Questions have emerged about how much information the public was intentionally kept from seeing.
If the FBI knew the laptop was genuine yet advised social media companies otherwise, was there a deliberate attempt to influence public perception? Investigators and lawmakers are now reviewing internal messages for signs of coordination, motive, and whether political considerations shaped the agency’s decisions.
Newly released internal FBI chat logs are creating a stir in Washington, revealing that the bureau took active steps to suppress information about the Hunter Biden laptop story on the very day the New York Post first reported it in October 2020. The House Judiciary Committee made the documents public on Tuesday, highlighting what appears to be a coordinated effort by senior FBI officials to limit discussion of the laptop’s contents.
One FBI analyst reportedly tried to verify the laptop’s authenticity with Twitter (now X). An internal message from October 14, 2020, reads: “Please do not discuss Biden matter.” Meanwhile, the FBI, which already possessed the laptop and had confirmed its authenticity, communicated a different narrative to social media companies, contributing to the story being labeled as potential Russian disinformation and subsequently censored.
During congressional testimony, Laura Dehmlow, then head of the China unit of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, recounted: “Somebody from Twitter essentially asked whether the laptop was real. And one of the FBI folks… did confirm that, yes, it was — before another participant jumped in and said no further comment.”
Conclusion
The release of these internal logs raises serious questions about transparency, impartiality, and how sensitive information is handled in politically charged situations.
As the documents continue to be examined, observers and the public alike are grappling with the implications of how key federal agencies communicate and act during moments of high-stakes controversy.