Twitter CEO Elon Musk suggested Wednesday that President Joe Biden’s administration may “weaponize federal agencies” against his platform if former President Donald Trump begins tweeting again.
Anonymous sources told NBC News Wednesday that Trump has considered posting to Twitter again after being reinstated by Musk in November. Before Musk’s takeover, Twitter permanently suspended Trump from its platforms following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Trump initially said he would not use his newly reactivated Twitter account and would instead stick to his Truth Social platform.
The Twitter CEO said the Biden administration may direct federal agencies to target Twitter if the former president uses his account.
“Will be interesting to see how the Biden administration reacts to this,” Musk tweeted. “They may try to weaponize Federal agencies against Twitter.”
Will be interesting to see how the Biden administration reacts to this.
They may try to weaponize Federal agencies against Twitter.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 18, 2023
Since early December, Musk has been working with journalists to release the “Twitter Files.” One batch of these internal communications revealed the involvement of federal agencies, including the FBI and CIA, in suppressing the New York Post’s Oct. 2020 report on Hunter Biden’s laptop. Twitter General Deputy Counsel Jim Baker, a former FBI lawyer, sent an internal message defending the suppression of the story, according to materials released by journalist Matt Taibbi. (RELATED: Trump Asks Facebook To Reinstate His Account)
The FBI also warned former Twitter Head of Trust and Safety Yoel Roth of a potential “hack-and-leak” operation by state actors to interfere in the election, a signed declaration revealed.
On Dec. 21, the FBI released a statement denouncing the “Twitter Files” as an attempt to “discredit the agency.”
“It is unfortunate that conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the American public misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency,” the agency said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Musk “haphazardly” released the “Twitter Files” to distract the public from the misinformation and hate speech she said were rampant on the platform.