Republicans fan allegations of tech company-government collusion - The Washingto...

A full day of testimony on the “Twitter files” and Twitter’s handling of a New York Post story about Hunter Biden’s laptop yielded plenty of heated exchanges but little new information.

The hearing showed the House Oversight Committee’s Republican majority is determined to press forward with claims of collusion between Twitter and the government to suppress conservative views, even as the witnesses largely rebuffed those allegations under oath. While the former Twitter executives confirmed the company regularly corresponded with government officials and campaigns from both parties on various content moderation matters, they were firm in their testimony that the government played no role whatsoever in their decision to block sharing of the Post story, which they described as the company’s own mistake.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) closed the hearing, saying it was “very successful.” The witnesses repeatedly testified under oath that the FBI did not influence their decision to block the spread of the New York Post article on Twitter in 2020.

Rep. Jamie B. Raskin, the committee’s top Democrat, said that a “fundamental legal fallacy” pervades Republicans’ questioning of Twitter, pointing out that the company’s editorial decisions are protected under the U.S. Constitution.

“Twitter is a private, First Amendment-protected media entity,” he said. “And you make your own decisions like Fox News makes its own decisions.”

He reiterated that the witnesses testified under oath that they’d received no government or FBI communication to remove the New York Post story and that the Biden campaign did not direct Twitter to block the spread of the story.

The confirmation came during questioning of Yoel Roth by Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.).

“Is it true that Twitter white-listed accounts for the Department of Defense to spread propaganda about its efforts in the Middle East?,” Burlison asked. “Did they give you a list of accounts that were fake accounts and ask you to white-list those accounts?”

“That request was made of Twitter,” Roth responded. “To be clear, when I found out about that activity, I was appalled by it. I undid the action, and my team exposed activity originating from the Department of Defense's campaign publicly. We shared that data with the world.”

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) lamented at Wednesday’s hearing that unlike her, everyday constituents could not reach out to owner Elon Musk to appeal restrictions on Twitter.

The comments highlight how some GOP lawmakers now feel they have a direct line to the Twitter owner if they need to challenge a suspension or enforcement actions on the site.

Boebert blasted the former Twitter staffers testifying for having “silenced members of Congress from communicating with their constituents,” including her.

Democrats accused Republicans of intimidating the former Twitter staffers testifying Wednesday after repeatedly raising the specter that they may have broken the law and could face jail time.

In an exchange with Twitter’s former head of safety, Yoel Roth, Rep. Anna Luna (R-Fla.) suggested his past communications with the federal government were “highly illegal,” adding, “You are all engaged in this action and I want you to know that you will be all held accountable.”

Immediately after, Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.) said the panel was “getting awfully close to witness intimidation” and asked Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) to “intervene.”

Republicans repeatedly hailed Elon Musk for his role in the release of a batch of internal company documents he dubbed the “Twitter Files,” which they claim supports claims of government collusion.

“Thank God for Elon Musk for allowing to show us, the world that Twitter is basically a subsidiary of the FBI,” said Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.).

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.) later echoed the sentiment. “I will say it, God bless Elon Musk … It was Elon Musk that revealed data that uncovered the disturbing cabal.”

Republican lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee took umbrage at former Twitter deputy general counsel James Baker’s refusal to answer their questions after asserting attorney-client privilege Wednesday.

After Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) asked about internal communications at Twitter about staffers’ interactions with federal agencies, Baker said he could not answer because the information was “covered by the attorney-client privilege” with the social network.

Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) disputed the claim, telling Baker that he was “overruled” because he was testifying under subpoena and that Congress does not recognize the privilege he asserted.

One voice that has been conspicuously absent from today’s proceedings: that of Elon Musk.

The billionaire’s purchase of Twitter, criticism of its policies, ouster of its executives, and commissioning of the “Twitter files” led inexorably to the hearing, at which multiple Republicans said, “God bless Elon Musk." But Musk himself has been silent, aside from a cryptic Tuesday tweet:

For some Democratic lawmakers, the real unanswered question of this hearing is not why Twitter temporarily blocked the Hunter Biden laptop story. It’s the question of what their Republican counterparts stand to gain from dredging up a two-year-old content moderation decision made by a group of executives who have already acknowledged it was a mistake.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) offered her theory. Speaking to reporters during a recess, she accused Republicans of convening the hearing to “bully and harass” the witnesses so that in the future platforms might leave up potentially harmful content instead of restricting it. “I really struggle to see what the other aim here is, because the Republican Party is providing no other aim,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

A Democrat accused Republicans on the House Oversight Committee of hauling in former Twitter executives to help drive fundraising, including on the social network itself.

“It seems to me that we’re having these hearings so that people can beat their chests about Hunter Biden, maybe do some fundraising, get some headlines and ironically post those on Twitter,” Rep. Greg Casar (D-Tex.) said.

The comment was the latest barb traded between lawmakers during the contentious hearing, during which Republicans accused Twitter of unfairly removing conservative content and Democrats blasted it for catering to figures on the right and enabling incitement of violence ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The House Oversight Committee gaveled its hearing with former Twitter staffers back into session just past 2 p.m. on Wednesday, after a sudden power outage in the congressional office building brought the proceedings to an abrupt halt.

“I apologize. We’ve never had this happen. The electricity went out,” said Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), who chairs the panel.