GOP prepares for investigation into Big Tech suppression of Hunter Biden laptop story

WASHINGTON (TND) — Republicans on Capitol Hill are once again setting their sights on Big Tech, suggesting there will likely be a new round of investigations, should they win back the majority in the House of Representatives following the midterm elections.

One such focus is on accusations of questionable business dealings by Hunter Biden that occurred while his father was vice president, and how details surrounding them were suppressed by Big Tech companies just before the 2020 election.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has now sent letters to multiple people, including Big Tech CEOs and top government officials demanding they preserve documents, communications and electronic data related to this matter.

“There’s no question that Big Tech colluded with some of the nation’s most powerful media and most influential Democrat partisans in the intelligence community to suppress the truth, censor fact-based journalism, and shelter the Biden family from political and legal scrutiny,” said Issa. “We will ensure that the truth is revealed and that those associated with corruption and collusion are held accountable.”

Just this month The New York Times appeared to confirm the authenticity of a laptop belonging to the president’s son detailed in a series of stories in the New York Post in October of 2020 that raised questions about business deals he made with officials from Russia and China.

The story was at first prevented from being shared on Twitter and limited by Facebook, decisions that were soon reversed.

“The New York Post was essentially made to disappear by a concerted effort that said it was untrue that it was Russian misinformation," Issa said in an interview Tuesday.

Following the story in the New York Post, more than 50 former intelligence officials signed onto a letter stating it had "the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation."

“When you see a cartel of action against free speech it has to concern you when you see a cartel of action against free speech on the eve of an actual election concerns or even more," Issa added.

Some media experts say it showed a double-standard by many media organizations.

“You think about the Podesta emails, the Steele dossier, both of those cases - the media just ran with it without being able to verify. This time there was crickets," said Kalev Leetaru, a Media fellow, with Realclear.

He wrote a recent ep-ed on this topic in Real Clear Politics.

Still, Democrats continue to call this effort politically motivated.

In an interview Tuesday, Sen Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said this about the ramping up of resources on this.

"Republicans want to change the subject. I see the same people that are going after him were the people that protected Donald Trump’s family every chance they could on the sort of abusive practices."