Oversight Chair Comer sets sights on Biden admin, Big Tech 'collusion' on Hunter as first hearing kicks off

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WATCH LIVE: House panel grills ex-Twitter execs over Hunter Biden laptop story

WATCH LIVE: House panel grills ex-Twitter execs over Hunter Biden laptop story.

House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer is presiding a Wednesday hearing aimed at exposing how the Biden administration and Big Tech worked together to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story and influence the results of the 2020 presidential election.

"It's the House Oversight and Accountability Committee's first step in examining the coordination between the federal government's Big Tech to restrict protected speech and interfere in the democratic process. Social media platforms are increasingly the place Americans go to express their views, debate issues and gather news and information," Comer said in his opening statement at the hearing that kicked off at 10 a.m. ET Wednesday. "These platforms are the virtual town square. However, many social media platforms are under the control of people who are hostile to the fundamental American principles of free speech and expression protected in the US Constitution."

"We've witnessed Big Tech autocrats wield their unchecked power to suppress the speech of Americans to promote their preferred political opinions. Twitter was one of these platforms until Elon Musk purchased the company a few months ago. Mr. Musk has pledged to end censorship that goes beyond the law. He has pledged to allow Americans voices be heard not squashed. In this year, we will examine the actions taken by Twitter prior to Mr. Musk's ownership," Comer continued. "Many of these actions were carried out by the witnesses before us today. Prior to Mr. Musk's take over the company, Twitter aggressively suppressed conservative elected officials, journalists and activists."

"This included shadow-banning, blocking accounts and banning accounts altogether. In fact, Twitter's previous management team de-platformed and suppressed not just conservative voices, but anyone whose opinions strayed from what they deemed acceptable. Opinions such as that students could and should attend school in person to curb learning loss." 

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The hearing will feature former top Twitter executives Yoel Roth, Vijaya Gadde and James Baker. Comer has previously told Fox News Digital that the investigation into how the Biden family "peddled influence and access around the world for profit" is the "top priority" for the new GOP House majority.

The White House has already come out in opposition to the hearing, telling Fox News Digital that Republicans on the House Oversight Committee are staging a "bizarre political stunt" as they get ready for the panel's first hearing. However, Comer will press the point that Big Tech is having too great an influence over political discourse.

House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer is presiding a hearing on Twitter's handling of the Hunter Biden laptop story.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

"In the past, Twitter's leadership including previous CEO Jack Dorsey claim the company did not limit the visibility of certain accounts and tweets known as shadow-banning. He said this in front of Congress in 2018, but we now know they did, even placing such accounts on search and trend blacklists," Comer said Wednesday. 

"Twitter's employees made censorship decisions on the fly often not following the company's own policy -- publicly stated policies. It worked hand-in-hand with the FBI to monitor the protected speech of Americans receiving millions of tax dollars to do so," he went on. 

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"Twitter, under the leadership of our witnesses today, was a private company the federal government used to accomplish what it constitutionally cannot -- limit the free exercise of speech. We now know all this thanks to Elon Musk at the independent journalists who have contributed to what are known as the Twitter Files. That brings us to the specific topic of today's hearing -- Twitter's censorship of a news article that shed light on Joe Biden's involvement in his family's suspicious business deals," Comer said. 

Hunter Biden's laptop was at the center of a Big Tech censorship campaign in 2020. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

"In the months leading up to the laptop story, the FBI advised senior Twitter executives to question the validity of any Hunter Biden story. We also know that one of the witnesses before us today participated in an Aspen Institute exercise in September 2020 on a potential hack and dump operation related to Hunter Biden. Other big tech companies and reporters who attended as well. This exercise prepared them for their future collusion to suppress and delegitimize information contained in Hunter Biden's laptop about the Biden family business schemes." 

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"On October 14, 2020, the New York Post published its first story based on information contained in Hunter Biden's laptop story and Hunter Biden's laptop. The Post provided proof of the laptop's legitimacy by releasing a computer repair store, signed receipt for the laptop and the federal subpoena used by the FBI to retrieve it in 2019," Comer continued. "The article revealed that a top executive at Burisma who was paying Hunter Biden $50,000 a month had spent time with then-Vice President Biden in Washington, D.C." 

"Throughout his presidential campaign, Joe Biden assured the American people that he had never spoken to his son about his overseas business dealings. However, the details exposed in the Post article indicate that Joe Biden lied to the American people," he said. 

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., is the chairman of the House Oversight Committee in the new GOP majority. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

"Immediately following the story's publication, America witnessed a coordinated campaign by social media companies, mainstream news and the intelligence community to suppress and delegitimize the existence of Hunter Biden's laptop and its contents. That morning, Twitter and other social media companies took extraordinary steps to suppress that story," Comer said. "Twitter immediately removed the story and banned the New York Post account. Twitter also banned accounts who shared the story, including White House Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, and blocked its transmission via direct message. This episode marked the first time Twitter directly limited the spread of information from a mainstream news organization. And the New York Post would not give its account back for two weeks."

"We all know now this was not Russian disinformation. It wasn't disinformation," Comer said. "I want to make sure the American people truly understand the timeline here, because it's very important. The Hunter Biden laptop story was published on Wednesday. Twitter did not acknowledge the mistake for at least 24 hours."

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"And on Monday morning, 51 former intelligence officials published their letter," he said. "That letter was then wholeheartedly accepted by mainstream news as proof that the laptop was fake. Joe Biden used that letter to brush aside the few questions he received about the story. During that time, the mainstream media was more concerned about what flavor of ice cream Joe Biden had ordered on a particular day. All this happened two weeks before the 2020 election."

"One survey found that 70% of Biden voters would not have voted for the Biden-Harris ticket if they had known about the Biden laptop. But many Americans did not know about it because of a coordinated cover up by Big Tech, the swamp and mainstream news. Now, mainstream media outlets have verified the laptop damage has been done."

"We owe it to the American people to find answers about this collusion, to censor information about Joe Biden's involvement in his family's business schemes."