We brought you some of the latest Twitter files released from journalist Matt Taibbi, the 14th installment that dealt with Russiagate. We also covered a supplemental release that Taibbi made dealing with Rep. Adam Schiff’s further efforts to censor people. As we’ve reported, Schiff previously tried to shut down journalist Paul Sperry for reporting about the contact that an impeachment “whistleblower” had with a staffer in Schiff’s office–and the potential bias to get President Donald Trump that contact revealed.

Taibbi said that a consistent theme of the Twitter files — the Russigate installment — was that the headlines were manufactured by politicians and the media. Taibbi noted how Democratic politicians like Schiff stoked the panic about Russia.

A consistent theme of the #TwitterFiles has been concrete evidence that Russiagate headlines were manufactured by politicians and media — the thread below blows up the absurd #ReleaseTheMemo panic stoked by @SenFeinstein, @SenBlumenthal, and @AdamSchiff, among others. https://t.co/uO92WXyBlW

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023

Among the things Taibbi revealed was that the Democrats were trying to push the false claim that the #ReleaseTheMemo was generated by Russian meddling, it was a way of trying to shut down the call for the release of the Nunes memo, detailing FBI FISA abuses aimed at surveilling several figures in Trump’s circle.

Taibbi’s comments then set off Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA).

You can believe gaslighting by @mtaibbi, or you can believe facts. Russian meddling was not manufactured. DOJ indicted 12 Russian Intel officers for hacking: “defendants claimed to be American hacktivists and used…Twitter accounts to promote the website.” https://t.co/i0FsAkaddX https://t.co/NEmioQkMf8

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) January 13, 2023

“You can believe gaslighting by @mtaibbi, or you can believe facts,” Lieu argued. “Russian meddling was not manufactured. DOJ indicted 12 Russian Intel officers for hacking: “defendants claimed to be American hacktivists and used…Twitter accounts to promote the website.”

You better watch those goalposts moving there and don’t trip over them, Rep. Lieu. Where’s the Russia collusion evidence Schiff claimed he had? That was completely manufactured by Democrats. Whose gaslighting who here?

Taibbi shot back at Lieu, pointing out some of the issues in the hacking case.

What @TedLieu leaves out is that the DOJ indicted 12 individuals they knew would never show up in court, but had to drop two related cases of companies that did fight back, rather than go through discovery: https://t.co/NPVKm3Pvgq https://t.co/xAMUHyZpLO

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023

Lieu then accused Taibbi of pushing “Kremlin talking points.”

What @mtaibbi leaves out is that the article he cites explains DOJ dropped the two cases because discovery would give the Russians information they could weaponize. @mtaibbi now wants you to doubt the DOJ’s case against 12 Russian agents. He’s spewing Kremlin talking points. https://t.co/DZmbqqR8sH

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) January 13, 2023

Any time they don’t like someone or they want to attack a political opponent, they scream “Russia, Russia, Russia.”

But Matt Taibbi took Lieu apart for his disgusting red-baiting.

Congressman, I’m an American citizen, I love my country, and accusing me of repeating “Kremlin talking points” when I report something you find inconvenient is beyond reprehensible. You and your sleazy red-baiting pals in congress should be ashamed. https://t.co/ooBok40jxF

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023

“Congressman, I’m an American citizen, I love my country, and accusing me of repeating “Kremlin talking points” when I report something you find inconvenient is beyond reprehensible,” Taibbi scolded. “You and your sleazy red-baiting pals in congress [sic] should be ashamed.” Well, they should be ashamed but they’re not, since they have no shame.

Taibbi also pointed out that Lieu’s original response was a deflection and a little misdirection, to begin with.

Also my story wasn’t about 2016 or the GRU. It was about the grossly dishonest campaign by your congressional colleagues to depict the #ReleaseTheMemo hashtag as driven by Russian influence. Care to address the actual story? https://t.co/xAMUHyYRWg

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023

Taibbi’s point was about the Democrats’ actions to falsely paint things as “Russia-related,” which Lieu not only didn’t address but was a point he helped to prove by his reaction to Taibbi.

Democrats have been employing this tactic since at least 2016. It was a lie, fueled by the Democrats themselves paying for things like the Steele dossier and feeding it to the media and the FBI. Yet still, they persist in pushing it. Part of the problem is that they’ve never been held accountable for those lies and all they did to divide the country, purely to try to beat Donald Trump and hold onto power.

Good on Taibbi for dropping a little truth on Lieu and not being cowed by yet one more “Russia, Russia, Russia” effort.