House Republicans will hear testimony from former Twitter executives on Wednesday about what lawmakers characterize as the social media platform’s «role in suppressing the Biden laptop story» as part of their investigation. about Hunter Biden and his family and associates.
The House Oversight Committee will question former Twitter executives on Wednesday about the platform’s handling of the New York Post’s 2020 reporting on the alleged contents of a laptop owned by Hunter Biden, on which the company of social networks controversially prevented users from tweeting and sending direct messages about him.
In excerpts from prepared remarks released ahead of the hearing, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the committee chairman, will allege that “big tech autocrats wield their power unchecked to suppress American speech to promote their political views.” preferred. ”
Comer will also claim that Twitter’s handling of the unverified articles shows that there was a «coordinated campaign by social media companies, mainstream news, and the intelligence community to suppress and delegitimize the existence of Hunter Biden’s laptop and his content”, according to its preparation. testimony.
The White House dismissed the committee hearing as a «weird political stunt» a day after the president delivered his second State of the Union address.
“This appears to be the latest effort by the most extreme MAGA members of the House Republican majority to challenge and re-litigate the 2020 election outcome,” White House spokesman Ian Sams said in a statement.
“This is not what the American people want their leaders to work on. As the president said and focused, the American people expect their leaders to work together in a bipartisan manner on the issues that most affect their lives and their families, not attack their family with long-debunked conspiracy theories,” he continued.
The move by Twitter executives to limit the spread of Post articles occurred a month before the November 2020 presidential election. Twitter backtracked months later, allowing users to share links to articles.
Wednesday’s House Oversight Committee hearing comes as allies of the president and his son consider a legal defense fund to support Hunter Biden and others as they respond to Republican-led congressional investigations, NBC News reported on last month.
Republicans allege Hunter Biden has capitalized on his father’s political career and for-profit connections amid his criticism of a series of Hunter Biden financial dealings in Ukraine and China.
Hunter Biden beefed up his legal team in December amid an ongoing federal investigation and plans by Republicans to make him a key focus of investigations as soon as they seize control of the House in January.
Following his appointment as the new Chairman of the Oversight Committee, Comer accused the Chairman of «influence peddling» and quickly dove into investigating Hunter Biden and other Biden family members and associates.