FBI official testifies agency knew Hunter Biden laptop was real

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The same FBI personnel who warned social media companies that the Hunter Biden laptop could be part of a potential Russian "hack and leak" operation ahead of the 2020 election knew that it was not disinformation, an FBI official told the House Judiciary Committee.

Section Chief of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force Laura Dehmlow participated in a transcribed interview before the House Judiciary Committee and its Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on Monday and revealed details of how the bureau "conditioned" social media companies to believe the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation, despite knowing it was legitimate.

In a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, detailed Dehmlow’s testimony, which revealed that after the initial New York Post story on the Hunter Biden laptop in October 2020, the FBI "made an institutional decision to refuse to answer direct questions from social media companies about the laptop’s authenticity — despite months of constant information sharing up to that time."

"Put simply, after the FBI conditioned social media companies to believe that the laptop was the product of a hack-and-dump operation, the Bureau stopped its information sharing, allowing social media companies to conclude that the New York Post story was Russian disinformation," Jordan wrote.

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House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Fox News Digital has previously reported that the FBI first learned the laptop belonging to Hunter Biden was legitimate in November 2019 and obtained it in December 2019. Investigators knew the laptop "likely contained evidence of tax crimes" that could be useful in the ongoing federal investigation into Hunter Biden, whistleblowers have said. 

IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler told Congress last month that federal investigators knew in December 2019 that Hunter Biden’s laptop was "not manipulated in any way" and contained "reliable evidence," but were "obstructed" from seeing all available information on it.

"In the nine months leading up to the 2020 election, the FBI met over 30 times with social media platforms — all while in possession of Hunter Biden’s laptop," Jordan wrote Thursday to Wray. "Prior to the election, FBI Special Agent Elvis Chan scheduled, on behalf of FITF, at least five meetings with Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, in addition to multiple meetings with Twitter and Reddit." 

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies during the House Judiciary Committee hearing titled "Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation," in the Rayburn Building in Washington, D.C., on July 12, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

"Between May and November 2020, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) hosted at least nine ‘USG-Industry’ meetings, including four meetings in October 2020 alone," Jordan wrote, adding that representatives from the FBI, including Agent Chan, "routinely participated in these ‘USG-Industry’ meetings."

In one meeting on Oct. 7, 2020 — just one week before the New York Post article on the Hunter Biden laptop was published, the agenda "explicitly listed ‘Hack/Leak Concerns’ as an item of discussion." 

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"The Committee recently conducted a transcribed interview of current FITF Section Chief Laura Dehmlow who testified that, by October 14, 2020 — the day the Post published its story on the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop—the individual then-serving as FITF Section Chief, Bradley Benavides, as well as individuals assigned to FITF’s Russia Unit knew that Hunter Biden’s laptop was real," Jordan wrote. "Dehmlow also testified that the FBI could — and did — share information with companies regarding foreign malign influence operations, like hack-and-leak operations, including those conducted by Russia-aligned actors." 

The same day the New York Post story published — Oct. 14, 2020 — Dehmlow said FBI representatives "attended a previously scheduled meeting with Twitter, during which a Twitter employee asked the FITF about the authenticity of laptop." 

Hunter Biden disembarks from Air Force One at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, New York, on Feb. 4, 2023. (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)

"According to Section Chief Dehmlow’s testimony, an analyst in the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division embedded in FITF began to respond that the laptop was real, when an FBI lawyer interrupted to say that the FBI had 'no further comment, regarding the laptop’s provenance," Jordan wrote. 

After that meeting with Twitter, FBI personnel "immediately deliberated internally about what information about the laptop the FBI would reveal to social media companies when asked in upcoming meetings." 

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"According to Dehmlow, during these internal deliberations the decision was made that FITF would say ‘no comment’ going forward," Jordan wrote. "However, on the instruction of FBI counsel during the transcribed interview, Dehmlow refused to answer which FBI official made the decision that FITF would say ‘no comment’ going forward, except to state that it ‘was not [her] decision. It wasn’t [her] final call.’" 

Jordan said Dehmlow said the FBI also told Facebook "no comment" in a later meeting, despite the FBI being "in possession of the laptop and having confirmed its authenticity."