Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., called out "100%" witness intimidation by the IRS during Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi's congressional testimony. The House Oversight Committee chairman told ‘The Faulkner Focus’ that federal bureaucracies are "out of control," stressing that the odds of IRS agents paying a visit to the reporter's New Jersey home on the same day he testified before Congress were "one in 10 million."
IRS SILENT ON TIMING OF VISIT TO JOURNALIST MATT TAIBBI’S HOME, HOW OFTEN IT MAKES HOUSE CALLS
JAMES COMER: It's 100% intimidation. But I've got a message for this White House. This isn't going to stop. We're going to get the facts for the American people. And the American people can see and make decisions for themselves about what level of confidence they have in this administration and this federal government. We have what's essentially becoming a fourth branch of government, and that's these federal agencies and federal bureaucracies that are out of control. They don't have any checks and balances, and they have bureaucrats who continue to try to flex a muscle and intimidate any conservative who wants to stand up to them and shine a light on their abuse and overreach of power.
Critics in the media world have sounded the alarm in recent days about Taibbi's suspiciously timed run-in with the IRS.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board reported Monday that the IRS visited Taibbi's New Jersey home the same day he gave his testimony to Congress about his findings from the Twitter Files. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan was notified and sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen demanding answers.
"I'd never heard of anything like that," Fox News chief political analyst and veteran journalist Brit Hume told Fox News Digital. "I don't think it'll have a chilling effect on Matt Taibbi... I think it's very strange. I think anybody would have a right to be suspicious."
The Freedom of the Press Foundation weighed in, tweeting, "If the IRS visit to @mtaibbi's house had anything to do with his reporting or recent Congressional testimony it would be a disturbing attack on press freedoms. Let’s hope the government quickly and credibly explains."
Fox News' Joseph A. Wulfsohn, Brian Flood and David Rutz contributed to this report.
