On Monday and Tuesday, brave journalists tasked by Twitter owner Elon Musk exposed the corruption and bias against conservatives and the sinister collusion between the social media platform and the government that took place under the previous ownership. This rare act of journalism by non-conservative reporters has been dubbed the Twitter files, and once again has been ignored by the leftist news networks.
Instead of reporting on the 7th and 8th batches of Twitter Files that were dropped on Monday and Tuesday respectively, ABC’s World News Tonight & CBS Evening News decided to carry on about Trump’s tax returns potentially being released by the Democrat-run House Ways and Means Committee, while on Monday night CBS Evening News & NBC Nightly News obsessed over the prospect of Elon Musk stepping down due to the results of his Twitter poll.
On Monday night, Fox News Channel’s Special Report had the story that the networks refused to report during their Monday evening and Tuesday morning newscasts. Correspondent David Spunt summarized the 7th Twitter Files batch written by Michael Shellenberger. (click expand):
The following is from Shellenberger released just a few hours ago. He titled the release: The FBI and the Hunter Biden laptop, and how the FBI and intelligence community discredited factual information then he goes on.
Shellenberger tweets about the Delaware computer shop owner who contacted the FBI in late 2019 about Hunter Biden’s laptop. The FBI took the laptop, took possession of it in December 2019. Shellenberger, then reports by August 2020, the shop owner had not heard back from the FBI, so, he gave a copy of the laptop to Trump confidant Rudy Giuliani, who then, in turn, gave that information to the New York Post. Shellenberger reports the FBI asked Twitter to provide information without search warrants. On October 13, 2020, an FBI special agent in the San Francisco office sent 10 documents to Twitter’s head of site integrity Yoel Roth, the name we’ve heard through something called Teleporter, it was a one-way channel from the FBI to Twitter.
[...]
As of 2020, there were so many former FBI employees -- Bu alumni -- meaning, Bureau alumni, working at Twitter that they had created their own private Slack channel and a crib sheet to onboard new FBI arrivals. One of those former Bureau employees, former FBI top lawyer, Jim Baker, we’ve talked about him on this network, who according to Shellenberger personally questioned the New York Post reporting, arguing its possible, some of the formatting, looks fabricated. And after Joe Biden won the election in November 2020, Baker and other Twitter employees sent FBI e-mails thanking them for their work. He points to this tweet, highlighting that the FBI was paying and, I mean, Shellenberger highlighting the FBI was paying Twitter millions of dollars for its staff time. Shellenberger says it’s from an associate of Mr. Baker.
The next day, on Tuesday’s Special Report, correspondent Griff Jenkins gives Fox viewers the scoop on the 8th Twitter Files batch which was even more explosive and revealed how Twitter “quietly aided the Pentagon’s covert online PsyOp campaign.”
Despite a “pledge in Congressional testimony promising to shut down all state-backed covert operations,” investigative journalist Lee Fang reported how Twitter quietly “gave approval and special protection to the U.S. military's online psychological influence ops. Despite knowledge that Pentagon propaganda accounts used covert identities.”
Continuing his report, Jenkins added that “Twitter officials felt deceived but added this part saying still many emails from throughout 2020 show that high-level Twitter executives were well aware of DOD's vast network of fake accounts and covert propaganda and did not suspend the accounts.”
This latest example of bias by omission from the three networks was made possible by Progressive on ABC, Fisher Investments on CBS, and WeatherTech on NBC. Their information is linked.
To read the transcripts click “expand”:
FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier
12/19/22
6:04:52 p.m. EasternBRET BAIER: We are getting new insight tonight into the cooperation between the FBI and Twitter about the Hunter Biden laptop story. It is the latest in the series of revelations from the social media giant. Correspondent David Spunt is at the Justice Department with the latest installation of the Twitter files. Good evening, David.
DAVID SPUNT: Bret, good evening to you. This is the seventh drop of information regarding the Twitter files. As you mentioned, it paints a narrative of a cozy relationship between the FBI and Twitter. Specifically, though, this mentions information about that Hunter Biden scandal going back several years. Independent journalist Michael Shellenberger was tapped by Elon Musk to disseminate this to the public, to millions of people across the globe. The following is from Shellenberger released just a few hours ago. He titled the release: The FBI and the Hunter Biden laptop, and how the FBI and intelligence community discredited factual information then he goes on.
Shellenberger tweets about the Delaware computer shop owner who contacted the FBI in late 2019 about Hunter Biden’s laptop. The FBI took the laptop, took possession of it in December 2019. Shellenberger, then reports by August 2020, the shop owner had not heard back from the FBI, so, he gave a copy of the laptop to Trump confidant Rudy Giuliani, who then, in turn, gave that information to the New York Post. Shellenberger reports the FBI asked Twitter to provide information without search warrants. On October 13, 2020, an FBI special agent in the San Francisco office sent 10 documents to Twitter’s head of site integrity Yoel Roth, the name we’ve heard through something called Teleporter, it was a one-way channel from the FBI to Twitter.
At one point, Bret, Roth, apparently was part of a virtual war room with Twitter and other FBI employees. Now, Bret, well, we don’t know what was in those documents sent. We do know, the next day, the New York Post ran this cover, the now infamous cover, Biden’s Secret E-Mails: exposing information about Hunter’s business dealings overseas. Shellenberger paints a greater narrative of the FBI having that close relationship with Twitter. He tweets, “As of 2020, there were so many former FBI employees -- Bu alumni -- meaning, Bureau alumni, working at Twitter that they had created their own private Slack channel and a crib sheet to onboard new FBI arrivals. One of those former Bureau employees, former FBI top lawyer, Jim Baker, we’ve talked about him on this network, who according to Shellenberger personally questioned the New York Post reporting, arguing its possible, some of the formatting, looks fabricated. And after Joe Biden won the election in November 2020, Baker and other Twitter employees sent FBI e-mails thanking them for their work. He points to this tweet, highlighting that the FBI was paying and, I mean, Shellenberger highlighting the FBI was paying Twitter millions of dollars for its staff time. Shellenberger says it’s from an associate of Mr. Baker.
Now, Twitter owner Elon Musk yesterday, posted online a poll on his new platform, Twitter, asking if he should stay in charge of Twitter, he said he will abide by the results. 17 1/2 million people, Bret, weighed in. 57.5 percent of the 17 1/2 million say Elon Musk should go. No response from Elon Musk about that poll yet. We’ll see what he has in store. Bret.
BAIER: David Spunt at the Justice Department. David, thank you.
FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier
12/20/2022
6:31:38 p.m. EasternBRET BAIER: We’re getting a new batch of internal documents from Twitter tonight. This is the eighth such release of the so-called Twitter files. It's the second in as many days showing the inner workings of the social media giant and the interactions with the U.S. Government. Correspondent Griff Jenkins tells us what is in today's edition. Good evening, Griff.
GRIFF JENKINS: Good evening, Bret. Tonight's drop is an inside look at the relationship between Twitter and the Pentagon. Investigative journalist Lee Fang suggests the social media platform, quote: quietly aided the Pentagon’s covert online PsyOp campaign. In a series of 21 posts, Fang details how deep the coordination went between the two entities, Fang highlighting Twitter's pledge in Congressional testimony promising to shut down all state-backed covert operations, Fang reveals. But behind-the-scenes Twitter gave approval and special protection to the U.S. military's online psychological influence ops. Despite knowledge that Pentagon propaganda accounts used covert identities. Twitter did not suspend many for around two years or more. Some remain active. The documentation dates back to 2017, Bret, when Centcom sent Twitter a list of 52 Arab language accounts used to amplify messages about U.S. military priorities in the Middle East.
Noting the same day Centcom sent the letter Twitter officials used a tool to grant a special white list tag that essentially provides verification status to the accounts without the blue check, meaning they're exempt from spam, abuse flags, more visible, likely to trend on hashtags. Fang also says some Twitter officials felt deceived but added this part saying still many emails from throughout 2020 show that high-level Twitter executives were well aware of DOD's vast network of fake accounts and covert propaganda and did not suspend the accounts. It was a network that pushed narratives against Iran, Russia, China, and other foreign countries ultimately tweeting as recently as May of this year according to Lee Fang. And tonight Bret, we reached out to the Pentagon for comment. They referred us directly to Centcom. We have not yet heard back. Bret?
