When three former Twitter officials arrive at the Capitol on Wednesday morning, the Republican-controlled House oversight committee plans to put intense pressure on them to produce proof of “collusion” between the FBI and Twitter to delete The New York Post‘s report on Hunter Biden’s laptop.
The objective was stated in the prepared opening comments of Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), portions of which were made public before to the hearing’s start time of 10 a.m.
According to the newest report from the New York Post, which got the exclusive Laptop story in the first place and was censored by Twitter and other platforms back in 2020, Rep. Comer will say that “Twitter, under the leadership of our witnesses today, was a private company the federal government used to accomplish what it constitutionally cannot: limit the free exercise of speech,”
“We owe it to the American people to provide answers about this collusion to censor information about Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s business schemes.”
As other committees gear up for comparable probes of potential FBI and intelligence-community malfeasance, Comer is conducting the hearing as one of his first official acts since taking office last month.
Comer will outline the material that has already been made available, some of which was disclosed by new Twitter owner Elon Musk, concerning the FBI’s direct involvement in the laptop story’s blocking by websites like Twitter and Facebook.
The same report by the New York Post that portrays the remarks that Rep. Comer has prepared for the hearing, states that regarding the Twitter files and other evidence the congressman will add the following:
“In the months leading up to the laptop story, the FBI advised senior Twitter executives to question the validity of any Hunter Biden story. We also know that one of the witnesses before us today participated in an Aspen Institute exercise in September 2020 on a potential ‘hack and dump’ operation relating to Hunter Biden,”
“Other Big Tech companies and reporters attended as well. This exercise prepared them for their future collusion to suppress and delegitimize information contained in Hunter Biden’s laptop about the Biden family’s business schemes.”
According to a document disclosed by Musk, the FBI paid Twitter $3.5 million between October 2019 and February 2021 to handle its moderation requests.
Also, stated in the same released material, San Francisco-based FBI agent Elvis Chan sent Roth and at least one other individual 10 papers on the evening of October 13, 2020, only hours before The New York Post‘s initial laptop story were published at 5 a.m. on October 14.
On the Democrat side, White House spokesperson Ian Sams called the hearing “a political stunt.”
Republicans, though, anticipate applying pressure to the former executives in light of Musk’s takeover of the platform in October and the “Twitter Files” disclosures he made.
Independent Writer. Marketing and communications strategist for politicians, artists, public figures & corporate brands for more than 10 years. Contact: @alejandrosbasso (Twitter)
Escritor independiente. Consultor en marketing y comunicaciones de políticos, artistas, figuras públicas y marcas por más de 10 años. Contacto: @alejandrosbasso (Twitter)