2022

The company also prepared to put a “mail-in voting is safe” warning label on a tweet from Trump calling out a voting mishap in Ohio that involved mail-in ballots. They decided against it after realizing that “the events took place” which means the former president’s tweet was “factually accurate.”

35. In another example, Twitter employees prepare to slap a “mail-in voting is safe” warning label on a Trump tweet about a postal screwup in Ohio, before realizing “the events took place,” which meant the tweet was “factually accurate”: pic.twitter.com/4r6nJ3JDmY

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 10, 2022

Even more damning is that Trump was “visibility filtered” about a week before the election despite not appearing “to have a particular violation.” Employees worked quickly to ensure that any of Trump’s tweets could not be “replied to, shared, or liked.”

Taibbi indicated at the beginning of the thread that more drops would be coming on Saturday and Sunday further explaining the decision to ban Trump as well as other issues. Journalists Bari Weiss and Michael Shellenberger are expected to handle the next batch of information.

Bigly: Donald Trump Drops First Political Ad On Truth Social, HUMILIATES Joe Biden

May 9, 2022

I am not sure what to make of Truth Social yet. Rumors are that Trump encouraged Elon Musk to purchase Twitter and, once it happened, expressed contentment to stay on his own platform instead of hopping back ogver to his tens of millions of loyal followers.

Time will tell what happens with all of this social media rejiggering. One thing is certain, though, and that’s the fact that Donald Trump is laying the foundation for one of the most epic political comebacks in history.

Hyperbole? Not if you consider the fact that he got impeached twice and has had his fellow patriots deemed the worst extremisst in history. He ahd his Twitter account delerted – while still functioning as the Commander-in-Chief. They hate Trump. They hate all of us.

And that is what makes this ad so sweet and delicious. In fifty-eight glorious seconds, Trump exposes Joe Biden, the Democrat machine, and every single one of the actual voters who cast a ballot for Sleepy Joe as utter fools. Enjoy:

https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=e30%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1523716118514384897&lang=en&origin=safari-reader%3A%2F%2Fthetruthpatriots.com%2Fbigly-donald-trump-drops-first-political-ad-on-truth-social-humiliates-joe-biden%2F&theme=light&widgetsVersion=c8fe9736dd6fb%3A1649830956492&width=550px

“Weak. Unprepared. Incapable. Unstable.”

If those aren’t four words summarizing Biden and his entire administration, I don’t know what could do it better.

When I watched the ad for the first time, and knowing it was from Trump, I expected something different. This isn’t Trump’s style at all. What I mean by that is…there wasn’t any Trump. No speeches, no ooh rahs, just a montage of bumbling, fumbling, stumbling Joe Biden as he slips going up stairs, stammers through speeches, and whispers creepily for what feels like forever.

The big question still remains: What is Donald Trump going to do in 2024? Perhaps an equally exciting question is what will Trump do in 2022? After all, Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) suggested that Donald Trump would be the next Speaker of the House come the red wave in November. This idea has existed since Joe Biden was inaugurated.

Is there a downside to Speaker Trump? I can hardly see one. If Trump thrives on visibility, what better way to be a gigantic thorn in the left’s side by grabbing the gavel from the corrupt and vile Nancy Pelosi, and then showing up everywhere in media and television to say Trumpish things regarding Brandon and Kamala. The idea that he could sit behind Joe Biden at the next State of the Union would probably be reason enough to make Covid come back, just so that the SOTU would have to be held virtually.

One thing is for certain, though. Democrats are going to get trounced in the midterms. Trump has always been politically savvy for himself, but now he might be getting savvy for the entire MAGA movement. This ad serves one purpose: Reminding voters to remove Dems from office in November. Joe Biden is the figurehead for the entire failed experiement of Demcorat control.

Trump hosts MAGA ball at Mar-a-Lago: Kyle Rittenhouse, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert join ex-president’s faithful allies at premiere of the election fraud film 2,000 Mules

I WON. THEY KNOW IT, I KNOW IT, YOU KNOW IT.

• Trump allowed his Florida resort to be used for the red carpet premiere of conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza’s new movie 2,000 Mules
• The ‘documentary’ further builds on Trump’s baseless 2020 fraud claims 
• A veritable who’s-who of Trump world was present, including MLK’s niece Alveda King, a host of GOP reps. as well as former Trump White House aides
• It comes after Hollywood and Washington dressed their best for the White House Correspondents Dinner and the NYC Met Gala within the last week

By ELIZABETH ELKIND, POLITICS REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM 

PUBLISHED: 16:56 EDT, 5 May 2022 | UPDATED: 17:04 EDT, 5 May 2022 

After a weekend of exclusive parties in Washington, DC and New York City for much of the media sphere, Donald Trump held his own red carpet event at Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday night.

The former president’s Florida retreat hosted the premiere of conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza’s new film 2,000 Mules that pushes baseless theories that the 2020 election was rigged against Trump. 

Among the guests pictured at the event was Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who was ruled to be not guilty after killing two people at an anti-police protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin in August 2020. 

Also in attendance were some of Trump’s top allies in Congress, GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert and Louie Gohmert.

Greene shared a photo on Instagram of herself at Mar-a-Lago along with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece Alveda King.

It’s not clear if Greene and Boebert spoke at the event, after it was reported last week that they had an argument so explosive that it had to be broken up by another House GOP colleague.

Former Trump administration senior aide Kellyanne Conway and ex-deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley were also in attendance. 

Gidley had previously attended the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington on Saturday night, after which a number of journalists and officials have already tested positive for COVID-19. 

Pro-Trump celebrities like Kevin Sorbo and Kristy Swanson were also pictured at the premiere, as was the ex-president’s former lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis. 

A video of Trump arriving at the elaborate event was posted on Instagram by conservative activist David Harris Jr.

‘This man – not only is he a fighter, not only does he never back down, but he’s smart,’ a woman’s voice can be heard saying as the room focuses on the former president.

‘He warned us about Biden being a Trojan Horse for the left. He warned us about the border, he warned us about foreign policy, and he warned us about voter fraud and he warned us about mail-in ballots.’

She continued, ‘He has always been right. Please join me in welcoming the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.’

The room erupted into applause and chants of ‘USA’ as Trump approached the stage. 

Another clip, this time of Trump speaking in front of an enthusiastic and formally-dressed crowd, shows the former president rehashing his same complaints about the previous election.

‘We have to do something that’s very important. We have to go to voter ID immediately,’ Trump said as the room applauded approvingly.

‘They don’t want voter ID. There’s only one reason not to want voter ID – it’s because you want to cheat.’

He continued, ‘You know, when you went to the Democrat National Convention, you had a voter ID that was the size of most people’s chests. Large people. Large, large people. The thing was like, hung around — they needed the chain.’

Donald J. Trump

Trump gestured around his neck. It’s not clear what he was referring to.

‘You walk in, it had your picture, it had fingerprints, it had your everything. It probably had your social security number on it even though you’re not supposed to have that,’ he continued. 

‘But you know what, it was the greatest voter ID I’ve ever seen. But when it comes to voting in the election, they don’t want that, because they wanna cheat. And you know what? I said it, and I’ve been saying it a lot lately, I don’t believe they’re a 50-50 party. I think they cheat in elections.’

The former president then accused Democrats of being ‘against oil, guns and god.’ 

It’s not clear if any of the former president’s children attended the red carpet event, though his son Donald Trump Jr.’s fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle was pictured chatting with other guests. 

Trump Jr. had reportedly testified in front of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack earlier that same day. 

Michael Flynn

He spoke with the Democrat-led panel remotely and was reportedly at least somewhat cooperative.

The committee’s investigation has been rapidly honing in on the former president’s role in fomenting the insurrection last year and his and his allies’ attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. 

Another video from the event also posted by Harris appears to be selling right-wing novelty products from his site — featuring ex-Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. 

‘I love this, where can I get a deck of these?’ Flynn says holding up playing cards. 

The Joker card is superimposed with an image of President Joe Biden’s face.

‘You got the name wrong, it’s Brandon,’ Flynn quipped in reference to the ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ phrase adopted by the right wing to mock Biden.

Another Joker card features Dr. Anthony Fauci with ‘five masks,’ according to the person recording the video. 

‘This is Brandon minus. This is the cousin – the lesser cousin of Brandon,’ Flynn said.

Source : https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10786987/Trump-hosts-MAGA-ball-Mar-Lago-Kyle-Rittenhouse-Marjorie-Taylor-Greene-Lauren-Boebert.html

Trump Shares His Thoughts on Transgender Athletes Competing in Women’s Sports

Madeline Leesman

Source: AP Photo/Josh Reynolds

In an interview this week, former President Donald Trump called out transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. 

“How much do you think the cancel culture, woke debate, is now beginning to really damage the Democrats? And I’ll give you the example that’s been raging recently, this whole issue of transgender athletes in sport, for example. Women’s sport. Lia Thomas, the swimmer. I think it’s grotesquely unfair,” Morgan said.

“It is,” Trump agreed.

“You can support trans rights to equality and fairness, but also understand that what’s going on in sport is inherently unfair and unjust and unequal. Is that your position?” Morgan added.

“People see it and they won’t put up with it,” Trump responded. “They had a weight lifter where the record was, for 11 or 12 years, and they’d put a half-an-ounce on each side, the woman would lift – a guy comes along and breaks the record by numbers you would never –”

“Boris Johnson came out recently and said that he would ban biological males, people born with biological male bodies who transition – he would ban them from then competing in women’s sport,” Morgan said.

“Good.” 

“Do you agree with that?”

“I do. I do. I agreed with that long before anybody else,” Trump said. “I think it’s ridiculous and it’s sad and it’s bad for the Democrats because they’re not going to do that.”

Trump then slammed biological male swimmer Will “Lia” Thomas, who competed against women for the University of Pennsylvania and recently won first place in the NCAA women’s championships, as Rebecca covered.

“A woman is somebody that swims at a certain time and doesn’t get beaten by 38 seconds by somebody that wasn’t even a good swimmer as a male,” he said.

https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=e30%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1519132947030417408&lang=en&origin=safari-reader%3A%2F%2Ftownhall.com%2Ftipsheet%2Fmadelineleesman%2F2022%2F05%2F01%2Ftrump-transgender-athletes-n2606492&theme=light&widgetsVersion=c8fe9736dd6fb%3A1649830956492&width=550px

In the same interview, Trump slammed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, saying that Queen Elizabeth II should revoke their royal titles, as Townhall covered. To recap, in 2021, Harry and Markle left their royal duties and moved to California and sat down with Oprah in an explosive interview where they discussed the British royal family. 

Weeks later, the couple made headlines weeks later when Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, passed away at age 99. Markle did not attend his funeral.

“I’m not a fan of Meghan. I’m not a fan. And I wasn’t right from the beginning,” Trump told Morgan. “I think poor Harry is being led around by his nose.”

Trump added that he predicts Harry and Markle’s marriage will end “bad” and told Morgan that he disagrees with the Queen for not removing their titles.

“If you were the Queen, is it of the stage now, would you remove their royal titles?” Morgan pressed. 

“I would,” Trump said. “The only thing I disagree with the Queen on, probably one of the only things ever, is that I think she should have said ‘if that’s your choice, fine, but you no longer have titles. You no longer have – and frankly, don’t come around,’” Trump said. He added that Harry has been “disrespectful” and an “embarrassment” to the country.

Source: https://townhall.com/tipsheet/madelineleesman/2022/05/01/trump-transgender-athletes-n2606492

Putin Bombs Biden-Owned Villa in Ukraine while Hammering Biolabs & Pedophile Rings

Putin Bombs Biden-Owned Villa in Ukraine while Hammering Biolabs & Pedophile Rings ~ March 2, 2022

___________________________________________________________________

President Donald J Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday told President Trump that Russia’s military destroyed a multitude of foreign bioweapon facilities that had been running carte blanche in Ukraine until his military took decisive and strategic action to rid the corrupt nation of what he called satanic influence, a Mar-a-Lago source told Real Raw News.

As much of the nation sat glued to televisions and computers watching the illegitimate president’s State of the Union Address—in a room half-filled with imposters—Putin and Trump, from his Mar-a-Lago command center, spent a 20-minute phone call once more discussing the Russian leader’s true reasons for mounting an assault on Ukrainian sovereignty.

Putin spent the first half of the call updating Trump on his efforts to destroy Western-sponsored biolabs in Ukraine, which he called a “blight” on a once beautiful landscape. According to Putin, who in 7 days has become the world’s vilest villain, supplanting Xi Jinping, the Russian military had obliterated the following: 11 U.S. State Department/Department of Defense-funded bioweapon facilities; 4 German toxic chemical research centers; 3 Swiss nanotechnology centers; 1 French bio-tech consortium; and 3 Israeli labs that were feverishly working to weaponize airborne rabies. Additionally, Putin claimed his forces had carried out precision strikes on mobile (18-wheelers unsafely retrofitted into makeshift labs) biolabs attempting to transport lethal pathogens across the Ukrainian border into Poland. He told Trump that Russian SU-35 planes used laser-guided munitions to eliminate the roving labs.

Moreover, Putin said his fighter planes had destroyed a Biden-owned, 200-acre villa 35km west of Kyiv. He insisted that Biden was deeply enmeshed in Ukraine’s criminal enterprises, and promised Trump that he’d soon give the world “all the evidence it needs.” Furthermore, Putin contended that “many people within Biden’s demonic den” profited massively from the “conflagration of evil” that had rooted itself on Ukrainian soil. Twenty of Biden’s foreign cohorts, Putin said, were killed in the attack.

Additionally, Putin continued to denounce stories of his insanity as Western propaganda, and refuted tales of mass defections, or of his convoys running short of fuel and food. Also, he rebuked Western assertions that his troops were committing war crimes by indiscriminately bombing and shelling innocent civilians.

“President Trump, you know what fake news is. This is all fake news. Your media shows the same three pictures of videos over and over again, 24-hours a day, to make false claims I am doing some genocide. Your country’s own intelligence sources admit I’ve sent only 75 planes and no UAVs. If I wanted to conquer Ukraine, I’d send 1,000 planes. You know what real invasion looks like. Go look video footage of America ‘Shock and Awe’ in Iraq. That’s an invasion. I could if I want to, but that’s not my objective,” Putin reportedly told Trump.

The second part of the call focused on Putin’s attempts to find, isolate, and wipe out child trafficking covens that had been running with impunity in Ukraine, an operation that began after Russian Special Forces, while searching for weapons of mass destruction, stumbled upon a brick building filled with captive children.

“What Putin told Trump—his people found another three locations, each with 25-60 kids inside. None were American, apparently, but still they were from a lot of different countries. Two of the three, at least Putin said, were guarded by Ukrainians, and his Spetznas killed them and freed the kids. Then they set explosive and detonated the camps. Much has been made of Russia killing five people in an attack on a television station in Kyiv. If Putin’s telling the truth, and I’m certainly not saying he is, the Ukrainian government and child trafficking cartels were using that spot as a means of communication,” our source said.

Asked how much faith Trump has in Putin’s overall honesty, our source said: “Trump takes nothing for granted, he measures everything carefully. We know at least two American children held hostage in Ukraine are now on their way home. Trump is always evaluating and calculating what’s going on.”