Twitter CEO Elon Musk told his predecessor Jack Dorsey on Wednesday that some of his “most important information” was being withheld from him, suggesting some “may have been deleted.”
Musk fired Twitter deputy general counsel Jim Baker on Tuesday after it emerged he unknowingly examined the first part of the so-called “Twitter files” brought to his attention last week by Substack reporter Matt Taibbi. happy
Baker’s involvement in handling files related to Twitter’s suppression of Hunter Biden’s laptop story has sparked a firestorm on the platform, especially since Baker previously served as the FBI’s chief counsel during the Russia collusion investigation.
That prompted Dorsey, who stepped down as Twitter CEO last year and left the board in May, to call for full transparency with the release of the “Twitter Files.”
TWITTER CONSULTANT JIM BAKER CHECKED ELON MUSK’S ‘TWITTER FILES’ WITHOUT KNOWING, MATT TAIBBY REVEALS
Jack Dorsey, creator, founder and chairman of Twitter and co-founder and CEO of Square, takes the stage at cryptocurrency conference Bitcoin 2021 on June 4 at the Mana Convention Center in Miami, Florida. 2021 year.
(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
“If the goal is transparency to build trust, why not just leave everything unfiltered and let men judge for themselves? Does it include all discussions surrounding current and future actions? Go public now,” Dorsey tweeted on Wednesday.
ELON MUSK REVEALS HOW HE WILL BREAK HUNTER BIDEN’S STORY ON TWITTER IN 2020
“The most important information has been hidden (even from you) and some may be deleted, but everything we find will be public,” Musk replied.
It is unclear whether Baker was directly involved in suppressing or deleting the “Twitter files.”
Musk announced on Tuesday that he had Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker has been relieved of his duties “In light of concerns about Baker’s possible role in suppressing information important to public communication”.
And when asked by a Twitter user if Baker could explain himself, Musk replied: “His explanation was … unbelievable.”
After some time, Taibbi named his Twitter page “Additional for Twitter files”.
Former Twitter Deputy General Counsel and former FBI General Counsel Jim Baker.
(Ron Sachs/Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images)
“The first batch of Twitter files was released here on Friday. We had expected to release more over the weekend. Many wondered why there was a delay,” Taibbi tweeted. “Now we can tell you part of the reason why. On Tuesday, Twitter Deputy General Counsel (and former FBI general counsel) Jim Baker was fired. Among the reasons? Examining the first batch of ‘Twitter files’ — without the knowledge of new management. .”
ELON MUSK’S ‘TWITTER FILES’ TO SHARE HUNTER BIDEN STORY, MATT TAIBBY AGREED TO SOME TERMS.
Taibbi explained: “The production process for ‘Twitter Files’ involved delivering it to two journalists (Barry Weiss and myself) through a lawyer close to the new management. But after the initial set, things got complicated. Dam both of us in the next few days. While dealing with obstacles for new searches, @BariWeiss discovered that the person responsible for releasing the files was a person named Jim. When he called to ask for the last name “Jim”, the answer came: “Jim Baker.”
“My jaw hit the floor,” Weiss said, according to Taibbi.
The Substack writer then shared a screenshot of the first set of files he and Weiss obtained, titled “Spectra Baker Emails.”
“Baker is a controversial figure. He has been the subject of controversy since 2016 in everything from the FBI’s Steel dossier to the Alpha Server mess. He was arrested in 2018 after an investigation into leaks to the press. resigned,” Taibbi said in an interview. followers. The news that Baker was looking into the ‘Twitter files’ came as a surprise, to say the least. Twitter’s new chief, Elon Musk, moved quickly to ‘exit’ Baker on Tuesday.
“Reporters continued to dig through the Twitter Files – a lot of it – today. The next installment of the ‘Twitter Files’ comes @bariweiss. Stay tuned,” Taibbi teased.
Weiss later added, “It’s been quite the weekend.”
Journalist Matt Taibbi leaked the “Twitter Files” at the same time on Friday.
(Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage/Getty Images)
Baker appeared in the first episode, titled “Twitter Files,” shared by Taibbi on Friday night.
Revealing the internal debate over how to explain Twitter’s suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 election, Baker told his colleagues: “I support the conclusion that we need more facts to assess whether the material was compromised.” , but said “it’s appropriate”. For us to assume that they might have been, and to be cautious.”
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Taibbi’s original theme was similarly that decisions to censor New York Post stories “were made at the highest levels of the company, but unbeknownst to CEO Jack Dorsey, ex-law, policy and trust chief Vijaya Gadde played a key role. “
In addition, Taibbi initially reported, “Although several sources recalled hearing a ‘general’ warning from federal law enforcement over the summer about possible foreign hacking, I have seen – in the laptop incident there is no evidence of government involvement.”
It’s unclear whether Baker’s involvement in the investigation of the “Twitter Files” led Taibbi to reach this conclusion, or whether Baker missed files that showed the federal government’s involvement in suppressing Twitter’s story about Hunter Biden’s laptop.
Elon Musk has wasted little time making his mark on Twitter since taking over in October.
(Getty Images)
Musk talked about Twitter’s past and present efforts to be transparent in the selection of content on the platform, including censored content.
Twitter banned its users from sharing the New York Post’s 2020 Hunter Biden laptop report in tweets and direct messages.
At the time, Twitter Safety claimed the articles violated its “infringing content policy.” Both Dorsey and former Twitter security chief Yoel Roth have since acknowledged that the company’s actions were a mistake.
Some critics believe that the suppression of the Hunter Biden scandal by Big Tech and the media in general was enough to tip the presidential election in his father’s favor.