In an appearance on Fox Business Network’s “Evening Edit” on Friday, Republican Tennessee Representative Tim Burchett said that the FBI “is lying” about its response to the company’s Twitter data on encounters with the FBI.
Burchett read the following statement from the FBI on Fox News: “The FBI often works with private sector firms to provide intelligence concerning suspected foreign malign influence actors’ [subversive], undeclared, clandestine, or unlawful activity.” Companies, acting on behalf of their platforms and users, make their own decisions on responding to an FBI notice.
Burchett flatly stated, “It’s a lie, Mr. Wray.” He will need to create some space at the start of the new year. Judiciary Committee Republicans Jim Jordan (R-OH) and James Comer (R-FL) will give him a lot to do (R-KY). We cannot afford to discount this possibility. There is no way they can claim that what we are doing is equivalent to what they are doing. The same strategy of labeling Trump as a foreign actor to obtain access to confidential material was used in the investigation of his 2016 campaign. Some people have been “doxed” using this method. It has helped put an end to protests. Our top law enforcement officials need to explain their cavalier attitude. That we would have let them into our once-wonderful FBI is unsettling. The message they convey about the Constitution’s value in all of the issues we are currently experiencing is depressing.