Following the “bombshells” leaked by Twitter CEO Elon Musk and journalist Matt Taibbi, as well as Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s release of a 450 page transcript of his deposition of Dr. Anthony Fauci, Republicans have expressed increased skepticism toward social media.
On Friday, Taibbi wrote several tweets, endorsed by Musk, leaking several emails from Twitter staffers regarding their suppression of a 2020 New York Post article involving Hunter Biden’s laptop and what it contained. At the time, Twitter expressed concerns the article contained stolen information and limited its spread, to Republican criticism.
Musk and Taibbi have referred to the news as a “bombshell,” stating that more will come in the future, though much of the information was largely already known. Still, several Republicans expressed skepticism over the relationship between Democrats and Twitter.
“The American people and my constituents of the 4th District deserve answers on why Big Tech covered up the Hunter Biden laptop story and censored free speech,” Missouri Congressman-elect Mark Alford, representing south of Kansas City and about half of Boone County, told KRCG 13 in a statement. “This is something I’m committed to fighting and delivering answers in the next Congress.”
On Monday, Senator-elect and current Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt released a transcript of his eight hour deposition of Dr. Fauci in an ongoing case about the relationship between Big Tech and Democrats.
On social media, Schmitt promoted the deposition as getting Fauci on the record about certain controversial topics, including masking, rather than about the case’s subject itself.
In the deposition, asked about his concerns about misinformation on COVID-19’s origins on social media, Fauci said “I’m concerned about, you know, there being misinformation or disinformation that would interfere with our trying to save the lives of people throughout the world, which happens when people spread false claims.”
