FBI primed Twitter execs to censor NY Post's Hunter Biden laptop story, Twitter Files reveal

December 21, 2022

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"The press doing the bidding of the government is what they had in Soviet Russia or what they have in China and North Korea today. Without a free and independent press, you can’t have a free and independent civilization."

Glenn recently wrote that in response to the "Twitter Files" and the continued unveiling of the depth of Big Tech's affair with intelligence agencies. As Part 7 of the Twitter files just dropped, we learn that Twitter was "doing the bidding" of the FBI to censor the New York Post's Hunter Biden laptop story.

This installment of the "Twitter Files" was covered by Michael Schellenberger, the bestselling author of Apocalypse Never and San Fransicko, revealing the FBI primed Twitter to censor the New York Post’s Hunter Biden laptop story both before AND after it was published.

It all began in a Delaware computer shop...

In December 2019, Delaware computer store owner, John Paul (J.P.) Mac Issac contacted the FBI over a computer that was left at his store. This computer was owned by none other than Hunter Biden, whose computer contained damning evidence of criminal activity, from international bribery to illicit drug activity. As the evidence incriminated both Hunter Biden and his father, then-Senator Joe Biden, Mac Isaac contacted federal authorities. On Dec 9, 2019, the FBI issued a subpoena and took Hunter Biden's laptop from Mac Issac's shop. The below tweet contains both copies of the FBI subpoena and Peter Schweizer's explanation of Hunter Biden's illicit dealings revealed in the abandoned laptop.

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. pic.twitter.com/eD8uk9lefn
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) December 19, 2022

For almost a year, Mac Isaac never heard back from the FBI about the subpoenaed laptop. Unbeknownst to the FBI, Mac Isaac had made a copy of the computer onto a new hard drive, and, wanting answers to what he uncovered on the laptop, he contacted former NYC Mayor and Trump advisor Rudy Giuliani in August 2020. Giuliani subsequently gave the story to the New York Post, which, on October 14, 2020, published the smoking-gun evidence concerning Hunter Biden's criminal activity in THIS bombshell article.

The evidence of then-Presidential candidate Joe Biden's knowledge of his son's illicit business deals and criminal activity had the potential to alter the 2020 election, which was less than a month away from the date of publication. Yet within several hours after publishing, the article vanished into thin air. If its disappearance didn't eliminate the possibility of political debate about this key information about a Presidential candidate, Big Tech hammered the nail in the coffin by labeling the story as "Russian propaganda." A month later, Joe Biden was elected President of the United States...

Within several hours after publishing, the article vanished into thin air.

...What happened?

The cover-up Conservatives have been fighting for years

Since 2020, conservatives have been called conspiracy theorists for accusing the deep state and Big Tech of conspiring to take down the potentially election-altering story. Today, they were proven true in Part 7 of the Twitter files.

Let's back up to October 13th, the day before the New York Post published its bombshell article about Hunter Biden's laptop. On the 13th, the New York Post informed Hunter Biden and his lawyer, George Mesires, that they would be running the story the next day. Several minutes later, just before 7 pm, Mesires contacted Mac Isaac, requesting to review the copy of the hard drive containing the damning evidence against his client.

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. pic.twitter.com/59RV5h8ZsM
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) December 19, 2022

Coincidentally, at 9:22 pm, just several hours later, FBI special Agent Elvis Chan sent a 10-page document to Yoel Roth, Twitter’s then-Head of Site Integrity, through Teleporter, a pre-existing one-way communications channel from the FBI to Twitter. The next day, Twitter, under Roth's supervision, took down the New York Post article on the grounds that it was potentially sourced from Russian hacking.

How was Roth so quick to come to that conclusion?

The FBI primes Twitter to consider the New York Post article "Russian propaganda"

As it turns out, the FBI had been priming Roth and others at Twitter for MONTHS to consider the New York Post article "Russian propaganda" in preparation for its publishing. In Dec 2020 after the Presidential election, Roth gave the following statement in a sworn declaration:

Since 2018, I have had weekly meetings with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and industry peers regarding election security. During these weekly meetings, federal law enforcement communicated that they expected "hand-and leak-operations" by state actors might occur in the period shortly before the 2020 presidential election, likely in October. I was told in these meetings that the intelligence community expected that individuals associated with political campaigns would be subject to hacking attacks and that material obtained through those hacking attacks would likely be disseminated over social media platforms, including Twitter. These expectations of hack-and-leak operations wee discussed throughout 2020. I also learned through these meetings that there were rumors that a hack-and-leak operation would involve Hunter Biden.

Roth disclosed under oath that the FBI and intelligence agencies warned him directly throughout 2020 of anticipated "hack-and-leak" operations, which would occur right before the 2020 election, most likely in October, and would involve Hunter Biden. Sound at all like the New York Post article?

But wait... there's more!

The FBI's effort to prime Twitter execs to view the New York Post article as a "hack-and-leak" operation didn't stop there.

On August 11, 2020, Elvis Chan, the same FBI agent who sent Roth the 10-page document the night before the New York Post article was published, shared information with Roth relating to the Russian hacking organization, APT28. The FBI again carried out this communication through the FBI and Twitter's one-way direct communication channel, Teleporter.

In a recent interview, Roth disclosed how he was primed to consider the New York Post's Hunter Biden laptop story as an APT28 operation based on the information he received from the FBI. He said, "It set off every single one of my finely tuned APT28 hack-and-leap campaign alarm bells."

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." pic.twitter.com/RKoR4NtH1s
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) December 19, 2022

Furthermore, in September 2020, Roth participated in an Aspen Institute “tabletop exercise" on a potential "Hack-and-Dump" operation relating to Hunter Biden. As Schellenberger reports, "The goal was to shape how the media covered it — and how social media carried it." The event was organized by Vivian Schiller the former CEO of NPR, the former general manager of the New York Times, and the former Chief Digital Officer of NBC News. Attendees included Meta/Facebook's head of security policy, and top national security reporters from the New York Times, the Washington Post, and others.

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 pic.twitter.com/3yO5ZIc2Jy
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) December 19, 2022

Fast forward to October 13, 2020, when Roth received a 10-page document about the New York Post story about Hunter Biden being published the next day, a month before the election. Though Roth admitted the story "isn’t clearly violative of our Hacked Materials Policy, nor is it clearly in violation of anything else," he concluded the story "feels a lot like a somewhat subtle leak operation.” He had been primed the entire year to come to that conclusion.

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.” pic.twitter.com/xMnEWzgxdU
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) December 19, 2022

He had been primed the entire year to come to that conclusion

There's even more corruption between Twitter and the FBI revealed in Part 7 of the "Twitter Files." Schellenberger revealed that the now-fired deputy general counsel and former FBI agent Jim Baker celebrated Twitter's accomplishment of earning more than $3 million from the FBI since 2019. Internal communications also revealed Twitter had a Slack channel called "Bu Alumni" specifically for the sheer number of former FBI employees working at Twitter and that the FBI gave Roth and other Twitter employees top security clearance to share intelligence between the two "agencies."

So what have we learned from Part 7 of the Twitter Files?

First, we learn that we were right. Conservatives have been gaslit to believe that they were "conspiracy theorists" for arguing that there was a concerted effort to censor content that threatened the woke establishment leading up to the 2020 election, like the Hunter Biden laptop story. It turns out this "conspiracy theory" was a real conspiracy.

Second, as Glenn said while covering the Twitter Files, we learn Big Tech's adulterous affair with the deep state threatens two of the most sacred pillars enshrined in the U.S. Constitution: the right to freedom of speech, and the right to free and fair elections. As Glenn recently said, Twitter and the FBI "subverted the constitutionally mandated process of free and fair elections."

These questions still need answers...

So that's what we have learned... but what haven't we learned yet? Why did the FBI spend a whole year priming Big Tech and media execs to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story? When they obtained the laptop from Mac Isaac's computer shop, did they find evidence that they themselveswere implicated in Joe and Hunter Biden's illicit business dealings? Are they trying to cover their own tracks just as much as they were determined to see Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election?

It would be naive to think that the FBI's effort to cover up the New York Post's story wasn't motivated by some degree of self-interest. The question remains—how deeply is their self-interest intertwined with what is contained in Hunter Biden's laptop? These questions need answers.

Critical theory destroys truth and justice

Editor's note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Critical theory once stood out as the absurd progressive notion that it is. Now, its maxims are becoming an integral part of ordinary political discourse. The more you repeat a lie, the more you will believe it, and this is the very dangerous place in which we find ourselves today.

Take this critical theory maxim as an example: If we desire justice, we must sometimes champion what may appear superficially as injustice. It's a necessary evil, if you will, the necessity of “controlled injustice.”

By using truth through fabrication and controlled injustice for justice, we’ll save the republic. We’ll be acting in a noble way.

This definition of justice is defined by the “oppressed,” not the “oppressor.” It is the greatest happiness for the greatest number. To achieve this justice, however, we need to endorse acts on occasion that, while seemingly unjust, serve a higher purpose. It will ensure the stability and the unity of our republic, and this may manifest in ways that seem contradictory to our values. But these are the necessary shadows to cast light on “true justice.”

And isn’t that what we are all after, anyway?

Here’s another critical theory maxim: Sometimes we find the truth through fabrication. Our pursuit of truth sometimes requires a strategic use of falsehoods. The truth is a construct that has been shaped and tailored to promote the well-being of the collective.

We sometimes need to accept and propagate lies designed by "the system” — not the old system, but the system that we’re now using to replace the old to get more justice through injustice and more truth through fabrication.

We’re engaging in a higher form of honesty. When we fabricate, it’s for the right reason. We are reaching up to the heavens fighting for a higher sort of honesty. To fortify the truth, we occasionally must weave a tapestry of lies. Each thread, essential for the greater picture, will ultimately define our understanding and ensure our unity under this infallible wisdom.

The election is coming up. Does this maxim sound familiar? Many think it is imperative that we secure our republic through election control to maintain our republic. Sometimes, we might need to take actions that by traditional standards might be questionable.

The act of securing elections requires cheating. It's not mere deception. It is a noble act of safeguarding our way of life. We're on the verge of losing this democracy, and without deception, we will lose it.

To ensure it doesn't fall into the hands of those we know will destroy it, we may have to make a few fabrications. We're fabricating stories to be able to control or secure the republic through our elections. By using truth through fabrication and controlled injustice for justice, we'll save the republic. Therefore, we'll be acting in a noble way. Stealing an election from those who wish to harm our society is truly an act of valor and an essential measure to protect our values and ensure the continuation of our just society.

If we desire justice, we must sometimes champion what may appear superficially as injustice.

I know it's a paradox of honor through dishonor. But in this context, by embracing the dishonor, we achieve the highest form of honor, ensuring the stability and the continuation of our great republic.

Let this be heard, far and wide, as a great call to patriotic action. As we advance, let each of us, citizens of this great and honorable republic, consider these principles. Not as abstract or paradoxical but as practical guides to daily life. Embrace the necessity of controlled injustice, the utility of lies, the duty to secure our electoral process, and the honor and apparent dishonor. These are not merely strategies for survival. They are prerequisites for our prosperity.

We all have to remember that justice is what our leaders define, that truth is what our party tells us. Our republic stands strong on the values of injustice for justice, honor through dishonor, and the fabrication of truths. To deviate from this path is to jeopardize the very fabric of our society. Strength through unity; unity through strength.

We've heard this nonsense for so long. But now, this nonsense is becoming an instituted reality, and we are entering perilous times. Don't be fooled by the narratives you will hear during the march to November. Never let someone convince you that the ends justify the means, that a little bit of injustice is needed to achieve a broader, collective vision of justice, that truth sometimes requires fabricated lies and narratives. If we do, justice will cease to be justice, truth will cease to be truth, and our republic will be lost.

Top 5 MOST EVIL taxes the government extorts from you

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"In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." -Ben Franklin

The injustice of taxation has been a core issue for Americans since the very beginning of our country, and it's a problem we have yet to resolve. This belief was recently reignited in many Americans earlier this month on tax day when the numbers were crunched and it was discovered that the government was somehow owed even more hard-earned money. As Glenn recently discussed on his show, it's getting to be impossible for most Americans to afford to live comfortably, inflation is rising, and our politicians keep getting richer.

The taxpayer's burden is heavier than ever.

The government is not above some real low blows either. While taxes are a necessary evil, some taxes stretch the definition of "necessary" and emphasize the "evil." Here are the top five most despicable taxes that are designed to line the IRS coffers at your expense:

Income Tax

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"It would be a hard government that should tax its people one-tenth part of their income." -Ben Franklin

On February 24th, 2024 we hit a very unfortunate milestone, the 101st anniversary of the 16th Amendment, which authorized federal income tax. Where does the government get the right to steal directly out of your paycheck?

Death Taxes

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"Now my advice for those who die, Declare the pennies on your eyes" -George Harrison

Not even in death can you escape the cold pursuit of the tax collector. It's not good enough that you have to pay taxes on everything you buy and every penny you make your entire life. Now the feds want a nice slice, based on the entire value of your estate, that can be as much as 40 percent. Then the state government gets to stick their slimy fingers all over whatever remains before your family is left with the crumbs. It's practically grave-robbery.

Payroll

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"The power to tax is the power to destroy." -John Marshall

What's that? The nice chunk of your paycheck the government nabs before you can even get it to the bank wasn't enough? What if the government taxed your employer just for paying you? In essence, you make less than what your agreed pay rate is and it costs your employer more! Absolutely abominable.

Social Security

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"We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much." -Ronald Reagan

Everyone knows the collapse of Social Security is imminent. It has limped along for years, only sustained by a torrent of tax dollars and the desperate actions of politicians. For decades, people have unwillingly forked over money into the system they will never see again.

FICA

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"What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue." -Thomas Paine

FICA is the payroll equivalent of Social Security. Your employer has to match however much you pay. It means it costs your employer even more to pay you—again, you'll NEVER see that money. At this point, are you even working for yourself, or are you just here to generate money for the government to frivolously throw away?

5 DISTURBING ways World War III will be different from previous wars

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Has World War III begun?

Over the weekend, Iran launched an unprecedented attack against Israel involving over 300 missiles and drones. This marked the first direct attack on Israel originating from Iranian territory. Fortunately, according to an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, 99 percent of missiles and drones were successfully neutralized by Israeli defense systems. Iran claimed that the operation against Israel had concluded and that no further offensive was planned, although the possibility of another attack is still present.

This has left many people, including Glenn, wondering the same thing: did we just witness the start of World War III?

Glenn recently had a World War II Air Force Veteran as a guest on his TV special, who told stories of the horrors he and his brothers-in-arms faced in the skies over war-torn Europe. This was a timely reminder of the terrors of war and a warning that our future, if it leads to another world war, is a dark one.

But, if Glenn's coverage of the Iranian attack revealed one thing, it's that World War III will look nothing like the world wars of the twentieth century. Long gone are the days of John "Lucky" Luckadoo and his "Bloody Hundredth" bravely flying their B-17s into battle. Over the weekend, we saw hundreds of autonomous drones and missiles clashing with extreme speed and precision over several different fronts (including space) simultaneously. This ain't your grandfather's war.

From EMP strikes to cyber attacks, here are FIVE ways the face of war has changed:

EMP attacks

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The entire modern world, on every level, is completely dependent on electricity. From your home refrigerator to international trade, the world would come to a grinding halt without power. And as Glenn has pointed out, it wouldn't even be that hard to pull off. All it would take is 3 strategically placed, high-altitude nuclear detonations and the entire continental U.S. would be without power for months if not years. This would cause mass panic across the country, which would be devastating enough on its own, but the chaos could be a perfect opportunity for a U.S. land invasion.

Nuclear strikes

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Nuclear war is nothing new. Many of us grew up during the Cold War, built fallout shelters, and learned to duck and cover. But times have changed. The Berlin Wall fell and so did the preparedness of the average American to weather a nuclear attack. As technology has advanced, more of our adversaries than ever have U.S. cities within their crosshairs, and as Glenn has pointed out, these adversaries are not exactly shy about that fact. Unfortunately, the possibility of an atomic apocalypse is as real as ever.

Immigration warfare

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The strategy of strangling an opposing nation's economy to gain the upper hand is a wartime tactic as old as time. That's why the Border Crisis is so alarming. What better way to damage an opponent's economy than by overburdening it with millions of undocumented immigrants? As Glenn has covered, these immigrants are not making the trek unaided. There is a wide selection of organizations that facilitate this growing disaster. These organizations are receiving backing from around the globe, such as the WEF, the UN, and U.S. Democrats! Americans are already feeling the effects of the border crisis. Imagine how this tactic could be exploited in war.

Cyber shutdowns

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Cyber attacks will be a major tactic in future wars. We've already experienced relatively minor cyber strikes from Russia, China, and North Korea, and it is a very real possibility that one of our adversaries inflicts a larger attack with devastating consequences on the United States. In fact, the WEF has already predicted a "catastrophic" cyber attack is imminent, and Glenn suggests that it is time to start preparing ourselves. A cyber attack could be every bit as devastating as an EMP, and in a world run by computers, nothing is safe.

Biological assault

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Don't trust the "experts." That was the takeaway many of us had from the pandemic, but something less talked about is the revelation that China has manufactured viruses that are capable of spreading across the globe. We now know that the lab leak hypothesis is true and that the Wuhan lab manufactured the virus that infected the entire world. That was only ONE virus from ONE lab. Imagine what else the enemies of America might be cooking up.

The government is WAGING WAR against these 3 basic needs

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The government has launched a full-on assault against our basic needs, and people are starting to take notice.

As long-time followers of Glenn are probably aware, our right to food, water, and power is under siege. The government no longer cares about our general welfare. Instead, our money lines the pockets of our politicians, funds overseas wars, or goes towards some woke-ESG-climate-Great Reset bullcrap. And when they do care, it's not in a way that benefits the American people.

From cracking down on meat production to blocking affordable power, this is how the government is attacking your basic needs:

Food

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Glenn had Rep. Thomas Massie on his show where he sounded the alarm about the attack on our food. The government has been waging war against our food since the thirties when Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. They started by setting strict limits on how many crops a farmer could grow in a season and punishing anyone who grew more—even if it was intended for personal use, not for sale on the market. This sort of autocratic behavior has continued into the modern day and has only gotten more draconian. Today, not only are you forced to buy meat that a USDA-approved facility has processed, but the elites want meat in general off the menu. Cow farts are too dangerous to the environment, so the WEF wants you to eat climate-friendly alternatives—like bugs.

Water

ALESSANDRO RAMPAZZO / Contributor | Getty Images

As Glenn discussed during a recent Glenn TV special, the government has been encroaching on our water for years. It all started when Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, which gave the government the ability to regulate large bodies of water. As the name suggests, the act was primarily intended to keep large waterways clear of pollution, but over time it has allowed the feds to assume more and more control over the country's water supply. Most recently, the Biden administration attempted to expand the reach of the Clean Water Act to include even more water and was only stopped by the Supreme Court.

Electricity