IRS Opened Investigation Into Journalist Matt Taibbi On Christas Eve, Following Government Censorship Reporting

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) examined independent journalist Matt Taibbi’s 2018 tax returns on December 24, 2022, which was a Saturday and Christmas Eve. It was soon after Taibbi published the first batch of Twitter Files, internal Twitter documents exposing how federal government agencies pressured Twitter to censor content. The timing raised eyebrows and many believed it to be an act of retaliation for sounding the alarm on government-backed censorship. The House Judiciary Committee obtained the details after the IRS was criticized for visiting Taibbi’s home in March about the tax filing, on the same day the journalist testified before Congress about the Twitter Files. Journalist Matt Taibbi testifying to congress on March 9, 2023. In a letter to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, chair of the Judiciary Committee Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) said the documents the agency provided “raise more questions than they answer.” The IRS defended the review by saying it was trying to determine that Taibbi was not the victim of identity fraud. It further claimed that in 2019, it wrote to Taibbi to explain that there was a discrepancy in his 2018 tax return. However, the documents obtained by the committee show that the IRS opened a review of the tax return on Christmas Eve last year. Additionally, Taibbi did not owe the IRS. In fact, he was owed a refund, according to the documents obtained by the Committee. “The IRS asserted to the Committee that it sent a letter to Mr. Taibbi on October 24, 2019…IRS Opened Investigation Into Journalist Matt Taibbi On Christas Eve, Following Government Censorship Reporting