Elon Musk Fires Deputy General Counsel For Suppressing Information Important To Public: “In light of concerns about Baker’s possible role in suppression of information important to the public dialogue, he was exited from Twitter today”
Elon Musk fired deputy general counsel Jim Baker over his involvement in suppressing information important to the public. Baker was a key player in Twitter’s effort to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story.
Musk said: “In light of concerns about Baker’s possible role in suppression of information important to the public dialogue, he was exited from Twitter today
Jonathan Turley wrote about Baker: “Baker has been featured repeatedly in the Russian investigations launched by the Justice Department, including the hoax involving the Russian Alfa Bank. When Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann wanted to plant the bizarre false claim of a secret communications channel between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, Baker was his go-to, speed-dial contact. (Baker would later testify at Sussmann’s trial). Baker’s name also appeared prominently in controversies related to the other Russian-related FBI allegations against Trump.
“After leaving the FBI, Twitter seemed eager to hire Baker as deputy general counsel. Ironically, Baker soon became involved in another alleged back channel with a presidential campaign.
“This time it was Twitter that maintained the non-public channels with the Biden campaign (and later the White House). Baker soon weighed in with the same signature bias that characterized the Russian investigations.
In light of concerns about Baker’s possible role in suppression of information important to the public dialogue, he was exited from Twitter today
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 6, 2022
“Weeks before the 2020 presidential election, the New York Post ran an explosive story about a laptop abandoned by Hunter Biden that contained emails and records detailing a multimillion dollar influence peddling operation by the Biden family.
“The Bidens had long been accused of influence peddling, nepotism, and other forms of corruption. Moreover, the campaign was not denying that the laptop was Hunter Biden’s and key emails could be confirmed from the other parties involved.
“However, at the request of the “Biden team” and Democratic operatives, Twitter moved to block the story.
“It even suspended those who tried to share the allegations with others, including the White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who was suspended for linking to the scandal.
“Even inside Twitter, the move raised serious concerns over the company serving as a censor for the Biden campaign.
“Global Comms Brandon Borrman who asked if the company could “truthfully claim that this is part of the policy” for barring posts and suspending users.
“Baker quickly jumped in to support the censorship and said that “it’s reasonable for us to assume that they may have been [hacked] and that caution is warranted.”
“Keep in mind that there was never any evidence that this material was hacked. Moreover, there was no evidence of Russian involvement in the laptop. Indeed, U.S. intelligence quickly rejected the Russian disinformation claim.
“However, Baker insisted that there was a “reasonable” assumption that Russians were behind another major scandal.
“Faced with a major scandal implicating a Joe Biden in the corrupt selling of access to foreign figures (including some with foreign intelligence associations), Baker’s natural default was to kill the story and stop others from sharing the allegations.
“The released documents may show why Twitter was so eager to hire Baker despite his role in the Russian collusion controversies. What likely would have been a liability for most companies seemed an actual draw for Twitter.
“For censors and political operatives in Twitter, Baker likely seemed like a “made man” for a company committed to systemic censorship.
“He would be working with the chief legal officer at the company, Vijaya Gadde, who functioned as the company’s chief censor. Gadde was widely reviled by free speech advocates for her dismissal of free speech principles and open political bias,” Turley wrote.
Yes. His explanation was …unconvincing.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 6, 2022