An FBI official told the House Judiciary Committee in a transcribed interview this week that an FBI official told a Twitter employee in October of 2020 that the Hunter Biden “laptop from Hell” was real.
Laura Dehmlow, head of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF), said during her testimony that “somebody from Twitter essentially asked whether the laptop was real.”
According to Dehmlow,”one of the FBI folks who was on the call did confirm that, ‘yes, it was,’ before another participant jumped in and said, ‘no further comment.'”
🚨 BIG BREAKING NEWS 🚨
Testimony reveals the FBI knew the Hunter Biden laptop was authentic, but when asked by a social media company about the laptop’s authenticity the FBI said “no further comment.”
The rest is history. pic.twitter.com/LzjS5cSBS6
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) July 20, 2023
Despite being told by the FBI that the laptop was authentic, Twitter censured the story at the government’s request anyway.
The FBI, which had had the laptop in its possession since 2019 and knew it was authentic, had been warning social media companies behind the scenes of a possible Russian “hack and dump” operation.
According to the transcript, it was fairly common knowledge at the FBI that the laptop was real.
Dehmlow acknowledged that then-FITF Section Chief Brad Benavides “certainly” was aware of the laptop’s authenticity.
“Do you know who else at FITF knew that the laptop was real?” the committee asked, according to the transcript excerpts.
Dehmlow replied, “I don’t actually. I would assume both my–yes, I would certainly say that Brad Benavides was aware.”
The committee asked, “What about the individuals on the Russia unit?”
Dehmlow replied, “I would assume the [Russia] unit chief was also aware. I’m pretty certain of that fact.”
The New York Post broke the Hunter Biden “Laptop from Hell” story on Oct. 14, 2020, reporting that it contained evidence of potential crimes and implicating then-candidate Joe Biden in his son’s shady business dealings. The FBI maintains that it does not comment on ongoing investigations, but that didn’t stop it from doing what it could to kill the story.
Bowing to pressure from the FBI and other government agencies, major media platforms suppressed the New York Post’s story, drastically limiting its exposure.
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) wrote Thursday to FBI Director Christopher Wray requesting names and other records related to those at the bureau who communicated with social media companies in the weeks ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
In his letter to Wray, Jordan noted that Dehmlow testified that the FBI “immediately deliberated” after the Twitter meeting about how to address any future questions from social media companies about the laptop.
“According to Dehmlow, during these internal deliberations the decision was made that FITF would say ‘no comment’ going forward,” Jordan wrote.
“Put simply, after the FBI conditioned social media companies to believe that the laptop was the product of a hack-and-dump operation, the Bureau stopped its information sharing, allowing social media companies to conclude that the New York Post story was Russian disinformation,” Jordan said.
IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapely also testified that the FBI was aware of the laptop’s authenticity in a transcribed interview with the House Ways and Means Committee in May.
Shapely told the committee that in October of 2019, the FBI became aware that a repair shop had a laptop allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden and that the laptop might contain evidence of a crime,” and “verified its authenticity in November of 2019 by matching the device number against Hunter Biden’s Apple iCloud ID.”
Jordan ran through the timeline of the government’s suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop in his opening statement Thursday morning before the House Weaponization Committee hearing on examine the federal government’s role in censoring Americans, the Missouri v. Biden case, and Big Tech’s collusion with out-of-control government agencies to silence speech.
NEW: Rep. @Jim_Jordan Condemns U.S. Govt’s Role in Censoring Americans in Fiery Opening Statement
“Now, misinformation is when you don’t have the facts right; you’re saying things that aren’t true. But when you look at @RobertKennedyJr’s tweet, there was nothing in there that… pic.twitter.com/xGyyAFRHsn
— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) July 20, 2023