The FBI on Wednesday responded to the Elon Musk-endorsed “Twitter Files” releases that appear to show the FBI having worked closely with the social media company, alleging that “conspiracy theorists” are trying to discredit the bureau.
“The correspondence between the FBI and Twitter show nothing more than examples of our traditional, longstanding and ongoing federal government and private sector engagements, which involve numerous companies over multiple sectors and industries,” the FBI statement, issued to Fox News, said in response to the files. “As evidenced in the correspondence, the FBI provides critical information to the private sector in an effort to allow them to protect themselves and their customers.”
“The men and women of the FBI work every day to protect the American public,” the statement continued. “It is unfortunate that conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the American public misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency.”
The FBI statement did not elaborate on who it considers “conspiracy theorists.” Since early December, Musk has released files to several independent journalists, including Michael Shellenberger, Matt Taibbi, and Bari Weiss, as well as The Intercept’s Lee Fang.
This week, Shellenberger posted files related to the Hunter Biden laptop story and posted messages showing the FBI working to discredit the report and keeping it from being spread via the social media platform in October 2020, weeks before the General Election that year.
“What I quickly put together is a pattern where it appears that FBI agents, along with former FBI agents within the company, were engaged in a disinformation campaign aimed at top Twitter and Facebook executives, as well as at top news organization executives to basically prepare them, prime them, get them set up to dismiss Hunter Biden information when it would be released,” Shellenberger wrote.
FBI Activity
Other released internal emails appeared to show FBI officials flagging specific accounts for Twitter to take action against. On Nov. 3, FBI field office official Elvis Chan flagged 25 accounts, one email shows, including news outlet Right Side Broadcasting Network that created posts that “may warrant additional action due to the accounts being utilized to spread misinformation about the upcoming election.”
Another email dated Nov. 10 showed that four accounts “may potentially constitute violations of Twitter’s Terms of Service for any action or inaction deemed appropriate within Twitter policy,” according to a post from Taibbi earlier this month. And another revealed Twitter was evaluating and processing a list of tweets that were flagged by the FBI for “Possible Violative Content,” including a post critical of then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s comment about vaccine mandates.
Musk, who has endorsed and shared the “Twitter Files” releases, has not publicly commented on the FBI’s statement Thursday. The bureau has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
Other installments showed the FBI was constantly communicating with Twitter staffers, even going so far as to set up communications channels between federal agents and the social media company’s employees.
Earlier this month, Musk revealed that James Baker, who was an FBI general counsel, was “exited” from Twitter after it was learned by Musk and Taibbi that he was independently “vetting” files that were being sent to journalists without Musk knowing. Baker has not publicly commented on his apparent ouster.
It came after Taibbi revealed a direct message Baker had sent in October 2020, in response to the NY Post’s Hunter Biden report, that Twitter needs “more facts to assess whether the materials were hacked” but stressed that “at this stage, however, it is reasonable for us to assume that they may have been and that caution is warranted.” Twitter had blocked users from posting the NY Post report, which obtained its information from a laptop that Hunter Biden admittedly left at a computer repair shop in Delaware months earlier.
With the latest revelations, House Republicans have indicated they want to compel testimony and documents from FBI officials when the GOP takes the majority in 2023.
“We’re going to do more than just subpoena them. We’re going to change the course of where the FBI is today,” House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said in a recent Fox News interview.
They should certainly be familiar with a thing called “evidence”. And if you leave it behind and it points to you—you’re guilty.
BUT SINCE they are the ones in CONTROL OVER all aspects of our so-called justice system, why would THEY WORRY about evidence being left?
The entire DOJ needs cleaned out from top to bottom. After that, clean out the IRS. Then close down the department of education and the energy department. Throw out all of the generals, admirals, and civilian contractors from the military, and replace them with true patriots. Those steps are necessary to maintain a free state. The FBI isn’t the only corrupt player in the deep state.
You’ve got my vote…!
As i keep saying, IF THE Lettered govt agency ISN’T EXPRESSLY CALLED FOR by our constitution, SCORCH it into oblivion.
That means the CIA, FBI, DEA, ATF, DOIJ, DOE…
““The correspondence between the FBI and Twitter show nothing more than examples of our traditional, longstanding and ongoing federal government and private sector engagements, “It is unfortunate that conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the American public misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency.”
#1. How does the FBI explain their false attacks on President Trump and their Russian collusion supportive fairytale?
#2. How does the FBI explain their suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop evidence right before the election, that would have changed the outcome of the 2020 presidential election??
#3. How does the FBI explain their witch hunt raid on Donald Trumps Florida home in a witch hunt expedition??
#4. The FBI and the DOJ has become the political police Gestapo of the treasonous, unethical Democrat Party!
I would take exception to #2. More votes for Trump would just have meant that the Dems would have had to create that many more fraudulent votes to counter them. Other than that, you’re spot on.
…
MAYBE HAD they been pushed to create more fraud, SOMEONE SOMEWHERE IN OFFICE< would have grown the spine needed, to actually CALL THAT FRAUD out…
The FBI can’t justify any of these 4 things!!!! The FBI obviously thinks Americans are stupid!!!!!! Its all right there in black and white!!!! Please tell me the difference in Russian collusion and Trump and FBI collusion with Twitter , Facebook, and Google with the 2020 election???????
The FBI has been working diligently since then Obama years to destroy their once valued reputation. Weaponized against parents at school board meetings is a particularly low point. As always the perjury traps are their principal charge to threaten citizens security to get them to plea guilt to an alledged crime having nothing to do with the original investigation.
That’s something i have OFTEN HATED… WE lie to them its instant jail.
THEY NOT ONLY ARE legally allowed to LIE TO US, but lie to the media, AND to congress, with NO Ramifications..
WHY?!
To what you just said, if I understand correctly, even something as simple as a lapse in memory could be construed, by an FBI agent, as telling a lie? Since it’s a federal crime to lie to an agent of the government, your *** is in jail.
Sadly, unless you’re mega-rich and well-connected, have the right color skin and gender identity, are on the correct side of the political aisle, etc, you’re joined to another object via an inclined plane wrapped helically around an axis – i.e. SCREWED!
This isn’t how government of, by and for the people is supposed to operate.
really f.b.i.? how about let me know when elvis gets here.
Simply the fact that the FBI is still using “conspiracy theory” as a defense against allegations is enough to prove they have absolutely no leadership. Time to nuke it and start over.
THE LEADERSHIP IS who’s pushing this conspiracy theory, bull…
AND THE rank and file, are GOING ALONG with it, to save their jobs… SHOWING they are just as Traitorous as the leadership is.
The FBI & DOJ have lost their Creditbillty Period and they are only to investigate Crimes not free speech or metal into our Elections Period
The FBI discredits the FBI. And they are very good at it.
The FBI works out of a building named for J. Edgar Hoover. Pretty much all you need to know….
The FBI has already discredited itself (possibly beyond repair). No longer a law-enforcement agency protecting the American people, but a partisan ‘intelligence’ agency going after American Citizens who oppose the tyranny of the regime. The Obama cancer continues to spread…
THERE IS NO honest way, imo, for them to EVER repair their credibility.. PERIOD.
The leadership at both the FBI & DOJ are the most corrupt and immoral of any law enforcement agencies on the Planet. As a decorated Law Enforcement Officer with 25.5 years of service, both Agencies sicken me, as to what they’ve become. The Biden Administration’s Gestapo, they should all be removed, forced to resign and forfeit any Pension they might have earned. If they don’t resign, they should be removed by Force. Not all of them are corrupt, just the leaders at the Top of both Agencies
Sorry, but its the RANK AND FILE WHO ARE pushing the leader’s agenda, such as it was NOT LEADERS< who raided trumps office, or his lawyers.
IT was not leaders, who stormed Ruby ridge, or wako. IT WAS NOT the leadership who sent this money and orders to twitter etc..
IT WAS THE RANK AND FILE…
SO saying they are not all guilty, is being disingenuous…
To condense the FBI’s comments into one sentence, “We cheated with everyone, not just Twitter, and we have for years.”
The root of the lack of morality in the FBI, DOJ other government agencies is the lack of morality in America. There are still some honest and moral people but there aren’t nearly as many as there were when I was growing up.
We are in a deplorable mess and if the so-called intelligence agencies aren’t rained in somehow we will be Russia before we know it.
AND it all comes back to two main points.
NO ACCOUNTABILITY and NO ramifications for those who CREATE/Enforce our laws, when THEY ARE THE ONES breaking it…
Makes me smile!!!
They are obviously desperate and have nothing left!!
They’re swinging a broken bat!!!
Over the last 6 or 7 years the D.O.J. and F.B.I. in particular have go beyond the pale in destroy their reputations themselves. They have no one but themselves to blame that their public image is in taters. Time to abolish all Federal Law Enforcement except the Marshal’s Service which was the Founders original plan as Federal Law enforcement.
AND when we scorch the orgs, DO NOT ALLOW THOSE IN THEM, to ‘rehire’ on elsewhere in the federal govt..
Here’s what should totally debunk the FBI’s claims that “conspiracy theorists” are trying to discredit them:
Computer forensics works like this. A device is taken into custody and is catalogued as evidence, thereby initiating the “chain of custody”. Next, a block-for-block image is made of the device’s storage medium, leaving the original device in pristine condition. Next, copies of the image are sent to the relevant forensics experts, in this case, likely the cyber crimes unit. Highly specialized software is then used to “drill down” into the image, looking for evidence of a crime, hack, etc. These software tools are so sophisticated that even deleting files, overwriting them, etc, isn’t sufficient to hide one’s tracks.
Not only would technicians examine files, deleted files, and the like, but they’d look at all system logs – from their IP addresses, eMail addresses, phone numbers, etc, can be gleaned. I’d hazard a guess that within the first month, FBI analysts would’ve been able to, at the very least, determine if something like a “hack & leak” operation were going on. Assuming this is the case, the bureau could’ve informed Twitter about such an operation a full 9 months before they did.
Looks EXTREMELY SUSPICIOUS that within a month or less of a major election, they decide to advise Twitter that the laptop might be Russian disinformation, etc.
Conspiracy theory, now that is a buzz term that screams corruption. Every time the government tells you it’s a right-wing conspiracy, Russian conspiracy, or insurrection conspiracy you know they’re covering their back side. There are conspiracy theorists, but they’re not your average citizen posting on twitter, they have badges, guns, and FBI embroidered on their jackets.
WHen many of those so-called conspiracy theories, ARE PROVEN FACT, there is nothing about them, that’s off the wall to be a conspiracy theorist..
I like their answer. “Interfering with elections, taking the democrat side in contests, persecuting people for expressing their ideas that support life, are the things we do. This is all very normal for us; It’s what we do.” Yep. Your FBI Traditionally rotten to the core, and proud of it.
While “conspiracy theorists” might be trying to discredit the FBI, their efforts are dwarfed by the efforts the FBI has taken to discredit itself. Their bias can be seen the difference Trump and the Biden Klan investigations have been conducted. Or look at the efforts made to prosecute abortion protesters verses the terror attacks on Churches and pro-Life centers. But when the FBI dives into the dark waters of censorship, I can’t help thinking National Socialism and Gestapo.