The release of the initial installment of &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Twitter Files</a>&#8221; late last week was reportedly compromised after the journalist responsible for releasing the files revealed Tuesday that a lawyer caught up in the controversy allegedly vetted the files before sending them to journalists.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk released internal company communications through journalist Matt Taibbi on Friday about the company’s censorship of the New York Post’s Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 presidential election and about how the platform removed content at the behest of the Democrat Party.
Contained in the batch of files, which Taibbi released in a lengthy Twitter thread, was an email from former Twitter Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker about how the company should handle the Hunter Biden laptop story.
“I support the conclusion that we need more facts to assess whether the materials were hacked,&#8221; Baker said in the email. &#8220;At this stage, however, it is reasonable for us to assume that they may have been and that caution is warranted. There are some facts that indicate that the materials may have been hacked, while there are others indicating that the computer was either abandoned and/or the owner consented to allow the repair shop to access it for at least some purposes. We simply need more information.&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/readers-pass/read-only-v2?utm_campaign=dwplus&amp;utm_medium=editorial&amp;utm_source=dwsite&amp;cid=dwplus&amp;mid=z&amp;xid=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TIRED OF THE LEGACY MEDIA’S BIAS CONTROLLING THE NARRATIVE AND OBSCURING THE TRUTH? JOIN US.</a>
Taibbi failed to mention in his initial release that Baker was the former FBI general counsel involved in Russia-related investigations into former President Donald Trump.
The next installment of the Twitter files was supposed to happen over the weekend, but became delayed for a reason that was unknown at the time.
Taibbi now says that the reason for the delay was that it was discovered that Baker was responsible for vetting the files that were released to him and journalist Bari Weiss.
Musk immediately fired Baker upon learning the news. &#8220;In light of concerns about Baker’s possible role in suppression of information important to the public dialogue, he was exited from Twitter today,&#8221; Musk tweeted.
Taibbi tweeted, &#8220;On Tuesday, Twitter Deputy General Counsel (and former FBI General Counsel) Jim Baker was fired. Among the reasons? Vetting the first batch of &#8216;Twitter Files&#8217; – without knowledge of new management.&#8221;
&#8220;The process for producing the &#8216;Twitter Files&#8217; involved delivery to two journalists (Bari Weiss and me) via a lawyer close to new management. However, after the initial batch, things became complicated,&#8221; Taibbi said. &#8220;Over the weekend, while we both dealt with obstacles to new searches, it was @BariWeiss who discovered that the person in charge of releasing the files was someone named Jim. When she called to ask &#8216;Jim’s&#8217; last name, the answer came back: &#8216;Jim Baker.’”
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“My jaw hit the floor,” says Weiss.
&mdash; Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) <a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1600244898216935424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Baker is a controversial figure. He has been something of a Zelig of FBI controversies dating back to 2016, from the Steele Dossier to the Alfa-Server mess. He resigned in 2018 after an investigation into leaks to the press,&#8221; Taibbi continued. &#8220;The news that Baker was reviewing the &#8216;Twitter files&#8217; surprised everyone involved, to say the least. New Twitter chief Elon Musk acted quickly to &#8216;exit&#8217; Baker Tuesday.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The news that Baker was reviewing the “Twitter files” surprised everyone involved, to say the least. New Twitter chief Elon Musk acted quickly to “exit” Baker Tuesday.
&mdash; Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) <a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1600246202619944961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Clinton Attorney Michael Sussman Acquitted Of Charge Of Lying To The F.B.I.

‘The Twitter Files’ Compromised After Lawyer Involved In The Controversy Was Behind Vetting The Files

Business

Elon Musk

Hunter Biden

Scandals

Social Media

Twitter

House Republicans will work to bring in &#8220;every&#8221; single employee involved in efforts to restrict the spread of reporting about the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hunter-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hunter Biden</a> laptop ahead of the 2020 election, an incoming chairman for a powerful committee vowed on Friday.
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who is currently the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, made the declaration Friday night following the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-releases-hunter-biden-files-tweets-deleted-at-behest-of-team-biden-exec-was-key-behind-censorship-decision" target="_blank" rel="noopener">publication</a> of internal Twitter communications about how to handle a <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/10/14/email-reveals-how-hunter-biden-introduced-ukrainian-biz-man-to-dad/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Post</a> story about the contents of the laptop believed to have belonged to President Joe Biden&#8217;s son, including details about Hunter&#8217;s business dealings, drug use, and sex life. The temporary suppression of the story has led to claims of <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/109449803240069864" target="_blank" rel="noopener">improper election influence</a> by former President Donald Trump and his allies.
&#8220;In January, Jason, when I take your old position as chairman of the House Oversight Committee, I can promise you this: Every employee at Twitter who was involved in suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story will have an opportunity to come before Congress and explain their actions to the American people,&#8221; <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2022/12/03/comer-every-twitter-employee-involved-in-squelching-hunter-laptop-story-will-testify-before-congress/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Comer told Jason Chaffetz</a>, a former congressman who was guest-hosting in place of Fox News&#8217; Sean Hannity.
&#8220;This was a huge story,&#8221; he added. Comer then went a bit further, saying, &#8220;This story’s just beginning &#8230; because we’re going to have every single person at Twitter that was involved in this in front of the House Oversight Committee as soon as possible.&#8221;
The string of Twitter messages were published Friday evening with the blessing of CEO Elon Musk by journalist Matt Taibbi, who said the decision to crack down on the reporting “was made at the highest levels of the company, but without the knowledge of CEO Jack Dorsey, with former head of legal, policy and trust Vijaya Gadde playing a key role.”
Among the other officials revealed to have been involved in discussions about the decision to limit the reach of the story under the site’s “hacked materials” policy was Twitter’s deputy general counsel, former top FBI lawyer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-fbi-lawyer-turned-twitter-counsel-supported-decision-to-suppress-hunter-biden-laptop-story-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Baker</a>. The disclosure led Yoel Roth, Twitter’s former Sr. Director, Head of Trust &amp; Safety, to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ex-twitter-executive-elon-musk-is-putting-us-in-harms-way-by-showing-how-we-censored-content" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raise concerns</a> about the potential for harm posed to those whose identities were revealed.
Some of the messages showed deliberations within Twitter as to how to respond to requests from the <a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1598828601268469760" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Biden team” (likely the presidential campaign of Joe Biden, Hunter&#8217;s father) and the &#8220;DNC&#8221;</a> (likely the Democratic National Committee), apparently asking to delete certain tweets.
Taibbi stressed that he has seen no evidence of &#8220;<a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1598833927405215744" target="_blank" rel="noopener">any government involvement in the laptop story</a>,&#8221; though he noted several sources who recalled hearing about a “general” warning from federal law enforcement that summer about possible foreign hacks. The journalist also said &#8220;both parties&#8221; had the ability to request that certain posts be reviewed and deleted. &#8220;For instance, in 2020, requests from both the Trump White House and the Biden campaign were received and honored,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1598828932395978752" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Taibbi tweeted</a>, adding that the system appeared to be skewed in favor of the Democrats.
During the interview, Comer explained how Republicans have already made moves to prepare for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/republican-snags-california-district-after-nail-biter-in-lingering-2022-house-race" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taking over the House</a> in the next term.
&#8220;We knew that the [Democratic] National Committee was communicating with Twitter. We knew the Biden campaign was communicating with Twitter,&#8221; Comer said. &#8220;That’s why, in April of this year, we, on the House Oversight Committee, requested that Twitter preserve all documents and correspondence between Twitter executives and the [Democratic] National Committee and the Biden campaign with respect to the Hunter Biden laptop story.&#8221;

House Oversight Committee Holds Hearing On Washington Commanders Football Team

Incoming GOP Chairman Sends Warning Shot To All Twitter Employees Tied To Hunter Biden Laptop Controversy

Congress

House Republicans

Politics

U.S. House of Representatives

Twitter’s former head of trust and safety claimed Friday night that Twitter CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a> was putting people’s lives in danger by revealing internal company documents showing how employees censored conservatives and a negative news story about then-presidential candidate Joe Biden&#8217;s son.
Yoel Roth, Twitter&#8217;s former Sr. Director, Head of Trust &amp; Safety, complained about Musk&#8217;s decision to release internal company communications through journalist Matt Taibbi about the company’s censorship of the New York Post&#8217;s Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 presidential election.
Taibbi <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-releases-hunter-biden-files-tweets-deleted-at-behest-of-team-biden-exec-was-key-behind-censorship-decision" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> out screenshots showing that company officials were in regular contact with Democrats and censored content that Democrats wanted removed.
&#8220;Publicly posting the names and identities of front-line employees involved in content moderation puts them in harm&#8217;s way and is a fundamentally unacceptable thing to do,&#8221; Roth posted on Mastodon.
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Meanwhile on Mastodon <a href="https://t.co/c3KJIU0ywD">pic.twitter.com/c3KJIU0ywD</a>
&mdash; Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) <a href="https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/1598844734176645120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Musk said that he decided to release the information because it was “necessary to restore public trust” in the platform after it censored the Hunter Biden story.
One of the tweets published by Taibbi showed that Democrats flagged content from conservative actor James Woods to Twitter&#8217;s content moderation team for removal.
Woods <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/james-woods-responds-to-the-twitter-files-in-interview-im-suing-the-dnc-im-coming-for-you-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joined</a> Fox News host Tucker Carlson as Taibbi was releasing the internal information from Twitter.
“I’ve been a target of these people for six years. They have destroyed my career,” Woods said. “They have destroyed my livelihood. They’ve destroyed my faith in this country that my family has defended in the military since the Revolutionary War.”
“I can guarantee you one thing, more than anything else you’ll ever hear in your life, I will be getting a lawyer. I will be suing the Democratic National Committee. No matter what, whether I win or lose, I am going to stand up for the rights of every American,” he said. “I’m not a celebrity, I’m hardly recognizable anymore because my career has been destroyed by these very people.”
“If I have to be the flag-bearer for this, then so be it. I’ll be proud to do it,” Woods added. “The government of the United States conspired to take my free speech and throw it in the gutter. And there’s something that they should fear more than anything they have ever imagined in their wildest dreams. The most dangerous man, these corrupt, vile vermin is an American, who’s not afraid of him, and Joe Biden, and all those rats who work with you at the DNC, to close down my speech, I am not afraid of you. And I’m coming for you.”

Ex-Twitter Executive: Elon Musk Is Putting Us ‘In Harm’s Way’ By Showing How We Censored Content

Ex-Twitter Executive Yoel Roth: Elon Musk Is Putting Us ‘In Harm’s Way’ By Showing How We Censored Content

Big Tech

Censorship

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/secret-service" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Secret Service</a> found more than 100 records that may be responsive to a lawsuit seeking details about an investigation into a gun-related incident involving <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hunter-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hunter Biden</a>, according to a recent court filing.
The disclosure marks a turn in the long-running Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case brought by Judicial Watch after the Secret Service previously walked back a statement that said it had found potentially responsive documents about communications regarding the discovery of a firearm owned by Biden that was found in a Delaware dumpster several years ago.
Although Judicial Watch is casting the fresh development as evidence of the Secret Service being unable to get its story straight about the records, the joint filing between the conservative watchdog group and Homeland Security Department, which is the parent agency of the Secret Service, states that the two parties held consultations that led to further clarity on the scope of the request.
&#8220;USSS initially responded to Judicial Watch on April 2, 2021, that it had located potentially responsive records and would process them in accordance with FOIA, but this response was sent in error. On October 13, 2022, USSS sent an updated letter to Judicial Watch to inform it that USSS had actually never located any records responsive to Plaintiff’s request after conducting a search and, thus, should have sent a no-records response on April 2, 2021 instead,&#8221; the filing says.
&#8220;Since the Complaint was filed, the Parties have conferred about the intended scope of Judicial Watch’s FOIA request and, in response, USSS has run supplemental searches and located over 100 records, totaling over 400 pages, potentially responsive to Judicial Watch’s request under the clarified understanding of that request,&#8221; the filing adds.
<a href="https://www.judicialwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/JW-v-DOJ-Hunter-Biden-Gun-records-02821.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The joint filing</a>, which was submitted last month in Washington, D.C., federal court, was published by Judicial Watch on Thursday.
Judicial Watch initially filed its FOIA request after the Blaze <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/source-hunter-bidens-gun-was-taken-by-hallie-biden-in-2018-thrown-into-a-supermarket-garbage-can-went-missing-and-no-arrests-were-made" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported a source</a> who claimed Hallie Biden, the widow of then-presidential nominee Joe Biden’s son Beau, took a handgun owned by Hunter and placed it into a trash can outside of a Delaware supermarket in October 2018. Hallie and Hunter, who was her brother-in-law, were dating at the time. At the behest of Hunter, after he had been informed of what she did, Hallie went to retrieve the firearm, but she found it missing, according to a <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/25/sources-secret-service-inserted-itself-into-case-of-hunter-bidens-gun-477879?nname=playbook&amp;nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&amp;nrid=0000014e-f10e-dd93-ad7f-f90fd0fe0001&amp;nlid=630318" target="_blank" rel="noopener">police report obtained by Politico</a>. Sources told the news outlet that the gun was returned days later by a man who regularly rummages through the grocery store&#8217;s garbage seeking recyclables.
In text messages between the pair <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/texts-reveal-hunter-biden-meltdown-discarded-gun-incident" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported by the Washington Examiner</a>, Hallie said she was worried Hunter would &#8220;use&#8221; the firearm. Hunter complained how he did not believe he would &#8220;ever recover from all of this,&#8221; noting that Hallie&#8217;s actions made it appear he had &#8220;threatened you and your family with a gun.&#8221; No arrests were made nor charges filed in connection with the incident, but there remains an air of mystery about the role played by the Secret Service, which was not providing protection to now-President Joe Biden at the time.
<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/25/sources-secret-service-inserted-itself-into-case-of-hunter-bidens-gun-477879?nname=playbook&amp;nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&amp;nrid=0000014e-f10e-dd93-ad7f-f90fd0fe0001&amp;nlid=630318" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sources told Politico</a> that Secret Service agents asked the owner of the store where Hunter purchased the gun, seeking paperwork about the sale, but the owner refused under suspicions that they wanted to conceal his ownership of the firearm. The Secret Service <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/texts-reveal-hunter-biden-meltdown-discarded-gun-incident" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told the Washington Examiner</a> last year it had &#8220;no involvement in this incident.&#8221; Hunter, who has struggled with drug addiction over the years, said &#8220;no&#8221; when asked if he was &#8220;an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance,&#8221; <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/25/sources-secret-service-inserted-itself-into-case-of-hunter-bidens-gun-477879?nname=playbook&amp;nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&amp;nrid=0000014e-f10e-dd93-ad7f-f90fd0fe0001&amp;nlid=630318" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to paperwork associated</a> with the gun purchase.
The Secret Service will complete its initial processing of records in the FOIA lawsuit by January 9, 2023, at which time the agency will give any responsive, non-exempt records to Judicial Watch, the November joint filing says. The Secret Service will continue to do so on a rolling, monthly basis as consultations with other Executive Branch entities take place, the filing adds.
Upon publishing the filing to the group&#8217;s website, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton <a href="https://www.judicialwatch.org/hunter-biden-gun-records/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released a statement</a> that said, “The Secret Service’s changing story on records raises additional questions about its role in the Hunter Biden gun incident. One thing is clear, Judicial Watch’s persistence means the public may get records that the Secret Service suggested didn’t exist.&#8221;

Secret Service Finds Records In Hunter Biden Gun Case After ‘Error’

Secret Service Finds Records In Hunter Biden Gun Case After 'Error'

Crime

Executive

Judicial Watch

Secret Service

U.S.

Months after becoming Twitter&#8217;s deputy general counsel, former top FBI lawyer James Baker appeared to support the social media site&#8217;s move to suppress the New York Post&#8217;s report on Hunter Biden&#8217;s laptop in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, according to a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-releases-hunter-biden-files-tweets-deleted-at-behest-of-team-biden-exec-was-key-behind-censorship-decision" target="_blank" rel="noopener">string of messages</a> published Friday evening by journalist Matt Taibbi.
“I support the conclusion that we need more facts to assess whether the materials were hacked. At this stage, however, it is reasonable for us to assume that they may have been and that caution is warranted,” Baker wrote during a discussion among top officials at Twitter about the decision to limit the reach of the story under the site&#8217;s &#8220;hacked materials&#8221; policy.
&#8220;There are some facts that indicate the materials may have been hacked, while there are others indicating that the computer was either abandoned and-or the owner consented to allow the repair shop to access it for at least some purposes,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;We simply need more information.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
28. To which former Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker again seems to advise staying the non-course, because “caution is warranted”: <a href="https://t.co/tg4D0gLWI6">pic.twitter.com/tg4D0gLWI6</a>
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) <a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1598836516553641989?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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No time stamp was given for this particular message, but it appears to have been sent soon after Twitter initially clamped down on its users&#8217; ability to share the Post&#8217;s story about the laptop.
According to Taibbi, the decision to crack down on the reporting &#8220;was made at the highest levels of the company, but without the knowledge of CEO Jack Dorsey, with former head of legal, policy and trust Vijaya Gadde playing a key role.&#8221; The journalist also described Baker as the &#8220;former&#8221; deputy general counsel at Twitter, although Baker&#8217;s own <a href="https://twitter.com/thejimbaker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter biography</a> still states he holds the role.
The <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/10/14/email-reveals-how-hunter-biden-introduced-ukrainian-biz-man-to-dad/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Post said it obtained a copy</a> of the laptop&#8217;s hard drive from Rudy Giuliani after Trump ally Steve Bannon notified the publication of the laptop&#8217;s existence. The laptop had been seemingly abandoned at a repair shop in Delaware, and the owner of the shop shared it Giuliani&#8217;s lawyer, Robert Costello.
Baker served as general counsel at the FBI from 2014 to December 2017, when he was reassigned by FBI Director Christopher Wray, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbis-top-lawyer-said-to-be-reassigned/2017/12/21/2ac76640-e6b5-11e7-833f-155031558ff4_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post</a>.
Baker <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/15/fbi-general-counsel-criminal-investigation-1101774" target="_blank" rel="noopener">came under criminal investigation</a> in 2017 over allegations that he made unauthorized leaks to the media, but the probe ended that same year with no charges. Baker also came under fire for his role in securing the FISA warrant against one-time Trump campaign aide Carter Page, a process marred by the bureau&#8217;s reliance on British former intelligence officer Christopher Steele&#8217;s now-discredited anti-Trump dossier.
House Judiciary Republicans&#8217; Twitter account <a href="https://twitter.com/JudiciaryGOP/status/1598837898945564673">reacted</a> to Taibbi&#8217;s post mentioning Baker with &#8220;Russiagate Jim Baker.&#8221;
One of the authors of the New York Post&#8217;s censored &#8220;smoking-gun email&#8221; report, Emma-Jo Morris, shared a screenshot of a federal subpoena showing the laptop and hard drive had been seized by the FBI, asking whether Baker did &#8220;not recognize this document that the Post published in the first story of the Laptop from Hell series?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Did Jim Baker, former Twitter Deputy Counsel and former Senior FBI, not recognize this document that the Post published in the first story of the Laptop from Hell series? <a href="https://t.co/BN67yPijPt">pic.twitter.com/BN67yPijPt</a>
— Emma-Jo Morris (@EmmaJoNYC) <a href="https://twitter.com/EmmaJoNYC/status/1598878869033193472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Top FBI Lawyer-Turned-Twitter Counsel Supported Decision To Suppress Hunter Biden Laptop Story: Report

2020 Election

Twitter CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-reader-unique-id="2">Elon Musk</a> released information through journalist Matt Taibbi Friday afternoon showing that Twitter was working in conjunction with then-Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden&#8217;s team, removing tweets that team Biden wanted deleted.
Musk said that he decided to release the information because it was “necessary to restore public trust” in the platform after it censored the New York Post&#8217;s bombshell report about Hunter Biden’s laptop just weeks before the 2020 presidential election.
Musk quote retweeted Taibbi&#8217;s multi-tweet thread on Twitter, writing: &#8220;Here we go!!&#8221;
Taibbi began by explaining that the company was &#8220;slowly forced to add &#8230; tools for controlling speech [that] were designed to combat the likes of spam and financial fraudsters.&#8221;
&#8220;Slowly, over time, Twitter staff and executives began to find more and more uses for these tools. Outsiders began petitioning the company to manipulate speech as well: first a little, then more often, then constantly,&#8221; Taibbi said. &#8220;By 2020, requests from connected actors to delete tweets were routine. One executive would write to another: &#8216;More to review from the Biden team.&#8217; The reply would come back: &#8216;Handled.’”
Taibbi&#8217;s post shows that on October 24, team Biden asked for five tweets to be removed. According to Andrew Kerr of the Washington Free Beacon, those tweets were either drug-related photos of Hunter Biden or pornographic photos of him.
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8. By 2020, requests from connected actors to delete tweets were routine. One executive would write to another: “More to review from the Biden team.” The reply would come back: “Handled.” <a href="https://t.co/mnv0YZI4af">pic.twitter.com/mnv0YZI4af</a>
&mdash; Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) <a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1598827602403160064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Celebrities and unknowns alike could be removed or reviewed at the behest of a political party,&#8221; Taibbi continued. &#8220;Both parties had access to these tools. For instance, in 2020, requests from both the Trump White House and the Biden campaign were received and honored. However: This system wasn&#8217;t balanced. It was based on contacts. Because Twitter was and is overwhelmingly staffed by people of one political orientation, there were more channels, more ways to complain, open to the left (well, Democrats) than the right.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
11. This system wasn&#39;t balanced. It was based on contacts. Because Twitter was and is overwhelmingly staffed by people of one political orientation, there were more channels, more ways to complain, open to the left (well, Democrats) than the right. <a href="https://t.co/sa1uVRNhuH">https://t.co/sa1uVRNhuH</a> <a href="https://t.co/K1xmqQ0TrD">pic.twitter.com/K1xmqQ0TrD</a>
&mdash; Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) <a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1598829996264390656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The New York Post published “BIDEN SECRET EMAILS” on October 14, 2020, a report about the laptop belonging to Biden’s son.
“Twitter took extraordinary steps to suppress the story, removing links and posting warnings that it may be ‘unsafe,’” Taibbi continued. “They even blocked its transmission via direct message, a tool hitherto reserved for extreme cases, e.g. child pornography.”
“White House spokeswoman Kaleigh McEnany was locked out of her account for tweeting about the story, prompting a furious letter from Trump campaign staffer Mike Hahn, who seethed: ‘At least pretend to care for the next 20 days,’” Taibbi continued. “This led public policy executive Caroline Strom to send out a polite WTF query. Several employees noted that there was tension between the comms/policy teams, who had little/less control over moderation, and the safety/trust teams.”
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20.This led public policy executive Caroline Strom to send out a polite WTF query. Several employees noted that there was tension between the comms/policy teams, who had little/less control over moderation, and the safety/trust teams: <a href="https://t.co/0IFnVPCOgY">pic.twitter.com/0IFnVPCOgY</a>
&mdash; Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) <a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1598832411025952768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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“Strom’s note returned the answer that the laptop story had been removed for violation of the company’s ‘hacked materials’ policy,” he continued. “Although several sources recalled hearing about a ‘general’ warning from federal law enforcement that summer about possible foreign hacks, there’s no evidence &#8211; that I&#8217;ve seen &#8211; of any government involvement in the laptop story. In fact, that might have been the problem&#8230;”
“The decision was made at the highest levels of the company, but without the knowledge of CEO Jack Dorsey, with former head of legal, policy and trust Vijaya Gadde playing a key role,” he continued. “‘They just freelanced it,’ is how one former employee characterized the decision. ‘Hacking was the excuse, but within a few hours, pretty much everyone realized that wasn’t going to hold. But no one had the guts to reverse it.’”
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24. “They just freelanced it,” is how one former employee characterized the decision. “Hacking was the excuse, but within a few hours, pretty much everyone realized that wasn’t going to hold. But no one had the guts to reverse it.”
&mdash; Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) <a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1598834373482070016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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“You can see the confusion in the following lengthy exchange, which ends up including Gadde and former Trust and safety chief Yoel Roth. Comms official Trenton Kennedy writes, ‘I&#8217;m struggling to understand the policy basis for marking this as unsafe’,” Taibbi continued. “By this point ‘everyone knew this was f***ed,’ said one former employee, but the response was essentially to err on the side of… continuing to err.”
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26. By this point “everyone knew this was fucked,” said one former employee, but the response was essentially to err on the side of… continuing to err. <a href="https://t.co/2wJMFAUBoe">pic.twitter.com/2wJMFAUBoe</a>
&mdash; Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) <a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1598835411262279680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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“Former VP of Global Comms Brandon Borrman asks, ‘Can we truthfully claim that this is part of the policy?’” Taibbi continued. “To which former Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker again seems to advise staying the non-course, because ‘caution is warranted.’”
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28. To which former Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker again seems to advise staying the non-course, because “caution is warranted”: <a href="https://t.co/tg4D0gLWI6">pic.twitter.com/tg4D0gLWI6</a>
&mdash; Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) <a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1598836516553641989?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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“A fundamental problem with tech companies and content moderation: many people in charge of speech know/care little about speech, and have to be told the basics by outsiders,” Taibbi continued. “In one humorous exchange on day 1, Democratic congressman Ro Khanna reaches out to Gadde to gently suggest she hop on the phone to talk about the ‘backlash re speech.’ Khanna was the only Democratic official I could find in the files who expressed concern.”
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30. In one humorous exchange on day 1, Democratic congressman Ro Khanna reaches out to Gadde to gently suggest she hop on the phone to talk about the “backlash re speech.” Khanna was the only Democratic official I could find in the files who expressed concern. <a href="https://t.co/TSSYOs5vfy">pic.twitter.com/TSSYOs5vfy</a>
&mdash; Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) <a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1598837337584062466?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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“Gadde replies quickly, immediately diving into the weeds of Twitter policy, unaware Khanna is more worried about the Bill of Rights,” Taibbi continued. “Khanna tries to reroute the conversation to the First Amendment, mention of which is generally hard to find in the files.”
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32.Khanna tries to reroute the conversation to the First Amendment, mention of which is generally hard to find in the files: <a href="https://t.co/Tq6l7VMuQL">pic.twitter.com/Tq6l7VMuQL</a>
&mdash; Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) <a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1598838041371516929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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“Within a day, head of Public Policy Lauren Culbertson receives a ghastly letter/report from Carl Szabo of the research firm NetChoice, which had already polled 12 members of congress – 9 Rs and 3 Democrats, from &#8216;the House Judiciary Committee to Rep. Judy Chu’s office,&#8217;” the thread continued. “NetChoice lets Twitter know a ‘blood bath’ awaits in upcoming Hill hearings, with members saying it&#8217;s a ‘tipping point,’ complaining tech has ‘grown so big that they can’t even regulate themselves, so government may need to intervene.’”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
34.NetChoice lets Twitter know a “blood bath” awaits in upcoming Hill hearings, with members saying it&#39;s a &quot;tipping point,&quot; complaining tech has “grown so big that they can’t even regulate themselves, so government may need to intervene.” <a href="https://t.co/2EE1NlWQ5k">pic.twitter.com/2EE1NlWQ5k</a>
&mdash; Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) <a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1598839971451838465?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Szabo reports to Twitter that some Hill figures are characterizing the laptop story as &#8216;tech’s Access Hollywood moment&#8217;,&#8221; the thread continued. &#8220;Twitter files continued: &#8216;THE FIRST AMENDMENT ISN’T ABSOLUTE&#8217; Szabo’s letter contains chilling passages relaying Democratic lawmakers’ attitudes. They want &#8216;more&#8217; moderation, and as for the Bill of Rights, it&#8217;s &#8216;not absolute.'&#8221;
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36.Twitter files continued: &quot;THE FIRST AMENDMENT ISN’T ABSOLUTE” Szabo’s letter contains chilling passages relaying Democratic lawmakers’ attitudes. They want “more” moderation, and as for the Bill of Rights, it&#39;s &quot;not absolute&quot; <a href="https://t.co/cWdNYIprp8">pic.twitter.com/cWdNYIprp8</a>
&mdash; Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) <a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1598840927199469569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;An amazing subplot of the Twitter/Hunter Biden laptop affair was how much was done without the knowledge of CEO Jack Dorsey, and how long it took for the situation to get &#8216;unf***ed&#8217; (as one ex-employee put it) even after Dorsey jumped in,&#8221; Taibbi continued. &#8220;While reviewing Gadde&#8217;s emails, I saw a familiar name &#8211; my own. Dorsey sent her a copy of my Substack article blasting the incident.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
While reviewing Gadde&#39;s emails, I saw a familiar name &#8211; my own. Dorsey sent her a copy of my Substack article blasting the incident <a href="https://t.co/4EYVKdVdNF">pic.twitter.com/4EYVKdVdNF</a>
&mdash; Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) <a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1598845423979884544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;There are multiple instances in the files of Dorsey intervening to question suspensions and other moderation actions, for accounts across the political spectrum,&#8221; Taibbi continued. &#8220;The problem with the &#8216;hacked materials&#8217; ruling, several sources said, was that this normally required an official/law enforcement finding of a hack. But such a finding never appears throughout what one executive describes as a &#8216;whirlwind&#8217; 24-hour, company-wide mess.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The problem with the &quot;hacked materials&quot; ruling, several sources said, was that this normally required an official/law enforcement finding of a hack. But such a finding never appears throughout what one executive describes as a &quot;whirlwind&quot; 24-hour, company-wide mess. <a href="https://t.co/aONKCROEOd">pic.twitter.com/aONKCROEOd</a>
&mdash; Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) <a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1598852182572298241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;It&#8217;s been a whirlwind 96 hours for me, too,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;There is much more to come, including answers to questions about issues like shadow-banning, boosting, follower counts, the fate of various individual accounts, and more. These issues are not limited to the political right.&#8221;
The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/twitter-suspends-james-woods-woods-stands-his-ryan-saavedra">reported</a> four years ago that Twitter was taking action against accounts at the behest of political parties.
This is a breaking news story; refresh the page for updates.

Elon Musk Hunter Biden

Musk Releases ‘Hunter Biden’ Files: Tweets Deleted At Behest Of Team Biden, Exec Was Key Behind Censorship Decision

Biden Administration

Joe Biden

Twitter CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a> said Friday afternoon that he will release more information about how the platform censored the New York Post&#8217;s bombshell report about Hunter Biden&#8217;s laptop just weeks before the 2020 presidential election.
Musk tweeted, &#8220;What really happened with the Hunter Biden story suppression by Twitter will be published on Twitter at 5pm ET!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
What really happened with the Hunter Biden story suppression by Twitter will be published on Twitter at 5pm ET!
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1598778884639653891?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;This will be awesome,&#8221; Musk added. &#8220;Will include live Q&amp;A.&#8221;
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Will include live Q&amp;A
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1598781950478716928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The statement from Musk comes after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-releasing-twitters-internal-discussions-on-hunter-biden-laptop-story-necessary-to-restore-public-trust">said</a> last month that releasing details of what happened was &#8220;necessary to restore public trust&#8221; in the platform.
The New York Post first reported messages from Biden’s laptop in October 2020, weeks before a presidential election. Social media giants, including Twitter, cracked down on the story to prevent its spread. Current and former national security officials <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/reminder-these-50-intelligence-officers-claimed-without-evidence-that-new-york-posts-hunter-biden-story-was-russian-disinformation">claimed</a> at the time that the Biden story was likely Russian disinformation and a veiled attempt from Moscow to intervene in U.S. elections.
Media outlets such as <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/hunter-bidens-laptop-is-100-authentic-forensic-examination-concludes">The Washington Examiner</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cbs-finally-admits-hunters-laptop-is-real-more-than-two-years-after-the-fact">CBS News</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-rest-of-the-country-is-starting-to-open-their-eyes-major-outlets-confirm-contents-of-hunters-laptop">The New York Times, and The Washington Post</a> have confirmed the laptop’s contents and messages, in part regarding foreign business deals Hunter Biden worked on in Ukraine, China, and elsewhere.
Twitter initially banned the Post’s story on the social media platform. Users were blocked from posting the link to the story or direct messaging it to other users. Twitter also locked the Post’s account for weeks, saying that the Post’s story violated Twitter’s rules against “hacked materials” despite lacking evidence that the materials were obtained through hacking.
Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey later admitted that Twitter made a mistake in taking action against the Post over its Biden laptop story.
“We were called here today because of an enforcement decision we made against the New York Post based on a policy we created in 2018 to prevent Twitter from being used to spread hacked materials. This resulted in us blocking people from sharing a New York Post article publicly or privately,” Dorsey <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/twitter-ceo-admits-his-company-was-wrong-to-censor-hunter-biden-story">said</a> in November 2020 testimony to Congress. “We made a quick interpretation using no other evidence that the materials in the article were obtained through hacking, and according to our policy, we blocked them from being spread. Upon further consideration, we admitted this action was wrong and corrected it within 24 hours.”
Former Twitter Trust and Safety boss Yoel Roth <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-twitter-safety-chief-admits-censoring-hunter-biden-laptop-was-a-mistake-elon-musk-says-previous-ownership-interfered-in-elections">admitted</a> last month that the company made a &#8220;mistake&#8221; by censoring the story.
“We didn’t know what to believe, we didn’t know what was true, there was smoke — and ultimately, for me, it didn’t reach a place where I was comfortable removing this content from Twitter,” Roth said. “But it set off every single one of my finely tuned APT28 ‘hack and leak campaign’ alarm bells.”
Roth further noted that he felt “a responsibility to protect the integrity” of conversations relating to foreign governments attempting to interfere in elections on the platform, which ultimately led to the platform removing content surrounding the Post’s report and suspending the news outlet’s account for weeks.
“There were lots of reasons why the entire industry was on alert,” Roth added.
Tim Pearce and Brandon Drey contributed to this report.

Elon Musk Releasing Full Details About How Twitter Censored Hunter Biden Laptop Scandal

Former <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/twitter">Twitter</a> Trust and Safety boss Yoel Roth <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/11/30/twitters-ex-safety-chief-admits-censoring-posts-hunter-biden-scoop-was-a-mistake/">admitted</a> Tuesday that the company made a &#8220;mistake&#8221; censoring the story about <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hunter-biden">Hunter</a> Biden&#8217;s laptop during the 2020 presidential election.
Roth, who resigned from his position in early November, confessed the error during a Knight Foundation conference <a href="https://knightfoundation.org/events/knight-media-forum/informed-conversations-on-democracy-in-the-digital-age/">interview</a> with podcast host Kara Swisher.
&#8220;We didn&#8217;t know what to believe, we didn&#8217;t know what was true, there was smoke — and ultimately, for me, it didn&#8217;t reach a place where I was comfortable removing this content from Twitter,&#8221; Roth said. &#8220;But it set off every single one of my finely tuned APT28 ‘hack and leak campaign’ alarm bells.&#8221;
Roth further noted that he felt &#8220;a responsibility to protect the integrity&#8221; of conversations relating to foreign governments attempting to interfere in elections on the platform, which ultimately led to the platform removing content surrounding the Post&#8217;s report and suspending the news outlet&#8217;s account for weeks.
&#8220;There were lots of reasons why the entire industry was on alert,&#8221; Roth added.
Roth and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meta-doubles-down-after-zuckerberg-reveals-how-facebook-censored-hunter-biden-laptop-story">approached</a> by the FBI ahead of the 2020 election about possible foreign propaganda and misinformation. However, several legacy media outlets, including CBS and The Washington Post, have admitted that the laptop is legitimate after conducting independent investigations and analysis.
&#8220;But — so it was a mistake?&#8221; Swisher asked.
&#8220;In my opinion, yes,&#8221; Roth responded.
During the conference, Roth also alleged that Twitter has become less safe since Elon Musk acquired the platform, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/twitter-not-safer-under-elon-musk-says-former-head-trust-safety-conference-2022-11-29/#:~:text=Nov%2029%20(Reuters)%20%2D%20Twitter's,enough%20staff%20for%20safety%20work.">according</a> to Reuters.
Musk responded to a Wednesday tweet from Tesmanian blogger Eva Fox arguing that the platform lost user trust over the last decade under the former ownership. Fox also called the past trust and safety team a &#8220;disgrace&#8221; that lacks merit to judge how the new owner operates Twitter.
&#8220;They had a chance, but they sold their souls to a corporation,&#8221; Fox wrote.
&#8220;Exactly,&#8221; Musk replied. &#8220;The obvious reality, as long-time users know, is that Twitter has failed in trust &amp; safety for a very long time and has interfered in elections.&#8221;
Musk added that &#8220;Twitter 2.0&#8221; aims to provide a &#8220;far more effective, transparent and even-handed&#8221; social media platform.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Exactly. The obvious reality, as long-time users know, is that Twitter has failed in trust &amp; safety for a very long time and has interfered in elections. 
Twitter 2.0 will be far more effective, transparent and even-handed.
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1598004480066621441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 30, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
After a user tweeted if the new owner should “make public all internal discussions about the decision to censor the Post’s story on Hunter Biden’s laptop before the 2020 Election in the interest of Transparency” earlier this month, Musk <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-releasing-twitters-internal-discussions-on-hunter-biden-laptop-story-necessary-to-restore-public-trust">replied</a>, &#8220;This is necessary to restore public trust.&#8221;

World Food Program USA’s Annual McGovern-Dole Leadership Award Ceremony

Former Twitter Safety Chief Admits Censoring Hunter Biden Laptop Was A ‘Mistake’; Elon Musk Says Previous Ownership ‘Interfered In Elections’

Former Twitter Safety Chief Admits Censoring Hunter Biden Laptop Was A 'Mistake'

Elon Musk may release information on Twitter’s internal discussions regarding censorship of stories about Hunter Biden’s laptop prior to the 2020 election, the newly-established CEO suggested Wednesday.
Musk took over Twitter last month in a $44 billion deal and pursued an aggressive overhaul of the social media platform, firing thousands of workers and adjusting the site’s approach to account suspensions and censorship. The 51 year old, who has been vocal about the site&#8217;s future since its purchase, said late Wednesday that releasing internal Twitter messages about Biden’s laptop is “necessary to restore public trust.”
“Raise your hand if you think @ElonMusk should make public all internal discussions about the decision to censor the @NYPost’s story on Hunter Biden’s laptop before the 2020 Election in the interest of Transparency,” one user tweeted.
“This is necessary to restore public trust,” Musk replied.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This is necessary to restore public trust
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1595637837969653760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The New York Post first reported messages from Biden’s laptop in October 2020, weeks before a presidential election. Social media giants, including Twitter, cracked down on the story to prevent its spread. Current and former national security officials <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/reminder-these-50-intelligence-officers-claimed-without-evidence-that-new-york-posts-hunter-biden-story-was-russian-disinformation">claimed</a> at the time that the Biden story was likely Russian disinformation and a veiled attempt from Moscow to intervene in U.S. elections.
Media outlets such as <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/hunter-bidens-laptop-is-100-authentic-forensic-examination-concludes">The Washington Examiner</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cbs-finally-admits-hunters-laptop-is-real-more-than-two-years-after-the-fact">CBS News</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-rest-of-the-country-is-starting-to-open-their-eyes-major-outlets-confirm-contents-of-hunters-laptop">The New York Times, and The Washington Post</a> have confirmed the laptop’s contents and messages, in part regarding foreign business deals Hunter Biden worked on in Ukraine, China, and elsewhere.
Twitter initially banned the Post’s story on the social media platform. Users were blocked from posting the link to the story or direct messaging it to other users. Twitter also locked the Post’s account for weeks, saying that the Post’s story violated Twitter’s rules against “hacked materials” despite lacking evidence that the materials were obtained through hacking.
Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey later admitted that Twitter made a mistake in taking action against the Post over its Biden laptop story.
“We were called here today because of an enforcement decision we made against the New York Post based on a policy we created in 2018 to prevent Twitter from being used to spread hacked materials. This resulted in us blocking people from sharing a New York Post article publicly or privately,” Dorsey <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/twitter-ceo-admits-his-company-was-wrong-to-censor-hunter-biden-story">said</a> in November 2020 testimony to Congress. “We made a quick interpretation using no other evidence that the materials in the article were obtained through hacking, and according to our policy, we blocked them from being spread. Upon further consideration, we admitted this action was wrong and corrected it within 24 hours.”
Social media giant Facebook also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-responds-to-zuckerbergs-bombshell-rogan-revelation-bureau-helped-bury-hunter-biden-laptop-story">censored</a> the Post’s story. CEO Mark Zuckerberg later revealed that Facebook acted in part because of a briefing it received from the FBI warning about the spread of potential Russian information. The specifics of the briefing are unclear, nor is it clear whether Twitter and other sites received similar briefings from the FBI in the run-up to the 2020 election.

Elon Musk, Hunter Biden

Musk: Releasing Twitter’s ‘Internal Discussions’ On Hunter Biden Laptop Story ‘Necessary To Restore Public Trust’

California

A top House Republican put the blame on Democrats for delegitimizing Congressional investigations.
Congressman James Comer (R-KY) said in an interview with Punchbowl News Wednesday that Democrats are to blame for Congressional investigations losing their credibility. Specifically, Comer called out Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and the late Rep. Elijah Cummings for mishandling investigations and abusing subpoena power. Comer, the ranking member on the committee, is set to become the next chairman when Republicans take the House next year.
“ I don’t believe congressional investigations have a whole lot of credibility right now,&#8221; Comer told <a href="https://punchbowl.news/newsletter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Punchbowl News</a>. &#8220;I blame Adam Schiff for that. But it’s also both parties to blame for investigations in the past. But I really want to change that.”
Schiff, who currently serves on the House Intelligence Committee and the January 6th Committee, is infamous for his handling of the Russia collusion investigation and the first impeachment of former President Trump. Schiff repeatedly issued public claims that he had evidence that Trump colluded with Russia to overturn the 2016 election, but <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/adam-schiff-has-transcripts-from-key-witnesses-of-russia-investigation-but-wont-release-them-report-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">never released</a> key materials from the investigation. Earlier <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/adam-schiff-insists-he-has-evidence-trump-was-involved-in-plot-to-overturn-election-but-wont-reveal-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this year</a>, Schiff made similar claims that Trump was personally involved in the effort to overturn the 2020 election, but did not reveal the evidence because he did not &#8220;want to get ahead of [the J6 Committee] hearing.&#8221;
Comer also promised not to “abuse the subpoena ability” while he is chair of the Oversight Committee. Specifically, he promised not to indiscriminately send “subpoenas to everyone in a presidential administration like Elijah Cummings did.” Cummings served as Chair of the Oversight Committee from January 2019 until his death in October of that year. “So when you get a specific subpoena from Oversight when I’m chairman, then it’s going to mean something,” Comer said. “We’re going to be very selective in who gets subpoenas.”
Comer also dismissed criticism that his committee would take focus off Republican legislative priorities and messaging. &#8220;Well, the Oversight Committee right now is 8% of our Republican Conference,&#8221; he told the outlet. &#8220;We’re in charge of investigations: waste, fraud and abuse. That’s our job.&#8221;
Investigations the Republican-led committee will undertake include the origins of the COVID pandemic; fraud and abuse of the Paycheck Protection Program and pandemic-related unemployment insurance; the crisis at the southern border; and the botched American withdrawal from Afghanistan. “One of the things Republicans campaigned on was holding this administration accountable,&#8221; Comer added. &#8220;I’m doing my role. My committee’s 8% of the conference. The other 92% is going to be trying to reduce inflation, securing the border, getting crime under control, trying to change the energy policy.”
Comer also said that the Oversight Committee would open an investigation into Hunter Biden and the Biden family&#8217;s business dealings. “[I am] pretty confident that a majority of Americans have no idea the extent to Hunter Biden’s criminal activity,” said Comer, adding that he believes “Joe Biden was directly involved in that.” Comer previously outlined his plans at a news conference <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/this-is-an-investigation-of-joe-biden-house-gop-leaders-vow-corruption-probe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last week</a>.
“We need to be very specific on what the immediate family members [of the president] can do with respect to lobbying,” Comer added. He also expressed hope for bipartisan support. “That should be something that’s not partisan with the Democrats, because they’ve criticized the previous president’s son-in-law on some of that stuff.”

Adam Schiff

‘I Blame Adam Schiff’: Top Republican Says Democrats Tanked Credibility Of Congressional Investigations, Promises Change

Top Republican James Comer Says Democrats Tanked Credibility Of Congressional Investigations, Promises Change

Republicans

John Paul Mac Isaac was an introverted Delaware computer repair man until his life was destroyed for trying to do the right thing, with authorities thwarting or ignoring him at every turn, he said in a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/American-Injustice-Battle-Expose-Truth/dp/1637586841/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">book released Tuesday</a>. &#8220;&#8216;If you see something, say something&#8217;, we&#8217;re told. I did see something, and I did say something. I was vilified for it,&#8221; he wrote.
Mac Isaac said that a boozy Hunter Biden dropped off three laptops for repair on April 12, 2019, and agreed to pay $85 to recover files from one of them, whose password was something like &#8220;analf&#8212;69.&#8221; The now-First Son came back a few days later to bring an external drive, then never responded to the call informing him that the recovery was complete.
Mac Isaac immediately saw homemade porn littering the desktop, along with financial records detailing millions of dollars in foreign transactions. He wanted nothing to do with a political scandal, but he figured it would be a moot point, as Joe Biden seemed too old to advance in the Democratic primary.
But when then-President Donald Trump was subjected to impeachment proceedings related to his allegedly pressuring Ukraine president to investigate the Biden family&#8217;s business dealings there, Mac Isaac sensed injustice. &#8220;I was sitting on evidence that could exonerate the president and justify his actions. Whether you like a person or not, everyone is entitled to a fair trial,&#8221; he wrote. And under his contract, abandoned property legally became his.
Reviewing the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hunter-biden-laptop-reveals-disturbing-information-about-presidents-son-underage-relative" target="_blank" rel="noopener">laptop&#8217;s contents</a>, Mac Isaac had seen that in 2014, Hunter and his business partner Devon Archer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hunter-bidens-laptop-documents-at-least-459-legal-violations-watchdog-group-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plotted</a> a business venture in Ukraine that overlapped with U.S. actions. They discussed buying burner phones at a 7-Eleven. On April 16, 2014, Vice President Biden met with Archer at the White House. Five days later, the vice president traveled to Ukraine. The day after that, Archer was awarded a position on the board of directors of the country&#8217;s oil and gas firm Burisma, with Hunter joining weeks later, &#8220;to the tune of $1,295,000 each,&#8221; Mac Isaac wrote. The computer&#8217;s contents also showed Hunter telling his daughter that unlike his father, he wouldn&#8217;t make her give him half the money she earned.
<blockquote>
<h1>&#8220;You better lawyer up and don&#8217;t talk to anyone about this,&#8221; the FBI agent said, according to Mac Isaac. &#8220;The door is on the left.&#8221;</h1>
</blockquote>
Vadym Pozharskyi, Burisma&#8217;s number-two official, wasted no time in asking for Hunter and Archer&#8217;s &#8220;advice on how you could use your influence to convey a message/signal, etc, to stop what we consider to be politically motivated actions&#8221; related to an investigation into Burisma, he wrote. On April 17, Pozharskyi &#8220;thanked Hunter for the opportunity to meet his father,&#8221; he wrote.
Hunter and Archer hired a company called Blue Star Strategies &#8220;to perform the heavy lifting between Burisma and the White House,&#8221; and Blue Star began providing Burisma with sensitive executive-branch information, Mac Isaac wrote. In December 2015, Joe Biden visited Ukraine and threatened to withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees unless the prosecutor who had investigated Burisma was fired.
Mac Isaac became convinced that federal authorities needed to see what was on the hard drive, but he was concerned about bringing it to Delaware-based agents because of the Bidens&#8217; sway. His father was a former Air Force colonel who had spent time at the CIA, so on October 9, 2019, the elder Mac Isaac flew to Albuquerque, New Mexico to deliver a copy of the drive to an FBI field office there. But the agent refused to accept it, instead grilling Mac Isaac&#8217;s father on whether the computer repairman might have broken the law, he wrote.
&#8220;I consulted with a regional legal officer, and he suggested you should get a lawyer,&#8221; the FBI agent said, according to Mac Isaac. &#8220;You better lawyer up and don&#8217;t talk to anyone about this&#8230; I don&#8217;t have anything else for you, and the door is on the left.&#8221;
In November 2019, Special Agent Joshua J. Wilson of the FBI&#8217;s Baltimore/Wilmington division contacted the Mac Isaacs. Impeachment hearings were under way in the Senate. On November 19, 2019, Wilson and another agent with the last named DeMeo visited Mac Isaac&#8217;s apartment. Mac Isaac printed out key emails and slid them to the agents, saying &#8220;This collection of emails shows preferred access to the State Department as well as the vice president&#8217;s travel schedule, all sent to private Ukrainian citizens.&#8221;
&#8220;Have you spoken with anyone else about this?&#8221; Wilson asked, according to Mac Isaac. The agents left without taking the emails — taking only the contract that showed whether Mac Isaac was the legal owner of the laptop, he wrote.
On December 9, 2019, they showed up with a subpoena to take the original laptop computer, instead of taking a cloned copy as originally discussed. On their way out, DeMeo allegedly remarked, &#8220;It is our experience that nothing ever happens to people that don&#8217;t talk about these things.&#8221;
They said they were taking the physical computer so the FBI&#8217;s top computer experts could assess it. But someone named Matt soon called with the most basic questions about how to read a Mac hard drive. And he was attempting to boot up the operating system directly, which could spoil the intact nature of the evidence. Mac Isaac said they could come back to the shop so he could show them how to recover a hard drive. DeMeo was standing in the room with Matt. &#8220;Absolutely not. We&#8217;re done; hang up,&#8221; Mac Isaac heard him say, according to the book.
&#8220;I sat back and pondered the multitude of possible reasons these FBI agents had chosen to give the laptop to someone who clearly knew very little about computers,&#8221; he wrote. The weeks passed, and Trump&#8217;s impeachment proceeded, with the laptop still unknown to the world.
Mac Isaac was just an ordinary person with no experience dealing with the media, politicians or government. With no movement from the FBI, his father tried to get it to the offices of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Jim Jordan, but got no bite, he said.
Mac Isaac sent a tip to Sen. Ron Johnson&#8217;s office, and received back only an unsigned note that asked a few terse questions that seemed to probe into his own actions more than the substance of the laptop. Johnson&#8217;s office then leaked Mac Isaac&#8217;s identity to investigative reporter John Solomon without his consent, he claimed. When Mac Isaac pressed for a substantive conversation with a Johnson aide, the aide called and said that two National Security Administration officials were also on the line, who proceeded to take over the call and grill Mac Isaac about his own actions — such as asking if he had ever been to Russia — again with little interest in the hard drive itself, Mac Isaac claimed. (Johnson&#8217;s office did not return a request for comment from The Daily Wire.)
<div id="attachment_467564" style="width: 252px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-467564" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-467564 size-medium" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/naked-2-242x300.jpg" alt="" width="242" height="300" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/naked-2-242x300.jpg 242w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/naked-2-465x576.jpg 465w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/naked-2-768x952.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/naked-2-1239x1536.jpg 1239w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/naked-2-1652x2048.jpg 1652w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/naked-2.jpg 1988w" sizes="(max-width: 242px) 100vw, 242px" />From Hunter&#8217;s laptop</div>
It was not lost on Mac Isaac that the Trump impeachment trial revolved around a whistleblower whose identity had been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/facebook-whistleblower-leftist-activist-lawyer-ukraine-impeachment?itm_source=parsely-api" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruthlessly shielded</a> — with social media blocking his name and major media avoiding reporting it, even though some outlets reported that the whistleblower was a former aide to Joe Biden who would have had a clear agenda. &#8220;Why was I being made to feel so guilty by the people I was trying to help, for doing the right thing?&#8221; he wrote.
Mac Isaac ultimately took the drive to Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for Trump, as a last resort. Robert Costello, who worked for Giuliani, promptly responded to a tip and asked him to FedEx a copy of the drive on August 27, 2020. Costello immediately began going through it.
Through Giuliani, the New York Post obtained access to the laptop, leading to a story that landed on October 14, 2020. The Post neglected to redact the address of Mac Isaac&#8217;s store, leading to a glut of threats and vandalism.
Mac Isaac hoped that, with Giuliani briefing him based on the contents of the hard drive, Trump would bring the truth to America in the presidential debate. But Trump failed to clearly communicate what was on the laptop, Mac Isaac said.
To suppress the Post story, former intelligence operatives traded on their credentials to push a storyline that suggested that the kilt-wearing Scotsman with albinism was actually a Russian agent. &#8220;Did they actually think I&#8217;d come to Wilmington ten years earlier and opened up a Mac repair business as a cover, just waiting for an intoxicated <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/collections/the-hunter-biden-files" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hunter</a> to one day stumble in with a damaged laptop?&#8221; he wrote.
The day after the election, he closed down his business and left the state. &#8220;I felt like I was being punished for having done the right thing. As if the powers that be were setting an example for others who might have the same notion,&#8221; he wrote.

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Hunter Biden’s Laptop Repairman Explains How The FBI Buried A Bombshell

Hunter Biden's Laptop Repairman Explains How The FBI Buried A Bombshell

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This article is a companion piece to today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update. To listen to the podcast version, click <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/tuesday-afternoon-update-11-22-22" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
Democrats Renew Push For Crypto Regulation
Following the FTX collapse, Democratic lawmakers have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrats-renew-push-for-cryptocurrency-regulations-target-company-that-serves-as-both-exchange-and-bank" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> on regulators to examine bank holding company SoFi Technologies, which owns a subsidiary cryptocurrency exchange. The move comes after FTX filed for bankruptcy following users’ discovery that trading firm Alameda Research borrowed millions in deposits to make investments, causing a liquidity crisis.
Los Angeles Driver Who Crashed Into Sheriff Recruits Denies It Was Deliberate
Nicholas Gutierrez, the 22-year-old driver who crashed into 25 Los Angeles County Sheriff’s recruits last week, denies that he did so deliberately. Gutierrez drove his Honda CR-V into 25 cadets about 20 miles southeast of downtown L.A. on the morning of November 16. Gutierrez sat down with <a href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/driver-crash-law-encforcement-la-county-sheriff-whittier/3038595/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC 4</a> for an interview.
&#8220;Some of the recruits say that you didn’t break. What do you remember? Anything at all about this?&#8221; an NBC 4 reporter asked Guteriez.
&#8220;I fell asleep at the wheel. And I woke up and people were banging on the window to get out,&#8221; Guteriez explained. &#8220;I had no words. When I got out, I asked if they were okay, and they pulled me out, took me to the ground.&#8221;
Los Angeles Landlord Losing Patience With COVID Eviction Moratorium
Landlords in Los Angeles are frustrated with city government leaders who ended the COVID-era eviction moratorium in October, but haven’t yet made the ordinance official — leaving tenants to continue to be free to stay in apartments without paying rent. Smaller landlords in particular are feeling the sting. One property owner, Monica, who has a tenant who owes her $23,000, spoke with <a href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/small-landlords-say-la-eviction-moratorium-limbo-is-a-financial-disaster/3039254/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC LA</a> to discuss her experience.
&#8220;We are struggling and I don’t know how much longer I can sustain,&#8221; Monica said. &#8220;My life decisions are put on hold by the government. &#8230; What this is going to do is throw all of us who are housing providers onto the streets as well.&#8221;
More Than 6,500 Ukrainians Killed So Far In Russia-Ukraine War
New data from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights <a href="https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-11-22-22/h_7bc4eb42d09cd1568db2a2d5cca4051d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> that since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, more than 6,500 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and more than 10,000 have been injured. Experts say those numbers are most likely “significantly higher” due to delayed information reporting, according to CNN.
Twitter To Begin Hiring Again
The Verge <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/21/23472025/elon-musk-twitter-hiring-again-ending-layoffs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that social media giant Twitter is ready to start hiring again after nearly two-thirds of the company’s previous 7,500 person staff were either fired or left of their own accord under new owner Elon Musk. At an all-employee meeting on Monday, Musk also claimed that moving the company’s headquarters to Texas could give the impression that he was engaged in a “right wing take-over of Twitter,” emphasizing that it is actually a “moderate-wing takeover of Twitter.”
Conservatives Blast CBS For Delayed Verification of Hunter&#8217;s Laptop
This week, CBS News <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cbs-finally-admits-hunters-laptop-is-real-more-than-two-years-after-the-fact" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aired</a> a segment “confirming” that it “independently verified” the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop, which he left at a Delaware repair shop. The segment confirmation came nearly two and a half years after the laptop first popped up during the 2020 election cycle — and many months after other outlets had already confirmed it was real. Conservatives quickly let the network have it for the Johnny-come-lately reporting.
Here’s Newsbusters Curtis Houck reacting to the report: “Casablanca was put together in less time. And three presidents that didn&#8217;t last very long, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, and James Garfield combined to last less time than it took CBS to acknowledge Hunter&#8217;s laptop.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CurtisHouck</a>: &quot;Casablanca was put together in less time. And three presidents that didn&#39;t last very long, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, and James Garfield combined to last less time than it took CBS to acknowledge Hunter&#39;s laptop.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/8X3I61Occz">pic.twitter.com/8X3I61Occz</a>
&mdash; Kevin Tober (@KevinTober94) <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinTober94/status/1594923022191923202?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 22, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Missing Teenager&#8217;s Remains Found In Tacoma Park, Maryland
Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/missing-maryland-teens-skeletal-remains-found-woods-police-investigating-homicide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the body of 17-year-old Rosa Diaz-Santos was discovered in a wooded area in Tacoma Park, Maryland. The teenager went missing in September and Maryland’s Prince George County Police Department is now hunting for her killer, authorities said Monday.
Soccer Upset For The Ages
Saudi Arabia’s soccer team <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/11/22/1138566357/messi-argentina-saudi-arabia-world-cup-upset-qatar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accomplished</a> what is being described as one of the biggest upsets in sports history by defeating powerhouse Argentina 2 to 1 on Tuesday in the 2022 World Cup. That snaps a 36-game winning streak for the South American nation. Argentina had not lost a game since 2019. Argentina now needs two wins to stay in the tournament. Saudi Arabia has already declared that Wednesday will be a national holiday to celebrate the victory.
To listen to the audio version of this podcast, <a href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/small-landlords-say-la-eviction-moratorium-limbo-is-a-financial-disaster/3039254/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here</a>. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.

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