(Ken Silva, Headline USA) If Democrats were competing to see who could sink the lowest at Thursday’s House Weaponization Subcommittee hearing about the Twitter Files, the winner would have to be Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas.
Garcia stood out amongst her First Amendment-bashing colleagues—who repeatedly attacked the two journalists who testified at the panel, and even pressured them to reveal their sources—for her lack of even cursory knowledge about what was being discussed.
When she wasn’t asking the two journalists about whether they’re in a “threesome,” Garcia showed that she doesn’t anything about the Twitter Files, the reporters investigating them, or the platforms on which the stories are being published.
Garcia began her questioning by following the lead of the subcommittee’s ranking member Stacey Plaskett, D-Virgin Islands, in trying to pressure the reporters to reveal their sources.
“When was the first time Mr. Musk approached you about writing the Twitter Files?” Garcia asked one of the reporters, Matt Taibbi.
“Again, that would be a question of sourcing,” Taibbi responded.
“I just need a date,” Garcia hounded further.
“But I can’t give it to you, unfortunately, because it’s a question of sourcing and I’m a journalist and I don’t reveal my sources,” Taibbi said again.
Things only degenerated from there.
Garcia proceeded to probe Taibbi about his latest Twitter Files report released Thursday morning. She apparently wanted to know where Taibbi first published this story: on Twitter, on his Substack page, or as a written statement to the committee—but she revealed that she doesn’t even know what Substack is.
Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): "You posted on your umm I guess it's kind of like a web page. I don't quite understand what Substack is." pic.twitter.com/LJQx7nIpJy
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 9, 2023
“You yourself posted on, uh, I guess it’s kind of like a webpage. I don’t quite understand what Substack is,” she said.
Garcia also persistently asked Taibbi whether he sent his story “to Twitter” or to the committee first. It’s not clear what this line of questioning was aiming at, as Taibbi explained that he did not send the story “to” the company for publication, but simply posted it on his Twitter page as a thread.
Garcia then asked the other reporter, Michael Shellenberger, about his sourcing. Shellenberger said he was invited to report on the Twitter Files by his friend fellow journalist Bari Weiss.
In perhaps the most bizarre moment of the whole interaction, Garcia showed that she did not know Weiss, a former New York Times columnist.
“This friend works for Twitter?” Garcia asked, referring to Weiss.
“She’s a journalist,” Shellenberger replied, leading Garcia to ask Taibbi and Shellenberger: “So you’re in this as a threesome?”
“There were many more people involved than that,” Shellenberger said as laughter could be heard coming from the audience behind him.
Rep. Sylvia Garcia on @ShellenbergerMD, @bariweiss, & @ElonMusk:
“So you’re in this as a threesome?”
🤣🤣🤣
pic.twitter.com/qV1FzvxWN2— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) March 9, 2023
Garcia wrapped up her questioning by asking the reporters whether they were being paid to testify on Thursday. They both said they were not.
“I don’t know what to say,” subcommittee chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said when all was said and done.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
