House Republicans to Zuckerberg: Let’s Talk

House Republicans want answers from Mark Zuckerberg regarding the Hunter Biden laptop story. in August, Zuckerberg appeared on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast and told the host that members of the Facebook team were approached by the FBI with warnings about a misinformation dump that could affect the 2020 presidential race. This, in turn, caused Facebook to decrease the ranking of the Hunter Biden laptop story. People could still share the story, but the move essentially suppressed it.

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

A press release from the House Judiciary Republicans states that over 30 members of Congress have sent a letter to Mark Zuckerberg demanding the Meta CEO turn over any communications from the FBI regarding Hunter Biden. The letter was signed by the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Kentucky’s James Comer, the lead GOP member of the Oversight and Reform Committee, and 33 other members of Congress. The Thursday letter stated in part that the legislators found it troubling that Facebook limited access to the laptop story from the Washington Post. The Republicans also demanded Zuckerberg turn over documents between Facebook and the FBI dating back to October 21, 2020, and documentation of communications between Facebook and the DNC and the Biden campaign. Further, the Republicans want Facebook to turn over any FBI warnings to Facebook employees about being on high alert for potential misinformation during the 2020 race and any internal company communications.

With Congress in its current configuration, the House GOP members lack the necessary authority to subpoena Zuckerberg, but the letter tells the CEO to preserve the necessary documents. Should the House turn red in November, Zuckerberg and other tech kingpins would have to provide any requested documentation and would be required to testify before any committees, should hearings be convened.

Many on the right had viewed the FBI with a suspicious eye,  particularly with regard to the Facebook issue, even before the agency’s raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

This is not the only issue regarding the DOJ that has Jordan concerned. He also wants to know why FBI agents seized the cellphone of Representative Scott Perry. Agents seized the phone while Perry was on vacation as part of a probe into attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Perry is the chair of the House Freedom Caucus. In a Monday letter to Inspector General Michael Horowitz, Jordan wrote: “The [Inspector General’s] assistance to the FBI in imaging Representative Perry’s phone — in addition to posing questions about why the nation’s top law-enforcement agency cannot perform this task itself — raises serious concerns about why you would be willing to sacrifice the OIG’s independence to assist the FBI in advancing such a politically charged matter.”