The Biden family and big tech came under fire from House Republicans on on Wednesday in a hearing on Twitter’s handling of a news story regarding a laptop belonging to President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.

The hearing, titled “Protecting Speech from Government Interference and Social Media Bias, Part 1: Twitter’s Role in Suppressing the Biden Laptop Story” comes after the new Republican majority last week started a string of investigations expected to run through the 2024 elections.

White House spokesperson Ian Sams issued a statement Wednesday calling the meeting a “bizarre political stunt” in a report by The Hill.

“The morning after President Biden delivered a State of the Union Address emphasizing the significant progress we’ve made as a nation to generate historic job and economic growth and the work still to be done to address Americans’ top priorities like tackling inflation, raising wages, and investing in manufacturing and infrastructure jobs, House Republicans are making it their top priority to stage a bizarre political stunt,” Sams said.

For Republicans, the investigations are seen as a way to bring long-sought accountability to the Biden administration, even if their efforts go no further than the chamber. For Democrats, the probes amount to political score-settling that aims to use the committees as a two-year campaign commercial.

The investigations, led by new Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jim Jordan, , R-Ohio, and House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., covered numerous topics, but the discourse over an alleged bias against conservatives took center stage.

The committee on Wednesday began with the probe of Twitter and its handling of a New York Post story about the laptop once owned by Hunter Biden. The social media platform limited the article’s posting. Comer accused Twitter and the FBI of “colluding” to censor the story, though little evidence was presented showing that this was the case.

“Americans deserve answers about this attack on the First Amendment and why Big Tech and the Swamp colluded to censor this information about the Biden family selling access for profit,” Comer said in a statement announcing the hearing. “Accountability is coming.”

Three former Twitter officials were called forward by the GOP: Vijaya Gadde, a former legal officer; Jim Baker, a former Twitter and FBI legal consultant; and Yoel Roth, Twitter’s former head of trust and safety. None of the three corroborated the GOP claims that they colluded with the FBI to silence the New York Post story, according to Politico.

Instead the former Twitter officials maintained what they have said before: a mistake was made and ultimately fixed with a policy change within a few days.

“I’ve been clear that in my judgment at the time, Twitter should not have taken action to block the New York Post’s reporting,” Roth said.

In front of a backdrop of headlines about Hunter Biden’s alleged laptop blown up on poster boards, Republicans on the committee asserted that there was a social-media bias against conservatives that has been orchestrated between the government and various social-media companies. Meanwhile Roth said Twitter’s decisions about content often enflamed both sides of the aisle, Politico writes.

Democrats did not sit in silence on Wednesday. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. contended that the New York Post attempted to subvert journalism ethics by sharing a story that other news organizations, such as The Washington Post, could not confirm.

“Twitter did not let them and now they’re upset,” she said. “I believe that political operatives who sought to inject explosive information with The Washington Post couldn’t get away with it and now they’re livid. And they want the ability to do it again.”

“They’re weaponizing the use of this committee so they can do it again,” she continued. “A whole hearing about a 24-hour hiccup in a right-wing operation.”

CURRENTPH NEWS SERVICE