Samuel Case, FISM News
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Two Republican senators are requesting Facebook hand over all communication with the FBI concerning the 2020 Hunter Biden laptop story.
Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday inquiring about “the extent the FBI communicated with Facebook during the 2020 election about Hunter Biden-related information,” according to the Washington Examiner.
The letter was sent in response to Zuckerberg’s recent comments to podcaster Joe Rogan, where he revealed that the FBI approached Facebook in the weeks leading up to the 2020 election, warning the platform about “Russian propaganda” ahead of the New York Post’s report on Hunter Biden’s laptop.
The Post’s report exposed questionable foreign business dealings of then-presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son and was censored and suppressed by various social and legacy media outlets.
“Basically, the background here is the FBI, I think, basically came to us- some folks on our team and was like, ‘Hey, just so you know, like, you should be on high alert … We thought that there was a lot of Russian propaganda in the 2016 election. We have it on notice that, basically, there’s about to be some kind of dump of – that’s similar to that. ‘So just be vigilant,’” Zuckerberg explained.
Zuckerberg said the Hunter Biden story “basically fit the pattern” of the FBI warning.
Grassley and Johnson’s letter addressed these comments:
Your revelation that Facebook took steps to censor information about Hunter Biden on its platform based on the FBI’s guidance raises even more questions about the FBI’s actions regarding Hunter Biden’s laptop. As you may know, whistleblowers have recently alleged to Senator Grassley that in August 2020, FBI officials initiated a scheme to downplay derogatory information on Hunter Biden for the purpose of shutting down investigative activity relating to his potential criminal exposure by labeling it ‘disinformation.’
On Friday, the FBI released a statement defending its actions in approaching Facebook prior to the election.
“The FBI routinely notifies U.S. private sector entities, including social media providers, of potential threat information, so that they can decide how to better defend against threats,” the statement said. The Bureau noted that it “cannot ask, or direct, companies to take action on information received.”
Grassley and Johnson’s letter continued:
Whistleblowers have also alleged to Senator Johnson that local FBI leadership instructed its employees not to look at the Hunter Biden laptop immediately after the FBI had obtained it. The American people deserve to know whether the FBI used Facebook as part of their alleged plan to discredit information about Hunter Biden. If so, Congress and the American people require clarity with respect to the extent the FBI communicated with Facebook during the 2020 election about Hunter Biden-related information.
Zuckerberg has until September 12 to comply with the senators’ request.
The letter comes as an FBI agent accused by whistleblowers of running interference for Hunter Biden tendered his resignation last week.