The House Judiciary Committee has issued a subpoena to FBI agent Elvis Chan, following the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision to prevent his testimony regarding the bureau’s response to the Hunter Biden laptop story.
According to a report by Daily Caller on Saturday, September 16, 2023, this move comes as a startling development in the ongoing saga surrounding the laptop’s controversy and potential censorship efforts by the FBI.
Chan was originally slated to testify before the House Judiciary Committee, shedding light on his involvement in the FBI’s alleged pressure on social media companies to censor the Hunter Biden laptop archive.
Moreover, there were concerns surrounding false statements Chan made during his testimony in November 2022, linked to the ongoing Missouri v. Biden censorship lawsuit.
The FBI expressed its frustration over the situation, stating, “Today, after an FBI employee traveled across the country to voluntarily participate in a scheduled interview, he was denied the right to have his chosen legal counsel accompany him.”
Their statement continued, “Upon arrival at the Capitol, Committee staff directed agency counsel to leave the premises, and the interview was unable to proceed.”
Key Republican figure, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, entered the fray by sharing internal Facebook documents in August.
These documents seemed to indicate that Chan had provided false information during his previous testimony concerning his interactions with tech companies in relation to the Hunter Biden laptop story.
One crucial detail in this ongoing controversy is Chan’s attempt to cooperate with the committee by offering to be interviewed with his personal counsel present.
Unfortunately, the DOJ’s involvement complicated matters further, as they dispatched agency counsel to the interview despite Chan’s preference for his personal representation.
According to committee rules, witnesses are not permitted to have both agency counsel and personal counsel during interviews.
Reuters initially reported on the DOJ’s efforts to stymie Chan’s testimony by insisting on agency counsel’s presence during the interview.
Rep. Jim Jordan underscored the importance of the situation in a tweet, stating, “THE FACEBOOK FILES PART 4. FBI LIED ABOUT MEETING WITH BIG TECH REGARDING NY POST’S HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP STORY.”
He further elaborated on the contents of internal Facebook documents that suggested Chan had made false statements about the FBI’s involvement in suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story.
Elvis Chan played a critical role as the intermediary between the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF) and various social media platforms leading up to the 2020 presidential election.
This revelation comes from internal documents referred to as the “Twitter files” and corroborated by the House Judiciary Committee.
Laura Dehmlow, FITF Section Chief, testified that she and Chan met with Facebook on October 14, 2020, a significant date when the Hunter Biden laptop story first emerged in the New York Post.
During this meeting, the FBI chose to respond with a “no comment” regarding the laptop’s authenticity, despite being aware of its veracity.
Notably, the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop have been independently verified by several media outlets, including The Daily Caller News Foundation, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and others.
As the House Judiciary Committee pushes forward with its investigation, the spotlight remains on the FBI’s actions and Elvis Chan’s testimony, which has now become a focal point in the ongoing debate over Biden laptop story’s suppression and its potential implications.
The subpoena issued to Chan underscores the committee’s determination to uncover the truth behind this contentious issue.
