Republicans Demand Facebook Turn Over FBI Communications About Hunter Biden, ‘Russian Disinformation’

Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) are demanding that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg provide them with communications between the US government – FBI, DOJ – and employees from Facebook regarding Hunter Biden and ‘Russian disinformation.’

The demand stems from Zuckerberg admitting that Facebook throttled posts about the infamous scandal regarding Hunter Biden’s laptop after “warnings” from the FBI.

Zuckerberg made his comments during an interview with podcaster and UFC commentator Joe Rogan.

BREAKING: Mark Zuckerberg tells Joe Rogan that Facebook algorithmically censored the Hunter Biden laptop story for 7 days based on a general request from the FBI to restrict election misinformation. pic.twitter.com/llTA7IqGa1

— Minds💡 (@minds) August 25, 2022

According to a letter sent to the CEO this week, the senators voiced their concerns over the recent claims made by Zuckerberg, who stated that the FBI explicitly told employees of Facebook to be on “high alert” for what they were describing as “Russian propaganda” in the weeks leading to the 2020 election.

#BREAKING: Timothy Thibault OUT at the FBI.

Reminder, according to a whistleblower, Thibault shut down investigative activity related to Hunter Biden and also sought to pad the FBI’s number of “domestic violent extremism” cases. https://t.co/KLsE5cTN6W

— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) August 29, 2022

RELATED: FBI Responds To Zuckerberg’s Claims Facebook Limited Hunter Biden Story, Says It’s ‘Routine’ Practice

A Cause For Concern

“The American people deserve to know whether the FBI used Facebook as part of their alleged plan to discredit information about Hunter Biden,” the letter stated. “If so, Congress and the American people require clarity with respect to the extent the FBI communicated with Facebook during the 2020 election about Hunter Biden-related information.”

“Although you noted that users could still share the articles,” the letter continued, “you clarified that the number of users who could see it decreased by a ‘meaningful’ amount.” The Senators later stated that they specifically want records of correspondence between the period of July 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021.

Additionally, the two are also demanding the names of Facebook and government employees that were involved in this situation, as well as the dates in which Facebook allegedly held back the distribution reach of stories regarding Hunter Biden’s laptop.

It’s interesting to note that this demand is being made of Facebook, rather than the FBI. 

Over a year passed before figures in the media such as CNN’s Brian Stelter could no longer deny the authenticity of the laptop, admitting that the situation was “not just a right-wing media story.”

RELATED: Zuckerberg Admits Facebook Throttled Hunter Biden News After FBI Warned About ‘Russian Propaganda’

The FBI Backing Itself Into a Corner

Last week, Johnson penned a letter to to Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz regarding the whistleblower accusations made regarding the FBI and Hunter Biden’s laptop.

“Recently, my office heard from individuals with knowledge of the FBI’s apparent corruption,” said Johnson. “After the FBI obtained the Hunter Biden laptop from the Wilmington, DE computer shop, these whistleblowers stated that local FBI leadership told employees, ‘you will not look at that Hunter Biden laptop’ and that the FBI is ‘not going to change the outcome of the election again.’”

“I hope you understand that the longer your office stands on the sidelines and delays investigating the FBI’s actions, the harder it will be for you to uncover the truth and hold individuals accountable for wrongdoing,” Johnson wrote.