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The Twitter Files
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Twitter Files #7: FBI primed Twitter for a 'hack-and-leak'

Michael Shellenberger reported that in 2020 the FBI repeatedly warned Twitter of possible Russian hack-and-leak operations, while it had held Hunter Biden's laptop since December 2019. Yoel Roth joined an Aspen Institute exercise on a hypothetical Hunter Biden hack-and-dump. When the Post story ran, Roth's first reaction was that it looked like a leak operation.

Dec 19, 2022
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Whose side it served: Democrats

The hack-and-leak framing primed Twitter to treat an authentic story damaging to the Democratic nominee as likely foreign disinformation.

What the record shows

Shellenberger reported that FBI agent Elvis Chan shared information about the Russian group APT28 with Roth on August 11, 2020, and that the FBI requested a classified briefing for former FBI general counsel Jim Baker, then Twitter's deputy general counsel. An FBI subpoena dated December 9, 2019 showed the bureau had taken the laptop. In September 2020, Roth took part in an Aspen Institute tabletop exercise, organized by Vivian Schiller, on a possible 'Hack-and-Dump' involving Hunter Biden. On October 14, Roth wrote that the story 'feels a lot like a somewhat subtle leak operation.' Shellenberger reported that Baker argued internally the materials were faked, hacked or both.

In their words

“feels a lot like a somewhat subtle leak operation”— Yoel Roth, Twitter head of site integrity (Oct 14, 2020, internal) · source
“not to cross the line into advocating for Twitter to take any particular action”— Yoel Roth, former Twitter trust and safety head (Feb 2023 testimony) · source
The other side

The threads show warnings, not an instruction to suppress the Post story, and Roth testified the FBI did not tell Twitter to take any particular action. Baker testified he was aware of no unlawful collusion with, or direction from, any government agency.

Sources

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