Twitter Files: No evidence of Russian interference found in push for Nunes memo
Christopher Hutton
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Twitter employees found no evidence of Russian involvement in a hashtag campaign critical of the investigation into possible Russian influence over former President Donald Trump, according to newly released documents that indicate that Democratic allegations about Russia’s influence were overstated.
The latest “Twitter Files,” a series of releases of internal company documents provided to journalists chosen by owner Elon Musk, details Twitter’s research into allegations that the hashtag #releasethememo was started by an army of Russian bots. The tag was used to call for the release of a memo filed by then-Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) challenging aspects of the Trump-Russia investigation. While some alleged the tag’s surge was driven by foreign actors, Twitter failed to find any evidence of such activity.
“Our initial inquiry, based on available data, has not identified any significant activity connected to Russia concerning Tweets posting original content to this hashtag,” a Twitter staffer told Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office in a Jan. 26 statement, according to screenshots posted by Matt Taibbi.
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The Nunes memo was released to the public on Feb. 2, 2018, and claimed that the “FBI may have relied on politically motivated or questionable sources” when acquiring a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant, including a reliance on the Steele dossier. The allegations were challenged by Democrats and the Department of Justice, leading to conflicts over the memo’s truthfulness.
Democratic lawmakers, such as Rep. Adam Schiff and Feinstein, argued that the surge of interest in the memo was due to Russian bots, citing the Hamilton 68 Dashboard run by the Russia-focused Alliance of Securing Democracy as their primary source of the bots’ existence. This reliance on the dashboard aggravated Twitter executives because journalists relied on the board for claims about bots without checking with the tech platform to confirm validity.
“I encourage you to be skeptical of Hamilton 68’s take on this, which as far as I can tell, is the only source for these stories,” Twitter Global Policy Communications Chief Emily Horne told other employees, according to the documents.
None of the 50 original accounts that posted #releasethememo were Russia-owned, according to former Twitter Head of Trust and Safety Yoel Roth.
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DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz issued a report in December 2019 vindicating the Nunes memo and criticizing the Justice Department and the FBI for at least 17 “significant errors and omissions” related to the FISA warrants against Trump adviser Carter Page.
Previous versions of the Twitter Files address efforts by both former President Donald Trump’s administration and President Joe Biden’s administration to quell COVID-19 misinformation, including communications with Twitter. They also detailed communications between the FBI and Twitter regarding foreign threats, the company’s handling of Hunter Biden’s laptop, and the decision to remove Trump from the platform.
Vaccine skeptic Alex Berenson was given access to the files last week. He released his first edition on Monday, claiming that then-FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb pressured Twitter to censor.