GOP Writes to Facebook Seeking To Hand Over Proof of Conversation with FBI, DOJ on Hunter Biden Laptop Story, Foreign Deals

Republican Senators Ron Johnson and Chuck Grassley have asked that Facebook turn over any interactions with the FBI, Justice Department, and other government bureaucracy about First Son Hunter Biden, his laptop, business activities, and Russian misinformation.

Sen. Johnson, ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and Sen. Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked for the names of all FBI and DOJ officials who warned Facebook that an impending document dump before the 2020 election would be Russian disinformation, leading the social media giant to mistakenly suppress The Post's Hunter Biden laptop story in a new letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday.

Facebook Kept Lid on Hunter Biden Story

Last week, Zuckerberg told podcaster Joe Rogan that the FBI came to Facebook explicitly to tell the firm that there was likely to be a Russian propaganda attempt with a document dump that matched the pattern of The Post's Oct. 14, 2020 story.

According to Senators Johnson and Grassley, Mark Zuckerberg's admission that Facebook took efforts to restrict material about Hunter Biden on its platform based on FBI instructions raises even more concerns about the FBI's conduct involving Hunter Biden's laptop.

Republicans wanted data about the DOJ and FBI's communication with Facebook, Twitter, and other social media firms about the Biden family, Hunter's laptop, and Russian misinformation in a second letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday, according to New York Post.

On The Joe Rogan Experience on Thursday, Zuckerberg publicly discussed the Hunter Biden laptop tale. The tech billionaire added that, while the site did not fully ban the post, it was moved down users' newsfeeds for up to a week until further information came down indicating whether the claim was accurate or not.

He stated that the platform opted to limit but not prohibit the distribution of the article. Before the November 2020 election, the FBI warned Meta workers to be aware of Russian propaganda.

That was around the time the New York Post reported on the shady contents of Hunter Biden's computer, and Twitter banned it. More than 50 former senior intelligence officers signed a statement at the time, alleging the laptop tale had all the traditional earmarks of a Russian information operation.

On Monday, Trump stated on Truth Social that if the Hunter Biden laptop story - first reported by the New York Post but then confirmed by DailyMail.com and others - had been widely publicized, he would have won the election.

The president's son's laptop had several lewd photos, including those of his sex life and drug usage, as well as papers about his overseas business transactions. In the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, the Biden team attempted to dismiss the stories by claiming the laptop was the result of additional Russian electoral manipulation, according to Daily News.

FBI Agent Accused of Political Bias Resigned

Meanwhile, an FBI agent accused of prejudice in handling the Hunter Biden laptop case has resigned. Fox News has discovered that FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Timothy Thibault has left the agency.

According to a person acquainted with the situation, Thibault retired over the weekend, and he was escorted out of the premises on Friday, which is typical practice. Thibault's name has been in the headlines because of claims of prejudice and intervention in the Hunter Biden probe.

Thibault was identified in a July 18 letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland by Senate Judiciary ranking member Chuck Grassley. Grassley cited whistleblowers who said high-ranking personnel, including Thibault, engaged in a pattern of political prejudice. According to Grassley, the whistleblowers stated that to initiate an inquiry, DOJ and FBI agents must follow stringent significant factual predication requirements, which Thibault did not follow.

Earlier this month, at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, FBI Director Christopher Wray described the whistleblowers' charges as "very worrisome," promising that the whistleblowers would be safeguarded and removing Thibault from his supervisory post. Thibault was one of the Washington field office's 13 assistant special agents in charge. He was not engaged in any way in the FBI raid on former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago home earlier this month, Fox News reported.

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