The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation released a statement responding to revelations from emails uncovered by tech mogul Elon Musk after his Twitter acquisition.
Musk has posted numerous documents in a series of reports covering the methods used by the FBI to request reviews of posts and accounts by officials working for the social media platform. Many have accused the FBI of using these requests as an excuse to censor speech that does not fit its political agenda.
The FBI has emphatically denied the allegations.
“The correspondence between the FBI and Twitter show nothing more than examples of our traditional, longstanding, and ongoing federal government and private sector engagements, which involve numerous companies over multiple sectors and industries,” the FBI said in a statement to Fox News.
🚨BREAKING: The FBI responds to @elonmusk releasing the Twitter files:
"It is unfortunate that conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the American public misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency." pic.twitter.com/U18JYkNptV
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) December 21, 2022
“As evidenced in this correspondence, the FBI provides critical information to the private sector in an effort to protect themselves and their customers. The men and women of the FBI work every day to protect the American public,” it continued.
“It is unfortunate that conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the American public misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency,” concluded the statement.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) has called for FBI Director Christopher Wray to appear before Congress in order to address the allegations.
“The FBI has a lot of explaining to do about the Twitter files. These revelations should make every American who believes in the First Amendment gag,” wrote Kennedy.
The FBI has a lot of explaining to do about the Twitter files.
These revelations should make every American who believes in the First Amendment gag. pic.twitter.com/YqDbnlgGn2
— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) December 15, 2022
The Biden administration seems to be suggesting that the documents are a nothing burger. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre referred to the story as a “distraction” upon being asked whether or not the administration believes the decision to censor reports leading up to the election was correctly made.
“So look, we see this as an interesting, or a coincidence, if I may, that he would so haphazardly, that Twitter would so haphazardly push this distraction that is full of old news, if you think about it,” Jean-Pierre said earlier this month.
