Staff Reports
Matt Taibbi, a contributing editor for Rolling Stone, revealed that James Baker, the former FBI lawyer who helped approve the controversial FISA warrant used to spy on Donald Trump's campaign, helped censor a story about Hunter Biden's laptop. This is all according to a report by the Daily Caller.
Of course he did https://t.co/npSVpD0Tic
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) December 5, 2022
Elon Musk released a series of documents Friday afternoon that revealed how the company suppressed a New York Post story regarding Biden's private laptop in 2020.
The documents, which were referred to as the 'Twitter Files'. According to Taibbi, the data revealed that executives at Twitter worked with Biden's office to suppress the story.
At the time, Baker was Twitter's Deputy General Counsel. He reportedly argued that it was possible that the materials might have been hacked.
In an email to Taibbi, Baker stated that he supports the idea that the documents might have been hacked. However, he noted that it's still too early to tell if the materials were hacked.
28. To which former Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker again seems to advise staying the non-course, because “caution is warranted”: pic.twitter.com/tg4D0gLWI6
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022
When he approved the FISA warrant that was used to spy on the Trump campaign, Baker did not seem to exercise the same kind of caution. The warrant was based on faulty information.
During his testimony in 2018, Baker confirmed that he personally reviewed the application for the FISA warrant against Carter Page. In August 2016, the FBI asked for a warrant to be issued against Page, but the agency's lawyers argued that they needed more information to support their allegations that he was a Russian operative.
In September that year, Christopher Steele, a former British spy, gave the FBI six memos that were part of the 'Steele dossier.' The FBI then approved the warrant.
A report released by the Justice Department's inspector general later revealed that the FBI relied on the Steele Dossier when it applied for the FISA warrant. However, it did not provide enough evidence to support its allegations.
After reading the inspector general's report, Baker said that it was “preposterous” to believe that the FBI would not have relied on the Steele Dossier when it applied for the FISA warrant.
The Justice Department then conducted an investigation into Baker after it was revealed that he had shared classified information with journalists. In June of 2020, he was hired by Twitter to serve as its new legal counsel.
