Though it’s been well-documented and widely understood in right-leaning political circles for quite some time now that Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) is an absolute worm, the gradual Elon Musk-approved release of the Twitter Files over the last several weeks has provided his critics with further validation of that assessment.

Previously, we learned more about his office’s behind-the-scenes machinations on trying to get journalist Paul Sperry suspended, ostensibly on “QAnon conspiracy” grounds. In reality – and as the NY Post also observed, Schiff likely targeted him primarily because Sperry’s reporting at RealClearInvestigations shined an unflattering spotlight on Schiff’s “whistleblower” Eric Ciaramella.

In the latest round of Twitter Files, which independent journalist Matt Taibbi dropped Friday morning, more receipts were dropped which detailed the frequency of Schiff’s office’s requests for Twitter to take action on accounts they didn’t like – including some that hadn’t tweeted anything at all about Schiff.

For instance, Schiff staffers once pushed to get an account banned on grounds that it was trying to pass off an obvious parody of Joe Biden as real:

2.Staff of House Democrat @AdamSchiff wrote to Twitter quite often, asking that tweets be taken down. This important use of taxpayer resources involved an ask about a “Peter Douche” parody photo of Joe Biden. The DNC made the same request: https://t.co/fM2Y2jxVKw pic.twitter.com/LIQMbns1B0

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023

As Taibbi noted, then-President Donald Trump amplified the tweet by retweeting it, which set off Schiff’s team and the DNC. Fascinatingly, Twitter’s old regime declined to punish the Twitter user in question:

3.The real issue was Donald Trump retweeted the Biden pic. To its credit Twitter refused to remove it, with Trust and Safety chief Yoel Roth saying it had obvious “humorous intent” and “any reasonable observer” – apparently, not a Schiff staffer – could see it was doctored. pic.twitter.com/QJtS6s506Z

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023

4.Schiff staffer Jeff Lowenstein didn’t give up, claiming there was a “slippery slope concern here.” pic.twitter.com/qM1cJiZLFh

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023

And, as also highlighted by another Twitter Files release, Twitter pushed back on some of the other requests from Schiff’s team to ban content related to Schiff and his administrative staff:

5.Twitter also refused requests for bans of content about Schiff and his staff, e.g. “complete suppress[ion of] any and all search results about Mr. Misko and other Committee staffers.” Twitter said this would not be “conceivable.” pic.twitter.com/2HQrmp4fnY

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023

All of that said, reading between the lines, it looks like Twitter did take actions regarding alleged “QAnon activity” on Twitter by “deamplifying” certain accounts, perhaps to head Schiff’s team off at the pass in an attempt to placate them:

6.Even when Twitter didn’t suspend an account, that didn’t mean they didn’t act. Schiff’s office repeatedly complained about “QAnon related activity” that were often tweets about other matters, like the identity of the Ukraine “whistleblower” or the Steele dossier: pic.twitter.com/XKzY8AmB5R

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023

7.Twitter policy at the time didn’t ban QAnon, but “deamplified” such accounts. About the batch of tweets that included those above, Twitter execs wrote: “We can internally confirm that a number of the accounts flagged are already included in this deamplification.” pic.twitter.com/IWss2BoUKx

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023

Ironically, at the same time they were demanding Twitter act to suppress certain content, they were also expressing concerns that such measures would make the accounts harder for law enforcement and federal intelligence agencies to find:

9.“WE APPRECIATE GREATLY”
“We are curious whether any deamplification measures implemented by Twitter’s enforcement team – which we appreciate greatly – could… impede the ability of law enforcement to search Twitter for potential threats about Misko and other HPSCI staff.” pic.twitter.com/h7TRauK6j5

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023

I can see the defenses for this on the left piling up now. These were Schiff’s staffers, not Schiff himself, etc.

But don’t buy it. Schiff has for years now led the fight to have accounts on various social media platforms like Facebook banned on grounds they were allegedly pushing dangerous conspiracy theories, were posting harmful COVID “misinformation,” etc.

Most recently, Schiff urged his Democratic colleagues in the House to write Facebook demanding they keep Trump’s account suspended indefinitely.

Schiff has also been notorious for using his powerful position as Chair of the Intel Committee to not only repeatedly drum up false impeachment-level charges against Trump, but also to get the personal phone records of his political opposition released as a form of revenge for their criticism of him and their support of Trump.

That these requests to Twitter came from Schiff’s handlers rather than Schiff himself does not absolve him of wrongdoing, in my opinion, because it’s likely that he either had a hand in it directly and/or his staffers were inspired by his repeated efforts to get other accounts banned to the point they took the lead themselves.

This is why it’s a good thing that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has moved to boot Schiff from his precious committee perch, because that is one of the last places in Washington, D.C. that anyone with a penchant for abusing their power should be.

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