That behavior didn't occur, as the Twitter Files themselves indicated. FBI gave a general warning prior to the election around hacked materials, Twitter (and many others) thought the laptop story might be one such example and reacted according to their own corporate policies/scenario planning. There is zero evidence that the government acted on the laptop story in any way, and even the Biden campaign/Biden family (private parties) only made requests specifically on posts sharing images of Hunter's penis, not on articles about the laptop itself.
James Baker was Deputy General Counsel at Twitter lol. His official job was to be involved in exactly these types of decisions. He left the FBI in 2018.
Raise complaints about the revolving door between govt and industry if you want, but this is cut-and-dry not about a government official pressuring a private company. It's about a private company hiring a former government official (years out of service) and then that person doing the job they were hired to do.
> former government official (years out of service) and then that person doing the job they were hired to do.
You honestly believe that “retired” Intelligence Community members just “retire,” so naive. I’m sure he was hired for his law qualifications and not his IC network, reach, or influence. Did he get read out of every program and give up his clearance upon leaving the FBI? Very doubtful.
FBI seems schizophrenic at times, confirming and denying based on politics. Remember the e-mail server in 2016? First advising against criminal charges, only to open an investigation months later. Epstein was covered up and considered a conspiracy theory until it wasn't a few years later. Everything is politics today and the people in charge seem to have difficulties navigating in this context, and it's only getting worse.
Not at all. Remember that FBI is also a political entity subject to the whims of congress and its willingness to appropriate funds for it. In other words, they are always walking a tightrope of expectations from opposing sides; there is always pressure.
I am not sure if you remember Comey saga, but remember how carefully some of the statements were worded to satisfy those various sides ( iirc, he wasn't supposed to say Clinton was a suspect and he didn't but instead said something that sounded close to it so press ran with it anyway -- and he could placate both sides saying he did their bidding ).
Its not schizophrenic when you understand how much of a political capital is spent there.
