'Election interference': FBI silenced internal discussion of Hunter Biden laptop prior to 2020 election

Weeks ahead of the 2020 election, the New York Post dropped a possibly election-altering bombshell report about the discovery and damning contents of Hunter Biden's laptop, which the FBI authenticated nearly one year earlier.

A 2022 poll found that the supermajority of Americans believed that President Donald Trump would have won re-election that election cycle had voters known the Post's report was accurate. Apparently aware that the report could have this kind of impact, the liberal media, social media platforms, a cabal of former intelligence officials, active CIA contractors, and other politically motivated forces worked to discredit and suppress the story.

The FBI was a major player in this campaign to gaslight the American people.

According to chat logs shared by Republicans on the House Committee on the Judiciary, the bureau not only misled social media companies into believing the Post story was Russian disinformation but actively worked to prevent employees from discussing the laptop's authenticity, going so far as to impose a "gag order" regarding discussions of Hunter Biden's laptop.

In chat messages dated Oct. 14, 2020 — the date the Post's story was published — an individual whose name was redacted informs Elvis Chan, the assistant special agent in charge of the San Francisco FBI field office's cyber program, of the "gag order."

— (@)

An October 2024 congressional report released by the House Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government identified Chan as the "primary point of contact at the FBI" for the meetings between the bureau and Big Tech that "led to the prebunking of the laptop story in 2020."

When asked, "Anyone discussing that NYPost article on the Biden's?" Chan responds, "Yes we are. c d confirmed an active investigation. no further comment."

'It failed to disclose that it possessed and had authenticated the laptop — a key fact.'

Michael Shellenberger's investigative outfit Public, which first reported on the FBI chat messages, noted that "c d" was likely shorthand for the bureau's Criminal Division.

Chan then asks, "Actually what kind of case is the laptop thing?" adding, "Corruption? campaign financing?"

Another FBI employee whose identity was redacted responds, "CLOSE HOLD —" followed by a blacked-out response.

Chan responds, "oh crap," then notes, "ok. It ends here."

In another series of messages, one FBI employee can be seen telling another, "Nobody on call is is [sic] authorized to comment upon NY Post story," to which another employee responds, "gotta love it."

A bureau insider made clear: "do not discuss biden matter."

— (@)

It is clear from the messages that the FBI was aware of active efforts to discredit the story. One FBI employee noted, for instance, that "twitter is treating [the story] as disinformation."

In the days following the publication of the Post story, the FBI clammed up, refusing to provide censorious social media companies with more details and repeatedly leaning on the response "no comment" as indicated by the newly released chat messages.

The Judiciary report noted that "while the FBI clarified that it had no specific evidence of a Russian hack-and-leak operation [in communications with social media platforms], it failed to disclose that it possessed and had authenticated the laptop — a key fact that likely would have ended any justification for censorship."

The report emphasized that "if the FBI's intent was truly to help social media companies combat actual foreign influence operations, the FBI should have shared the single most important fact: the influence-peddling allegations in the Post story were based off of real, credible information, including information in the FBI's possession. The FBI failed to do so."

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said in response to the revelations about the gag order, "The FBI's groupchats revealed they were directly involved in election interference," adding, "Where is the outrage?"

"When will there be a criminal investigation?" asked Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton.

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