"We knew that the rushed statement from the 51 former intelligence officials was a political maneuver between the Biden campaign and the intelligence community. Now with this interim report, we reveal how officials at the highest levels of the CIA were aware of the statement and CIA employees knew that several of the so-called former officials were on active contract with the CIA. The report underscores the risks posed by a weaponized federal government." -@Jim_Jordan
"The House Intelligence Committee's work provided us with solid direct evidence that in the final weeks before the 2020 presidential election, 51 former intelligence officials coordinated with the Biden campaign to falsely cast doubt on an explosive New York Post story and label Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop as 'Russian disinformation.' The Committee worked to obtain classified documents from the CIA, including emails, and fought to include evidence of these materials in our report." -@RepMikeTurner
The highest officials within the CIA were aware of the statement prior to its publication. CIA’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Andrew Makridis testified that he informed Director Gina Haspel or Deputy Director Vaughn Frederick Bishop about its impending release. This sequence of events suggests that senior CIA leadership had ample opportunity to assess the validity of the statement's claims. Furthermore, the COO’s office appeared to signal approval of the statement in a move that departed from standard Prepublication Classification Review Board (PCRB) protocols.
Additionally, some of the statement's signatories were on active contract with the CIA at the time they issued the statement to discredit damaging allegations about Biden family influence peddling. Despite claiming they lacked access to classified information at the time, at least two signatories—Michael Morell and former CIA Inspector General David Buckley—were actively working for the CIA as contractors. This revelation raises concerns that these officials may have abused their positions to expedite the statement's approval and may have been earning taxpayer dollars while they did it.
Furthermore, officials within the CIA recognized at the time that the Hunter Biden statement was political and would hurt the Agency. The signatories’ decision to leverage their former intelligence community titles to promote a narrative about foreign election interference improperly embroiled the Agency in domestic politics. This report underscores the potential dangers of a politicized intelligence community.
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Let’s start with an easy example. @BrandyZadrozny says “no legislation has been passed.”
FACT: @HouseGOP passed The Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act last year, and @JudiciaryGOP passed the Censorship Accountability Act last month.
Chairman Jordan and 44 other Members of Congress submitted a brief to the Supreme Court with @America1stLegal in Murthy v. Missouri, one of the most important free speech cases in years.
This brief shares Congress's findings, including evidence uncovered by @JudiciaryGOP and @Weaponizaion that the Biden Administration worked with Big Tech to censor Americans.
"The First Amendment is first for a reason. Through our constitutional oversight, we have uncovered evidence that the Biden Administration directed and coerced Big Tech companies to censor content online and even books. With the Supreme Court set to hear one of the most important free speech cases in years, 45 Senators and Representatives filed this brief to share Congress's findings and urge the Court to uphold the free speech rights of American citizens," said @Jim_Jordan.
"The Biden Administration has been relentless in its attack on conservative thought and our First Amendment rights. Now, more than ever, it's so important that we stand up and fight back against the Left's endless pursuit to silence and censor hardworking Americans! That is why I am proud to support this amicus brief. Too much is at stake in our country; we must do everything we can to uphold the First Amendment as our founding fathers intended," said @RogerMarshallMD.
🚨 DOJ and FBI try – and fail – to stonewall the Committee.
No amount of lies and excuses will stop the Committee from deposing FBI Agent Elvis Chan.
The American people deserve to hear the full truth about the Biden censorship regime. And they will.
🧵 THREAD:
For a refresher, Facebook Files Part 4 described Elvis Chan’s role in the censorship regime and how the Committee uncovered evidence that he lied during his federal deposition.
In Nov. 2022, back when Republicans won the House, the Committee notified the FBI we wanted to interview Elvis Chan.
On January 17—after the start of the 118th Congress—we sent another letter to @FBI instructing them to make Chan and other FBI agents available for an interview.
FBI Agent Elvis Chan—a key player in the federal government’s censorship regime—was supposed to appear this morning for a transcribed interview before @JudiciaryGOP and @Weaponization but refused to do so at the last minute.
Chan is the main link between the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force and Big Tech.
Internal Facebook docs subpoenaed by @JudiciaryGOP and @Weaponization show Chan LIED under oath during his deposition in the ongoing lawsuit against the Biden Admin for censoring Americans.
You can read the full thread on the findings by @JudiciaryGOP and @Weaponization here:
Footnote 3: “During the December 2 unclassified briefing, we also raised several questions with respect to the FBI’s use of federal counterterrorism resources to target concerned parents at school board meetings. . .
“. . . The FBI officials at the briefing could not answer the questions at the time but promised to answer those questions promptly. . .”