Twitter owner Elon Musk has fired the company’s deputy general counsel, James A. Baker, over his reported interference in the release last week of the “Twitter Files.”
As previously reported, last week Musk released a collection of revelations that show “[w]hat really happened with the Hunter Biden story suppression by Twitter.”
The revelations were published on Twitter by journalist Matt Taibbi, who promised to publish a second set of revelations — the “Twitter Files 2” — the following day.
But the second set of revelations were never released, prompting questions about what had happened. It took a few days, but Taibbi eventually sought to answer those questions in a “Supplemental” Twitter thread posted this Tuesday.
He explained in the thread how he’d discovered that Baker had sought to “vet” the “Twitter Files” before their release — and he’d done so without letting Musk know.
This was enough to convince Musk to fire him:
We can now 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? Vetting the first batch of “Twitter Files” – without knowledge of new management.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 6, 2022
In light of concerns about Baker’s possible role in suppression of information important to the public dialogue, he was exited from Twitter today
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 6, 2022
Yes. His explanation was …unconvincing.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 6, 2022
However, Baker’s interference in the release of the “Twitter Files” is evidently just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his bad behavior. It turns out that Baker is a former Justice Department official who’d been involved in the creation and spread of the since-debunked Russian collusion delusion hoax and conspiracy theory.
For instance, “[w]hen Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann wanted to plant the bizarre false claim of a secret communications channel between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, Baker was his go-to, speed-dial contact. (Baker would later testify at Sussmann’s trial),” according to legal scholar Jonathan Turley.
“Baker’s name also appeared prominently in controversies related to the other Russian-related FBI allegations against Trump. He was effectively forced out due to his role and reportedly found himself under criminal investigation,” Turley notes.
But it gets much worse. After being forced out, he wound up at Twitter, where he then proceeded to play a role in censoring the New York Post’s bombshell 2020 reporting on President Joe Biden’s crack-smoking son, Hunter.
Jim Baker as an FBI lawyer received the fake Trump/Alpha Bank story from Hillary’s campaign, was involved with the Steele Dossier, personally approved the FISA warrant to spy on Carter Page, and supported censoring the laptop as Twitter deputy counsel
You can’t make this shit up https://t.co/Wq2C084CLE
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) December 6, 2022
The irony is that Baker’s role in suppressing the reporting on Hunter Biden became clear through the release of the original “Twitter Files.”
“Among the documents revealed in Friday’s Twitter Files was a message from Baker during a discussion about suppressing the New York Post laptop story saying, ‘I support the conclusion that we need more facts to assess whether the materials were hacked’ but [adding] ‘it’s reasonable for us to assume that they may have been and that caution is warranted,'” according to Fox News.
28. To which former Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker again seems to advise staying the non-course, because “caution is warranted”: pic.twitter.com/tg4D0gLWI6
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022
Thus, when Taibbi and fellow journalist Bari Weiss realized that the original “Twitter Files” had been “vetted” by this same guy, they were left shocked.
Look:
The process for producing the “Twitter Files” involved delivery to two journalists (Bari Weiss and me) via a lawyer close to new management. However, after the initial batch, things became complicated.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 6, 2022
Over the weekend, while we both dealt with obstacles to new searches, it was @BariWeiss who discovered that the person in charge of releasing the files was someone named Jim. When she called to ask “Jim’s” last name, the answer came back: “Jim Baker.”
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 6, 2022
“My jaw hit the floor,” says Weiss.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 6, 2022
Baker is a controversial figure. He has been something of a Zelig of FBI controversies dating back to 2016, from the Steele Dossier to the Alfa-Server mess. He resigned in 2018 after an investigation into leaks to the press.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 6, 2022
The news that Baker was reviewing the “Twitter files” surprised everyone involved, to say the least. New Twitter chief Elon Musk acted quickly to “exit” Baker Tuesday.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 6, 2022
With Baker out of the way, the rest of the “Twitter Files” should presumably be released with far less trouble and fewer delays.
That being said, as of Wednesday morning, it still remained unclear when the “Twitter Files 2” would drop.
All that was known for certain was that Weiss — not Taibbi — was responsible for releasing this second batch of revelations.
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