FBI Responds to Mark Zuckerberg's Claims About Agency's Warning Against Facebook Over Hunter Biden Laptop Story in 2020

Mark Zuckerberg's visit on Joe Rogan's podcast last week sparked controversy as the Meta CEO confessed that Facebook downplayed the explosive Hunter Biden laptop story ahead of the 2020 election because the FBI had warned about "Russian propaganda."

The FBI stated that it routinely alerts US private sector companies, including social media providers, of possible threat information, so that they may decide how to effectively fight against threats following the publication of the episode on Thursday.

FBI Releases Statement About Hunter Biden Laptop Story

The agency stated in a statement to FOX Business that it had supplied firms with foreign danger indicators to assist them to defend their platforms and consumers from exploitation by foreign malign influence actors. The FBI will continue to cooperate closely with federal, state, local, and private sector partners to keep the public aware of possible dangers, the agency said. However, the FBI cannot ask or require firms to take action based on information received.

Later that night, Meta stated that nothing about the Hunter Biden laptop report was new. In the last weeks of the 2020 presidential election, both Big Tech and the leftist media suppressed the New York Post's reporting on the son of then-candidate Joe Biden's dubious overseas business transactions.

Both Zuckerberg and then-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey apologized for restricting the circulation of the Post's findings, and many news organizations, including the New York Times, Washington Post, NBC News, and Politico, have since confirmed the laptop's validity.

Senator Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, disclosed this week in a letter to Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz that whistleblowers claim FBI officials urged investigators not to probe Hunter Biden's laptop for months because they were concerned it might damage the 2020 race, according to Fox Business.

In the conversation, Zuckerberg also discussed media censorship and was asked how Facebook handles difficult news issues by Rogan. Although the site did not suppress the item, as Twitter did, it was moved down users' newsfeeds for up to a week until further information came down indicating whether the claim was accurate or not.

Republicans Seek Answer on Hunter Biden Probe

At the time, more than 50 former senior intelligence officials signed a letter claiming the laptop story had all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation. Zuckerberg tried to divert attention by repeating how Twitter had prohibited sharing of the story and had locked the Post's account.

Republican Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley was among many who weighed in on Zuckerberg's statements on Rogan's show. "We now know Facebook restricted distribution of Hunter Biden laptop story when FBI approached them," Senator Grassley tweeted.

"We need whistleblowers to come forward, to tell the truth, hold individuals responsible, and restore integrity and trust to the FBI and government agencies," Ted Cruz said, while Ron Johnson stated. We must investigate the source of this corruption, as per Daily Mail.

On Thursday, Republican Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson demanded that the FBI explain suspected meddling in the Hunter Biden laptop inquiry. Hunter Biden has been the focus of harsh Republican criticism since his father, President Joe Biden, vowed to unseat then-President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

The younger Biden is being investigated by the FBI for possible money laundering, as well as breaches of campaign finance, tax, and foreign lobbying rules. The investigation stretched from his business dealings in other nations when his father was as vice president.

A 2015 email from Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser to the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, asking for a meeting was purportedly found on Hunter Biden's laptop. with his father, who was then serving as vice president under former President Barack Obama.

According to Grassley's statement, both Republican senators had previously requested further information on the August 2020 briefing, but have not gotten an adequate answer from FBI Director Christopher Wray. Wray is a Republican who Trump appointed in 2017, News Week reported