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Here is my first Substack story. Mehdi Hasan claimed Taibbi “deliberately & under oath misrepresented” the facts about the DHS/CISA's work w/content moderation org EIP. That's a serious charge, one that I debunk with new Twitter Files emails & other docs.

Mehdi claimed Taibbi lied under oath to Congress - a felony that can be prosecuted with prison - by claiming CISA worked with EIP on content moderation. Mehdi says the truth is that only a private sector org w/ a similar acronym, CIS, worked w/EIP. Mehdi is wrong and here's how. 

EIP had an internal ticketing system to flag content for censorship to Twitter, and an internal messaging system to alert CIS *AND* CISA. DHS/CISA elevate EIP-flagged tweets for Twitter. Here is a newly unearthed Twitter email in Oct 2020 showing the process.

Mehdi Hasan's claim that EIP only partnered with CIS, not CISA, is debunked by EIP itself. EIP's annual report says the group was founded in consultation with CISA/DHS. Here's EIP's director saying its main government partner was CISA-DHS. 

CIS, or the Center for Internet Security, is a government contractor that manages partnerships on behalf of DHS. The two orgs worked hand-in-glove. This idea that CIS is totally separate is totally farcical and belies the way DHS exerts influence. 

For whatever reason, Mehdi Hasan & others dismiss concerns about DHS overreach by personalizing the debate and smearing Taibbi. Well before the Twitter Files, I wrote last year about DHS mission creep into social media, including the EIP-CISA partnership.

This isn't new or about Elon Musk. Eight years ago, as the legislation authorizing CISA was gaining steam in Congress, I wrote about how the new DHS subagency represented a vast expansion of surveillance powers, fusing big government and big business.

Mehdi Hasan is still lying. He claimed Taibbi conflated CIS and CISA *during his congressional testimony* and Taibbi thus lied under oath. There's no proof of that, only vast evidence that Taibbi was correct that CISA partnered w/ EIP to flag content.

We all make mistakes as journalists. The q re integrity is how we own up to them. Taibbi got an acronym wrong in a tweet, not his congressional testimony. He immediately corrected the record. @mehdirhasan has not corrected any of his falsehoods and continues defaming Taibbi. 

Here's Mehdi Hasan's original tweet claiming Taibbi was wrong to say CISA elevated EIP content for censorship to Twitter. Mehdi claims Taibbi mixed up CISA and CIS. The emails I posted today clearly show Taibbi was 100% correct in his testimony.

Mehdi's viral deception that Taibbi lied under oath about DHS/CISA now has House Dems explicitly threatening Taibbi w/ imprisonment. Taibbi was accurate in this quote, yet here's a letter from Rep. Stacey Plaskett citing Mehdi to float a threat of 5 years of jail against Taibbi

A copy of the full letter and details about the allegations here. It's not just Rep. Plaskett -- other senior figures in the House Democratic caucus appear involved in this push against Matt Taibbi