Michael Shellenberger Profile picture
Dec 19, 2022 50 tweets 25 min read Read on X
1. TWITTER FILES: PART 7

The FBI & the Hunter Biden Laptop

How the FBI & intelligence community discredited factual information about Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings both after and *before* The New York Post revealed the contents of his laptop on October 14, 2020
In Twitter Files #6, we saw the FBI relentlessly seek to exercise influence over Twitter, including over its content, its users, and its data.

In Twitter Files #7, we present evidence pointing to an organized effort by representatives of the intelligence community (IC), aimed at senior executives at news and social media companies, to discredit leaked information about Hunter Biden before and after it was published.
The story begins in December 2019 when a Delaware computer store owner named John Paul (J.P.) Mac Isaac contacts the FBI about a laptop that Hunter Biden had left with him

On Dec 9, 2019, the FBI issues a subpoena for, and takes, Hunter Biden's laptop.

nypost.com/2020/10/14/ema… ImageImageImage
By Aug 2020, Mac Isaac still had not heard back from the FBI, even though he had discovered evidence of criminal activity. And so he emails Rudy Giuliani, who was under FBI surveillance at the time. In early Oct, Giuliani gives it to @nypost

nypost.com/2020/10/14/ema…
Shortly before 7 pm ET on October 13, Hunter Biden’s lawyer, George Mesires, emails JP Mac Isaac.

Hunter and Mesires had just learned from the New York Post that its story about the laptop would be published the next day. Image
7. At 9:22 pm ET (6:22 PT), FBI Special Agent Elvis Chan sends 10 documents to Twitter’s then-Head of Site Integrity, Yoel Roth, through Teleporter, a one-way communications channel from the FBI to Twitter. Image
8. The next day, October 14, 2020, The New York Post runs its explosive story revealing the business dealings of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. Every single fact in it was accurate. Image
9. And yet, within hours, Twitter and other social media companies censor the NY Post article, preventing it from spreading and, more importantly, undermining its credibility in the minds of many Americans.

Why is that? What, exactly, happened?
10. On Dec 2, @mtaibbi described the debate inside Twitter over its decision to censor a wholly accurate article.

Since then, we have discovered new info that points to an organized effort by the intel community to influence Twitter & other platforms

11. First, it's important to understand that Hunter Biden earned *tens of millions* of dollars in contracts with foreign businesses, including ones linked to China's government, for which Hunter offered no real work.
Here's an overview by investigative journalist @peterschweizer
12. And yet, during all of 2020, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies repeatedly primed Yoel Roth to dismiss reports of Hunter Biden’s laptop as a Russian “hack and leak” operation.

This is from a sworn declaration by Roth given in December 2020.

fec.gov/files/legal/mu… Image
13. They did the same to Facebook, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “The FBI basically came to us [and] was like, ‘Hey... you should be on high alert. We thought that there was a lot of Russian propaganda in 2016 election. There's about to be some kind of dump similar to that.'"
14. Were the FBI warnings of a Russian hack-and-leak operation relating to Hunter Biden based on *any* new intel?

No, they weren't

“Through our investigations, we did not see any similar competing intrusions to what had happened in 2016,” admitted FBI agent Elvis Chan in Nov. ImageImageImageImage
15. Indeed, Twitter executives *repeatedly* reported very little Russian activity.

E.g., on Sept 24, 2020, Twitter told FBI it had removed 345 “largely inactive” accounts “linked to previous coordinated Russian hacking attempts.” They “had little reach & low follower accounts." Image
16. In fact, Twitter debunked false claims by journalists of foreign influence on its platform

"We haven’t seen any evidence to support that claim” by @oneunderscore__ @nbc News of foreign-controlled bots.

“Our review thus far shows a small-scale domestic troll effort…” ImageImage
17. After FBI asks about a WaPo story on alleged foreign influence in a pro-Trump tweet, Twitter's Roth says, "The article makes a lot of insinuations... but we saw no evidence that that was the case here (and in fact, a lot of strong evidence pointing in the other direction).” ImageImage
18. It's not the first time that Twitter's Roth has pushed back against the FBI. In January 2020, Roth resisted FBI efforts to get Twitter to share data outside of the normal search warrant process. ImageImage
19. Pressure had been growing:

“We have seen a sustained (If uncoordinated) effort by the IC [intelligence community] to push us to share more info & change our API policies. They are probing & pushing everywhere they can (including by whispering to congressional staff).” Image
20. Time and again, FBI asks Twitter for evidence of foreign influence & Twitter responds that they aren’t finding anything worth reporting.

“[W]e haven’t yet identified activity that we’d typically refer to you (or even flag as interesting in the foreign influence context).” ImageImage
21. Despite Twitter’s pushback, the FBI repeatedly requests information from Twitter that Twitter has already made clear it will not share outside of normal legal channels. Image
22. Then, in July 2020, the FBI’s Elvis Chan arranges for temporary Top Secret security clearances for Twitter executives so that the FBI can share information about threats to the upcoming elections. Image
23. On August 11, 2020, the FBI's Chan shares information with Twitter's Roth relating to the Russian hacking organization, APT28, through the FBI's secure, one-way communications channel, Teleporter. Image
24. Recently, Yoel Roth told @karaswisher that he had been primed to think about the Russian hacking group APT28 before news of the Hunter Biden laptop came out.

When it did, Roth said, "It set off every single one of my finely tuned APT28 hack-and-leap campaign alarm bells."
25. In Aug, 2020, FBI’s Chan asks Twitter: does anyone there have top secret clearance?

When someone mentions Jim Baker, Chan responds, "I don't know how I forgot him" — an odd claim, given Chan's job is to monitor Twitter, not to mention that they worked together at the FBI. ImageImage
26. Who is Jim Baker? He's former general counsel of the FBI (2014-18) & one of the most powerful men in the U.S. intel community.

Baker has moved in and out of government for 30 years, serving stints at CNN, Bridgewater (a $140 billion asset management firm) and Brookings ImageImageImageImage
27. As general counsel of the FBI, Baker played a central role in making the case internally for an investigation of Donald Trump

wsj.com/articles/fbi-t…
28. Baker wasn't the only senior FBI exec. involved in the Trump investigation to go to Twitter.

Dawn Burton, the former dep. chief of staff to FBI head James Comey, who initiated the investigation of Trump, joined Twitter in 2019 as director of strategy.
29. As of 2020, there were so many former FBI employees — "Bu alumni" — working at Twitter that they had created their own private Slack channel and a crib sheet to onboard new FBI arrivals. Image
30. Efforts continued to influence Twitter's Yoel Roth.

In Sept 2020, Roth participated in an Aspen Institute “tabletop exercise” on a potential "Hack-and-Dump" operation relating to Hunter Biden

The goal was to shape how the media covered it — and how social media carried it ImageImageImageImage
31. The organizer was Vivian Schiller, the fmr CEO of NPR, fmr head of news at Twitter; fmr Gen. mgr of NY Times; fmr Chief Digital Officer of NBC News

Attendees included Meta/FB's head of security policy and the top nat. sec. reporters for @nytimes @wapo and others Image
32. By mid-Sept, 2020, Chan & Roth had set up an encrypted messaging network so employees from FBI & Twitter could communicate.

They also agree to create a “virtual war room” for “all the [Internet] industry plus FBI and ODNI” [Office of the Director of National Intelligence]. ImageImage
33. Then, on Sept 15, 2020 the FBI’s Laura Dehmlow, who heads up the Foreign Influence Task Force, and Elvis Chan, request to give a classified briefing for Jim Baker, without any other Twitter staff, such as Yoel Roth, present. Image
34. On Oct 14, shortly after @nypost publishes its Hunter Biden laptop story, Roth says, “it isn’t clearly violative of our Hacked Materials Policy, nor is it clearly in violation of anything else," but adds, “this feels a lot like a somewhat subtle leak operation.” Image
35. In response to Roth, Baker repeatedly insists that the Hunter Biden materials were either faked, hacked, or both, and a violation of Twitter policy. Baker does so over email, and in a Google doc, on October 14 and 15. ImageImageImage
36. And yet it's inconceivable Baker believed the Hunter Biden emails were either fake or hacked. The @nypost had included a picture of the receipt signed by Hunter Biden, and an FBI subpoena showed that the agency had taken possession of the laptop in December 2019. ImageImageImage
37. As for the FBI, it likely would have taken a few *hours* for it to confirm that the laptop had belonged to Hunter Biden. Indeed, it only took a few days for journalist @peterschweizer to prove it.
38. By 10 am, Twitter execs had bought into a wild hack-and-dump story

“The suggestion from experts - which rings true - is there was a hack that happened separately, and they loaded the hacked materials on the laptop that magically appeared at a repair shop in Delaware” Image
39. At 3:38 pm that same day, October 14, Baker arranges a phone conversation with Matthew J. Perry in the Office of the General Counsel of the FBI Image
40. The influence operation persuaded Twitter execs that the Hunter Biden laptop did *not* come from a whistleblower.

One linked to a Hill article, based on a WaPo article, from Oct 15, which falsely suggested that Giuliani’s leak of the laptop had something to do with Russia. ImageImageImage
41. There is evidence that FBI agents have warned elected officials of foreign influence with the primary goal of leaking the information to the news media. This is a political dirty trick used to create the perception of impropriety.
42. In 2020, the FBI gave a briefing to Senator Grassley and Johnson, claiming evidence of “Russian interference” into their investigation of Hunter Biden.

The briefing angered the Senators, who say it was done to discredit their investigation.

grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/…
43. “The unnecessary FBI briefing provided the Democrats and liberal media the vehicle to spread their false narrative that our work advanced Russian disinformation.” ImageImageImageImage
44. Notably, then-FBI General Counsel Jim Baker was investigated *twice,* in 2017 and 2019, for leaking information to the news media.

“You’re saying he’s under criminal investigation? That’s why you’re not letting him answer?” Meadows asked.

“Yes”

politico.com/story/2019/01/…
45. In the end, the FBI's influence campaign aimed at executives at news media, Twitter, & other social media companies worked: they censored & discredited the Hunter Biden laptop story.

By Dec. 2020, Baker and his colleagues even sent a note of thanks to the FBI for its work. Image
46. The FBI’s influence campaign may have been helped by the fact that it was paying Twitter millions of dollars for its staff time.

“I am happy to report we have collected $3,415,323 since October 2019!” reports an associate of Jim Baker in early 2021. Image
47. And the pressure from the FBI on social media platforms continues

In Aug 2022, Twitter execs prepared for a meeting with the FBI, whose goal was “to convince us to produce on more FBI EDRs"

EDRs are an “emergency disclosure request,” a warrantless search. Image
In response to the Twitter Files revelation of high-level FBI agents at Twitter, @Jim_Jordan said, “I have concerns about whether the government was running a misinformation operation on We the People.”

nypost.com/2022/12/17/twi…
Anyone who reads the Twitter Files, regardless of their political orientation, should share those concerns.

/END
Correction: This event occurred on June 25, 2020, not in September. ImageImageImage

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More from @shellenberger

Aug 7
O governo tirânico Lula-Moraes violou tantas leis que é difícil acompanhar. A deputada @damaresalves compilou uma lista de 15 leis que os tiranos violaram (abaixo). O Brasil é governado por criminosos. Image
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Read 35 tweets
Aug 4
🚨EXCLUSIVO: ARQUIVOS DE 8 DE JANEIRO

Novos arquivos vazados revelam que o Supremo Tribunal Federal brasileiro usou ilegalmente postagens de redes sociais para encarcerar manifestantes pró-Bolsonaro.

Em 8 de janeiro de 2023, centenas de apoiadores de @jairbolsonaro invadiram prédios governamentais em Brasília, em um episódio surpreendentemente semelhante ao 6 de janeiro nos EUA. Muitos eram idosos ou doentes e não cometeram atos de violência. Ainda assim, todos foram rotulados de “golpistas”, “terroristas” e “fascistas” pelo presidente do Brasil, @LulaOficial, e pelo ministro do Supremo Tribunal Federal, Alexandre de Moraes.

Agora, os ARQUIVOS DE 8 DE JANEIRO mostram que Moraes criou uma força-tarefa de inteligência secreta e ilegal que usou postagens de redes sociais para justificar a prisão de manifestantes não violentos.

Moraes e sua força-tarefa:
— operaram através de um grupo secreto de WhatsApp que criava “certidões” de inteligência ilegais;
— mantiveram manifestantes detidos enquanto realizavam varreduras em suas redes sociais;
— usaram o discurso online como base para a prisão “preventiva”;
— negaram aos advogados o acesso às provas;
— usaram ilegalmente um banco de dados biométrico para identificar manifestantes.

Esses arquivos revelam que os processos do 8 de janeiro foram politicamente motivados e envolveram amplos abusos de poder.

Moraes, servindo aos interesses de Lula, contornou a lei para efetivamente criminalizar o discurso político. Sua repressão judicial excessiva contra os manifestantes ajudou a legitimar a narrativa de que o 8 de janeiro foi uma “tentativa de golpe” coordenada – uma narrativa central para o processo em andamento do tribunal contra Bolsonaro.

A investigação ARQUIVOS DE 8 DE JANEIRO foi liderada por @david_agape_ e @EliVieiraJr e editada por @galexybrane.Image
CONTEXTO:

No mês passado, o Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF) ordenou que Bolsonaro usasse tornozeleira eletrônica e o proibiu de usar redes sociais e de se comunicar com outros investigados.

O Brasil agora enfrenta tarifas de 50% dos EUA, uma medida que entrará em vigor em 6 de agosto.

O uso “criativo” de seus poderes por Moraes — sancionado pelo Secretário de Estado dos EUA, @marcorubio, no âmbito da Lei Global Magnitsky por violações de direitos humanos — foi a base para:
— Tornar @jairbolsonaro inelegível por 8 anos
— Censura a jornalistas e tentativas de intimidação contra críticos como @elonmusk
— Prisões em massa e congelamento de bens de pessoas inocentes

Isso é lawfare em seu mais alto nível.

Os ARQUIVOS DE 8 DE JANEIRO vazados revelam novo material do arquivo “Vaza Toga”, exposto pela primeira vez por @ggreenwald e @FabioSerapiao.Image
“A PGR (Procuradoria-Geral da República) pediu a LP (liberdade provisória) deles, mas o ministro não quer soltar sem antes a gente ver nas redes se tem alguma coisa.”

Nas semanas seguintes ao 8 de janeiro, centenas de detidos permaneceram na prisão — mesmo quando a Procuradoria-Geral da República (PGR) recomendou formalmente sua soltura. Prazos legais foram ignorados, violando o Código de Processo Penal.

O que defensores públicos e advogados suspeitavam, mas ainda não podiam provar, agora pode ser confirmado. A verdadeira razão por trás dos atrasos era que Moraes estava esperando sua força-tarefa escanear as contas de redes sociais dos réus.

Em uma mensagem de WhatsApp de 13 de fevereiro de 2023, a leal chefe de gabinete de Moraes, Cristina Kusahara, reconheceu que a PGR havia recomendado a soltura de um grupo de detidos, mas Moraes “não quer soltar sem antes a gente ver nas redes se tem alguma coisa”.Image
Read 19 tweets
Aug 4
🚨EXCLUSIVE: JANUARY 8 FILES

New leaked files reveal that Brazil’s Supreme Court illegally used social media posts to incarcerate pro-Bolsonaro protesters.

On January 8, 2023, hundreds of supporters of former President @JairBolsonaro entered government buildings in Brasília, in an episode strikingly similar to January 6 in the US. Many were elderly or ill and committed no acts of violence. Yet all were labeled “coup plotters,” “terrorists,” and “fascists” by Brazil’s president @LulaOficial and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

Now, the JANUARY 8 FILES show that Moraes created a secret and illegal intelligence task force that used social media posts to justify the imprisonment of nonviolent protesters.

Moraes and his task force:
— operated through a secret WhatsApp group that created illegal intelligence “reports”
— kept protestors detained while performing scans of their social media;
— used online speech as a basis for “preventative” imprisonment;
— denied lawyers access to evidence;
— illegally used a biometric database to identify protesters.

These files reveal that January 8 prosecutions were politically motivated and involved sweeping abuses of power.

Moraes, serving Lula’s interests, bypassed the law to effectively criminalize political speech. His overprosecution of protesters helped legitimize the narrative that January 8 was a coordinated “coup attempt” – a narrative central to the court’s ongoing prosecution of Bolsonaro.

The JANUARY 8 FILES investigation was led by @david_agape_ and @EliVieiraJr and edited by @galexybraneImage
CONTEXT:

Last Month, Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF) ordered Bolsonaro to wear an electronic ankle monitor and prohibited him from using social media and communicating with other individuals under investigation.

Brazil now faces 50% tariffs from the US, a measure set to go into effect on August 6.

Moraes’ “creative” use of his powers — sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Act for human rights abuses by US Secretary of State @marcorubio — was the basis for:
— Banning @jairbolsonaro from elections for 8 years
— Censoring journalists & attempts at intimidation against critics like @elonmusk
— Mass arrests and asset freezes of innocent people

This is lawfare at its highest level.

The leaked JANUARY 8 FILES reveal new material from the “Vaza Toga” archive first exposed by @ggreenwald and @FabioSerapiao.Image
“The Prosecutor General’s Office asked for their release, but the Justice doesn’t want to let them go before we check their social media.”

In the weeks following January 8, hundreds of detainees remained in jail — even when the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) formally recommended their release. Legal deadlines were ignored, violating the Code of Criminal Procedure.

What public defenders and attorneys suspected, but could not yet prove, can now be confirmed. The real reason behind the delays was that Moraes was waiting for his task force to scan defendants’ social media accounts.

In a WhatsApp message on February 13, 2023, Moraes’ loyal chief of staff, Cristina Kusahara, acknowledged that the PGO had recommended the release of a group of detainees, but Moraes “doesn’t want to let them go before we can check their social media.”Image
Read 19 tweets
Jul 31
The newly declassified appendix to the Durham report is game-changing. It showed that the CIA believed Russian intelligence memos, which analyzed hacked emails and alleged a Clinton Plan to vilify Trump by linking him to Russia, were credible.

"The CIA prepared a written assessment of the authenticity and veracity of the above-mentioned intelligence. The CIA stated that it did not assess that the above [redacted] memoranda or [redacted] hacked U.S. communications, to be the product of Russian fabrications.”Image
In contrast to the CIA, the FBI rejected the intelligence and invented flimsy reasons not to trust it. The FBI's dismissive attitude also contrasts sharply with the FBI's credulousness toward any evidence that implictated the Trump campaign. Image
What’s more, FBI General Counsel James Baker, “unlike his colleagues, did not dismiss the credibility” of the Russian reports that Obama had pressured Attorney General Loretta Lynch to pressure the FBI to drop the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails, particularly given Lynch's other behaviors.Image
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Read 8 tweets
Jul 30
Victory! President @realDonaldTrump Treasury Dept. has imposed sanctions on the Brazilian tyrant, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is preventing former President @jairbolsonaro from competing with President @LulaOficial in presidential elections next year. This is a major victory for free speech and democracy. Bravo!Image
For decades, the media have demanded financial sanctions against tyrants. But now that Trump is imposing sanctions against Left-wing tyranny, the media is crying about sovereignty. The hypocrisy is so thick you can cut it with a knife. Witness the propaganda:Image
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“Alexandre de Moraes has taken it upon himself to be judge and jury in an unlawful witch hunt against U.S. and Brazilian citizens and companies. De Moraes is responsible for an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and politicized prosecutions—including against former President Jair Bolsonaro.  Today’s action makes clear that Treasury will continue to hold accountable those who threaten U.S. interests and the freedoms of our citizens.” @SecScottBessent

home.treasury.gov/news/press-rel…Image
Read 4 tweets
Jul 28
Trump’s tariff push failed, the media said. But the new US-EU trade deal shows it worked spectacularly well. The US will get 10x more in revenue from tariffs on EU imports, and $600B more in direct investment from EU. Even Trump haters say it’s a big win for the US. Image
It was obvious back in April that the aggressive tariffs were a negotiating strategy. A bunch of supposedly smart people acted really dumb about this because they are market ideologues and/or TDS sufferers.
As we noted back in April, the tariffs are the messy birth of a new world order. 

Nice to see the @nytimes finally acknowledge this. The “framework seemed likely to permanently reshape the trading relationship between two of the world’s largest and most interconnected economies.”

Nothing succeeds like success.Image
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Read 9 tweets

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