On Friday, Independent Journalist Matt Taibi published in a tweet thread, part 17 of what as been known as the “Twitter Files”, where former Twitter Head of Safety, Yoel Roth, admits that “legitimate right-leaning accounts” were being accused of being Russian bots.
3.“Falsely accuses a bunch of legitimate right-leaning accounts of being Russian bots.” pic.twitter.com/EHRWACkZu4— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 27, 2023
Roth admits that “Virtually any conclusion drawn from it will take conversations in conservative circles on Twitter and accuse them of being Russian.”
4.“Virtually any conclusion drawn from it will take conversations in conservative circles on Twitter and accuse them of being Russian.” pic.twitter.com/g7Ozzj4ST8— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 27, 2023
These quotes were tracked by Hamilton 68, the digital dashboard that was used to track Russian influence. The “dashboard” was headed by former FBI counterintelligence official (and current MSNBC contributor) Clint Watts, and funded by a neoliberal think tank, the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD).
5.These are quotes by Twitter executives about Hamilton 68, a digital “dashboard” that claimed to track Russian influence and was the source of hundreds if not thousands of mainstream print and TV news stories in the Trump years. pic.twitter.com/KzCVBCm1hv— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 27, 2023
The advisory counsel also included neoconservative writer Bill Kristol, former Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, ex-Hillary for America chief John Podesta, and former heads or deputy heads of the CIA, NSA, and the Department of Homeland Security.
7.The ASD advisory council includes neoconservative writer Bill Kristol, former Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, ex-Hillary for America chief John Podesta, and former heads or deputy heads of the CIA, NSA, and the Department of Homeland Security. pic.twitter.com/Nug3CpF6iK— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 27, 2023
For years, news outlets cited former FBI counterintelligence official Watts and Hamilton 68 as justification for stories linking Trump to Russia and claiming that Russian bots were “amplifying” social media causes such as stories against strikes in Syria, support for Fox News host Laura Ingraham, and regarding the campaigns of both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.
https://t.co/0yk0y7VlGX outlets for years cited Watts and Hamilton 68 when claiming Russian bots were “amplifying” an endless parade of social media causes – against strikes in Syria, in support of Fox host Laura Ingraham, the campaigns of both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. pic.twitter.com/Qwf5UuKUkb— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 27, 2023
The media used Hamilton 68 as their source when they claimed that terms like the “deep state” and hastags like #FireMcMaster, #SchumerShutdown, #WalkAway, #ReleaseTheMemo, #AlabamaSenateRace, and #ParklandShooting were being pushed by Russian bots.
9.Hamilton 68 was the source for stories claiming Russian bots pushed terms like “deep state” or hashtags like #FireMcMaster, #SchumerShutdown, #WalkAway, #ReleaseTheMemo, #AlabamaSenateRace, and #ParklandShooting, among many others. pic.twitter.com/d9uM8bYWVe— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 27, 2023
Twitter executives then used reverse-engineering to recreate Hamilton’s list after discovering that Hamilton 68 appeared to be behind most of the Russian bot claims and when Hamilton 68 refused to release the names of the accounts on their list. Twitter found that the accounts were neither “strongly Russian nor strongly bots.”
They concluded that “No evidence to support the statement that the dashboard is a finger on the pulse of Russian information ops” and that the accounts “Hardly illuminat(ed) a massive influence operation.”
13.“These accounts,” they concluded, “are neither strongly Russian nor strongly bots.”
“No evidence to support the statement that the dashboard is a finger on the pulse of Russian information ops.”
“Hardly illuminating a massive influence operation.” pic.twitter.com/LMrgWVKe7k— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 27, 2023
The entire thing was a scam. Hamilton 68 took the accounts of ordinary American and accused them of being Russian bots, when there was zero evidence for it. And Twitter knew it. Roth wrote that “Real people need to know they’ve been unilaterally labeled Russian stooges without evidence or recourse.”
16. Twitter immediately recognized these Hamilton-driven news stories posed a major ethical problem, potentially implicating them.
“Real people need to know they’ve been unilaterally labeled Russian stooges without evidence or recourse,” Roth wrote. pic.twitter.com/JSDowtPzHY— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 27, 2023
It was so bad that Roth wanted to push back and release the evidence, debunking the claim that Hamilton 68 was tracking Russian bots.
18.Yoel Roth wanted a confrontation. “My recommendation at this stage is an ultimatum: you release the list or we do,” he wrote.
However, there were internal concerns about taking on the politically connected Alliance for Securing Democracy. pic.twitter.com/Ejg1VcH73R— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 27, 2023
Others such as Carlos Monje, future senior advisor to Transporation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wanted to expose Hamilton 68. Monje wrote “I also have been very frustrated in not calling out Hamilton 68 more publicly, but understand we have to play a longer game here.”
20.“I also have been very frustrated in not calling out Hamilton 68 more publicly, but understand we have to play a longer game here,” wrote Carlos Monje, the future senior advisor to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. pic.twitter.com/JvfSkyUlfL— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 27, 2023