Free Republic

The Twitter Files show how the FBI deputized Twitter to conduct illegal censorship of American citizens and undermine the First Amendment. ... Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter last October and the subsequent reporting on the “Twitter Files” by journalists Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss, and a handful of others beginning in early December is one of the most important news stories of our time. The “Twitter Files” story encompasses, and to a large extent connects, every major political scandal of the Trump-Biden era. Put simply, the “Twitter Files” reveal an unholy alliance between Big Tech and the deep state designed to...

Missouri’s Attorney General Eric Schmitt who, together with Louisiana’s Attorney General Jeff Landry, filed a lawsuit alleging collusion between the federal government and social media companies to censor certain speech, sent a letter to Twitter asking for the preservation of evidence related to communications between the company and federal government officials on content moderation and misinformation. Schmitt, who was elected to the Senate in November, referenced the internal documents, dubbed “Twitter Files,” that are being released by CEO Elon Musk via journalists Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss, and Michael Shellenberger. The files showed that then-deputy legal counsel Jim Baker, who was...

Let’s award 3.14159 stars to Elon Musk for firing Twitter’s lawyer, James Baker, Tuesday. But there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered about the role of Baker, the FBI’s former Russiagate protagonist, in — not one, but two — censorship scandals. First, having been parachuted into Twitter conveniently five months before the 2020 election as deputy general counsel and vice president, Baker played an instrumental role in the censorship of The Post’s Hunter Biden laptop story in October 2020. Second, Baker was involved in the potential suppression of material that Musk ordered released from Twitter’s...

VIDEODisgraced Twitter censor Jim Baker who was just "exited" by Elon Musk has a history of antagonism towards the MAGA movement which we know he lumps with what he labels as domestic extremists. To get a glimpse of the mindset of Baker whose final act as a Twitter censor was secretly vetting the Twitter files by removing FBI connections with Twitter's suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story.In this video we see the disgraced former FBI General Counsel Baker at a 2019 conference of fellow liberals discussing "Domestic Extremism and International Terrorism" in which the latter topic was almost completely...

Matt Taibbi, who authored the first release of the infamous “Twitter Files,” is back for round two. Or at least he’s back to provide a supplement to round one while round two is still being worked on. According to Taibbi, James Baker, who was general counsel for Twitter and a former top-level FBI official, inserted himself into the disclosure in an attempt to “vet” the files that were ultimately released. Elon Musk was not notified of Baker playing middle-man. As RedState reported, Baker was fired on Tuesday, and with Taibbi’s latest thread, we now know why. I normally try to...

Matt Taibbi, who authored the first release of the infamous “Twitter Files,” is back for round two. Or at least he’s back to provide a supplement to round one while round two is still being worked on. According to Taibbi, James Baker, who was general counsel for Twitter and a former top-level FBI official, inserted himself into the disclosure in an attempt to “vet” the files that were ultimately released. Elon Musk was not notified of Baker playing middle-man. As RedState reported, Baker was fired on Tuesday, and with Taibbi’s latest thread, we now know why. I normally try to...

Elon Musk said that Twitter's former Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker was "exited" from the company on Tuesday after revelations about his role in the platform's handling of the Hunter Biden laptop story. Baker was involved in discussions about whether the laptop falls under Twitter's "hacked materials" policy. "I support the conclusion that we need more facts to assess whether the materials were hacked," Baker wrote in one email chain. "At this stage, however, it's reasonable for us to assume that they may have been and that caution is warranted." Baker was responding to a Twitter executive who was wondering...

“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 fired deputy general counsel Jim Baker over his involvement in suppressing information important to the public. Baker was a key player in Twitter’s effort to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story. Musk said: “In light of concerns about Baker’s possible role in suppression of information important to the public dialogue, he was exited from Twitter today Jonathan Turley wrote about Baker: “Baker has been featured repeatedly in the Russian investigations launched by the Justice Department,...

Special Counsel John Durham revealed he has unearthed a text message showing Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann falsely told the FBI he was not working on behalf of any client when he delivered anti-Trump research. Special Counsel John Durham is revealing new smoking gun evidence, a text message that shows a Clinton campaign lawyer lied to the FBI, while putting the courts on notice he is prepared to show the effort to smear Donald Trump with now-disproven Russia collusion allegations was a "conspiracy." In a bombshell court filing late Monday night, Durham for the first time suggested Hillary Clinton's...

A former top lawyer for the FBI described to lawmakers the “unusual” way the surveillance request targeting former Trump campaign associate Carter Page was handled by top leadership at the Justice Department and FBI, according to a transcript released this week. In front of a joint session of the House Judiciary and Oversight committees on Aug. 31, 2018, former FBI Deputy General Counsel Trisha Anderson said she was normally responsible for signing off on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act applications before they reached the desk of her superiors for approval. Anderson said the “linear path” those applications typically take was upended...

A lawyer with ties to the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign passed on documents about Russian election meddling to the FBI’s general counsel during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to a report Thursday.James Baker, who was formerly the top lawyer at the FBI, told congressional investigators about the exchange in a closed-door deposition on Wednesday, the Daily Caller reported.Mr. Baker said he received the documents as well as computer storage devices on Russian hacking from Michael Sussmann, an attorney with Perkins Coie. Testifying before a joint session of the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, Mr. Baker said Mr....

After 10 months of leading the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation, counterintelligence official Peter Strzok had not seen compelling evidence that President Trump or high-level campaign officials colluded with the Russian government, according to a person familiar with his thinking. That account comports with a May 19, 2017 text exchange between Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page that was released earlier this week. “You and I both know the odds are nothing. If I thought it was likely, I’d be there no question. I hesitate in part because of my gut sense and concern that there’s no big there there,” Strzok wrote...

RUSH: I had this story yesterday and I didn’t get to it. It’s a Bloomberg story based on an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by James A. Baker and George Shultz. Now, these two guys date back to the Republican Reagan administration. They are considered Republican royalty. They are called even by the Drive-Bys, they have so much respect now, they’re called elder statesmen in the Republican Party. And according to the Drive-Bys, Democrats, the Republicans don’t have any statesmen, period, but these two guys have written an op-ed pushing a carbon tax. And they had a meeting with...

A group of Republican senior statesmen is pushing for a carbon tax to combat the effects of climate change, and hoping to sell their plan to the White House. Former Secretary of State Jim Baker is leading the effort, which also includes former Secretary of State George Shultz. In an opinion piece published Tuesday night in The Wall Street Journal, they argued “there is mounting evidence of problems with the atmosphere that are growing too compelling to ignore.” […] Carbon taxes are designed to raise the cost of fossil fuels to bring down consumption. Baker and Shultz detailed in the...

A group of Republican senior statesmen are pushing for a carbon tax to combat the effects of climate change, and hoping to sell their plan to the White House. Former Secretary of State Jim Baker is leading the effort, which also includes former Secretary of State George Shultz The group will meet Wednesday with White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, senior adviser Jared Kushner, and Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council. Also supporting Baker's effort are Hank Paulson, treasury secretary for former President George W. Bush; Greg Mankiw, who chaired Bush's Council of Economic Advisers; and...

Gingrich Archives Show His Public Praise, Private Criticism of Reagan By Jerry Markon February 19 CARROLLTON, Ga. — In an unnoticed 1992 speech, Newt Gingrich in a single utterance took aim not only at a beloved conservative icon but also at a core tenet of the conservative movement: that government must be limited. Ronald Reagan’s “weakness,” Gingrich told the National Academy of Public Administration in Atlanta, was that “he didn’t think government mattered. The Reagan failure was to grossly undervalue the centrality of government as the organizing mechanism for reinforcing societal behavior.” A review of thousands of documents detailing Gingrich’s...

Now "Israel-lobby" conspiracy theorists like MJ Rosenberg will claim that James "F**K the Jews" Baker was just a shill for the for the Israel lobby, but this find by Mark Hemmingway of NRO is priceless. He sorted through the former Secretary of State's Book, and only twice was Freeman's name mentioned, each time he felt that Chas Freeman was "in the pocket" of the Saudi Government....There is another development in "as the Freeman churns" a group of 87 Chinese dissidents sent a letter to President Obama requesting that he reconsider the appointment of Freeman....

Although Ed Koch has not held elected office for nearly two decades, the feisty former mayor of New York City remains a powerful force in American politics and in the American Jewish community. Reporters still ask for his comments on the latest news developments, and candidates for office still seek his endorsement. Now Koch has a new book out – and it contains a stunning revelation that may ignite a second round of his now-famous clash with James Baker. Round One of Koch vs. Baker exploded across headlines around the world in March 1992, when Koch revealed, in his New...

We're well into the Christmas season, and if the spirit of the Christ child is under assault we have an abundance of air and wind, a lot of it vile and foul. One of the study commissions at the United Nations, perhaps stacked with vegetarians overdosing on tofu and bean sprouts, concludes that the flatulence of cows is more damaging to the environment than automobiles. Poor Bossy, contentedly chewing her cud and minding her own business, now exposed as just another scapegoat (scapecow?) to blame for global warming. But it's not just cows. Some of our most distinguished statespersons are...

THE SUPERANNUATED membership of the Iraq Study Group shepherded by former secretary of state James Baker conjures a line from the film The Sixth Sense: "I see dead people." Two centuries ago, Europeans dreaming of reform and freedom must have felt just as crestfallen as they watched their continent's ghoulish elder statesmen gather for the Congress of Vienna. Both assemblies symbolize a victory for the ancien régime, the bloody-minded refusal to accept that the world has changed profoundly and will continue to change.If the Baker commission is the K-Mart version of the Congress of Vienna, its influence may prove no...