{"id":1762314,"date":"2022-12-04T06:30:36","date_gmt":"2022-12-04T11:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1762314"},"modified":"2022-12-04T11:05:03","modified_gmt":"2022-12-04T16:05:03","slug":"jonathan-turley-twitter-files-reveal-familiar-name-in-hunter-biden-laptop-scandal-james-baker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jonathan-turley-twitter-files-reveal-familiar-name-in-hunter-biden-laptop-scandal-james-baker\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonathan Turley: Twitter Files Reveal Familiar Name in Hunter Biden Laptop Scandal: James Baker"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjonathan-turley-twitter-files-reveal-familiar-name-in-hunter-biden-laptop-scandal-james-baker%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1762314&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>As thousands of Twitter documents are released on the company\u2019s infamous censorship program, much has been confirmed about the use of back channels by Biden and Democratic officials to silence critics on the social media platform. However, one familiar name immediately popped out in the first batch of documents released through journalist Matt Taibbi: James Baker. For many, James Baker is fast becoming the Kevin Bacon of the Russian collusion scandals.<\/p>\n<p>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\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/05\/20\/politics\/sussmann-durham-clinton-baker\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">later testify<\/a>\u00a0at Sussmann\u2019s trial). Baker\u2019s name also appeared prominently in controversies related to the other Russian-related FBI allegations against Trump. He was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/national-security\/386331-two-former-advisers-to-comey-leave-fbi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">effectively forced out<\/a>\u00a0due to his role and reportedly\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/01\/15\/politics\/james-baker-under-criminal-investigation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">found himself under criminal investigation<\/a>. He became a defender of the Russian investigations despite findings of biased and even criminal conduct. He was also a frequent target of Donald Trump on social media, including Twitter. Baker responded with public criticism of Trump for his \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/xn--trumps%20false%20narrative-ik2pyc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">false narratives<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"inline-slideshow\" data-component=\"inlineSlideshow\">\n<div class=\"inline-slideshow__header\">\n\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"button inline-slideshow__nav inline-slideshow__nav--prev inline-slideshow__nav--disabled\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Previous<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/button><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<span>1<\/span> of <span>10<\/span>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"button inline-slideshow__nav inline-slideshow__nav--next\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Next<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/james-baker-1-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/james-baker-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Baker has featured repeatedly in the Russian investigations launched by the Justice Department.\" class=\"wp-image-24885153\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/james-baker-1-1.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/james-baker-1-1.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/james-baker-1-1.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>James Baker has been featured repeatedly in the Russian investigations launched by the Justice Department.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Ron Sachs\/CNP for NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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. Not only was Joe Biden\u2019s son Hunter and brother James involved in deals with an array of dubious foreign figures, but Joe Biden was referenced as the possible recipient of funds from these deals.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s and key emails could be confirmed from the other parties involved. However, at the request of the \u201cBiden team\u201d 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\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2020\/10\/14\/kayleigh-mcenany-locked-out-of-twitter-for-sharing-posts-hunter-biden-story\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">suspended for linking to the scandal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/hunter-biden-laptop-10.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/hunter-biden-laptop-10.jpg\" alt=\"President Joe Biden alongside his embattled son Hunter in Aug. 2022.\" class=\"wp-image-24885163\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/hunter-biden-laptop-10.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/hunter-biden-laptop-10.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/hunter-biden-laptop-10.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>President Joe Biden alongside his embattled son Hunter in Aug. 2022.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"inline-slideshow\" data-component=\"inlineSlideshow\">\n<div class=\"inline-slideshow__header\">\n\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"button inline-slideshow__nav inline-slideshow__nav--prev inline-slideshow__nav--disabled\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Previous<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/button><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<span>1<\/span> of <span>10<\/span>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"button inline-slideshow__nav inline-slideshow__nav--next\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Next<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Even inside Twitter, the move raised serious concerns over the company serving as a censor for the Biden campaign. Global Comms Brandon Borrman who\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/12\/02\/elon-musk-releases-twitters-files-on-censorship-of-post\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">asked<\/a>\u00a0if \u00a0the company could \u201ctruthfully claim that this is part of the policy\u201d\u00a0for barring posts and suspending users.<\/p>\n<p>Baker quickly jumped in to support the censorship and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/elon-musk-reveals-twitter-suppressing-hunter-biden-story-2020\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0\u201cit\u2019s reasonable for us to assume that they may have been [hacked] and that caution is warranted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/national-security\/ratcliffe-says-no-proof-foreign-actors-tied-biden-laptop-officials-n1243874\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">quickly rejected<\/a>\u00a0the Russian disinformation claim.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/hunter-biden-laptop-11-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"810\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/hunter-biden-laptop-11-1.jpg\" alt=\"At the behest of \" the Biden team \/><\/a><figcaption>At the behest of \u201cthe Biden team,\u201d Twitter allegedly suppressed details from the Hunter Biden laptop files.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"inline-slideshow\" data-component=\"inlineSlideshow\">\n<div class=\"inline-slideshow__header\">\n\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"button inline-slideshow__nav inline-slideshow__nav--prev inline-slideshow__nav--disabled\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Previous<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/button><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<span>1<\/span> of <span>10<\/span>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"button inline-slideshow__nav inline-slideshow__nav--next\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Next<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>However, Baker insisted that there was a \u201creasonable\u201d assumption that Russians were behind another major scandal.\u00a0Faced with a major scandal implicating a Joe Biden in the corrupt selling of access to foreign figures (including some with foreign intelligence associations), Baker\u2019s natural default was to kill the story and stop others from sharing the allegations.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<h2>Catch up on Twitter\u2019s censorship of the Post\u2019s Hunter Biden laptop story<\/h2>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>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 \u201cmade man\u201d for a company committed to systemic censorship. He would be working with the chief legal officer at the company, Vijaya Gadde, who functioned as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2022\/05\/05\/five-steps-to-free-speech-in-social-media-a-musk-roadmap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the company\u2019s chief censor<\/a>.\u00a0 Gadde was widely reviled by free speech advocates for her dismissal of free speech principles and open political bias. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Not unexpectedly, Gadde and Baker would play prominent roles in the suppression of the Hunter Biden scandal. There was hardly a need to round up \u201cthe usual suspects\u201d in the suppression scandal when Musk took over the company. Both lawyers swatted down internal misgivings to bury a story that could well have made the difference in the close 2020 election.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/vijaya-gadde.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"744\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/vijaya-gadde.jpg\" alt=\"Vijaya Gadde has been reviled by free speech advocates for her dismissal of free speech principles and open political bias. \u00a0\" class=\"wp-image-24885160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/vijaya-gadde.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1488 1488w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/vijaya-gadde.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1116 1116w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/vijaya-gadde.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=744 744w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/vijaya-gadde.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=372 372w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/vijaya-gadde.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Vijaya Gadde has been reviled by free speech advocates for her dismissal of free speech principles and open political bias. \u00a0<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"inline-slideshow\" data-component=\"inlineSlideshow\">\n<div class=\"inline-slideshow__header\">\n\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"button inline-slideshow__nav inline-slideshow__nav--prev inline-slideshow__nav--disabled\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Previous<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/button><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<span>1<\/span> of <span>12<\/span>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"button inline-slideshow__nav inline-slideshow__nav--next\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Next<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It now appears that most of the figures and institutions involved in Russian collusion claims are within six degrees of James Baker. Not only did Baker work closely with fired FBI director James Comey and other key figures at the Justice Department, but he was an acquaintance of key Clinton figures like Sussmann who pushed the false collusion allegations. He was also\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/news-releases\/former-fbi-official-james-baker-joins-brookings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hired by Brookings Institution<\/a>, which also has a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2021\/11\/08\/six-degrees-from-brookings-how-a-liberal-think-tank-keeps-coming-up-in-the-russian-collusion-investigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">curious Bacon-like role in the origins and development of the false Russian collusion allegations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>None of these means that Baker was the driving force of the scandals. To the contrary, Baker earned his bones in Washington as a facilitator, a reliable ally when it came to the business of the Beltway. It is hardly a surprise that Baker found a home at Twitter where \u201ccaution\u201d was always \u201cwarranted\u201d in dealing with potentially damaging stories for Democratic interests.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As thousands of Twitter documents are released on the company\u2019s infamous censorship program, much has been confirmed about the use of back channels by Biden and Democratic officials<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1762317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1762314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1762314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1762314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1762314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1762317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1762314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1762314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1762314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}