Trey Gowdy slams media for not covering Hunter Biden bombshell
The former South Carolina congressman and 'Doesn't Hurt to Ask' author on Facebook, Twitter restricting the New York Post Hunter Biden bombshell report.
Trey Gowdy criticized the mainstream media for failing to do its job after the New York Post bombshell report on Hunter Biden was restricted by Facebook and Twitter.
"If the emails are authentic, then there is potential criminality under the lobby registration acts, but the FBI's not supposed to get involved in politics, that's hard for us to believe after 2016, but they're really not supposed to," Gowdy told "Fox & Friends" Thursday.
"But if the information is reliable, then the media provides the noncriminal oversight in our culture, and I've seen no stories," he said. "There have been more stories about whether Kamala Harris saw the fly on Mike Pence's head than whether or not Hunter Biden was trafficking in his father's name and influence."
The former South Carolina congressman said Senate Republicans need to question Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on what policy was applied for blocking the story.
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"There's tons of stuff I see on Twitter and Facebook, and it has zero reliability and authenticity. This is a story from a major newspaper and you're blocking access to it. That means ... you're not a real platform. You're just another liberal editor."
"The Senate Republicans need to ask Jack Dorsey, 'What is your policy?' so we can decide whether or not we're going to start regulating this," he said in reference to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 that protects social media companies from liability.
Gowdy said the report is relevant because Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden claimed he never discussed foreign business with his son Hunter Biden.
"If he did discuss it with his son, then his credibility is impeached and that's legitimately questioned and should be questioned," Gowdy explained. "Even if he didn't discuss business ... well his son is out there trafficking in his father's name and reputation, making lots of money. Wouldn't you want to know that?"
President Trump called for a federal clamp-down on the tech giants on Twitter.
"So terrible that Facebook and Twitter took down the story of 'Smoking Gun' emails related to Sleepy Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, in the [New York Post]," Trump tweeted. "It is only the beginning for them. There is nothing worse than a corrupt politician. REPEAL SECTION 230!!!"
Twitter sent a series of tweets Wednesday night clarifying why the New York Post articles were in violation of its "hacked materials policy."
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The company's 2018 policy prohibits the distribution of content "obtained without authorization." Twitter doesn't want to incentivize hacking or circulating "possibly illegally obtained materials."
"Commentary on or discussion about hacked materials, such as articles that cover them but do not include or link to the materials themselves, aren’t a violation of this policy," Twitter said. "Our policy only covers links to or images of hacked material themselves."
Dorsey also shared the update and said the company had not done a good enough job of communicating why it took the actions it did.
But Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said Dorsey's response was "a joke," and he called on the Twitter and Facebook executives to testify under oath before his Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism.
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A growing number of GOP lawmakers are demanding answers from Facebook and Twitter, including Hawley, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. They sent letters to one or both of the social media companies decrying the suppression of the Hunter Biden story and questioning whether the tech executives made the decision in cahoots with the Biden presidential campaign.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., accused Facebook and Twitter of meddling in the presidential election.
"Big Tech is trying to steal the election," Gaetz tweeted.
The Biden campaign said the former vice president engaged in "no wrongdoing" and the alleged meeting never took place.
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"Investigations by the press, during impeachment, and even by two Republican-led Senate committees whose work was decried as 'not legitimate' and political by a GOP colleague have all reached the same conclusion: that Joe Biden carried out official U.S. policy toward Ukraine and engaged in no wrongdoing," Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said. "Trump Administration officials have attested to these facts under oath."
Bates added: "Moreover, we have reviewed Joe Biden's official schedules from the time and no meeting, as alleged by the New York Post, ever took place."
Fox News' Brian Flood, Brooke Singman and Marisa Schultz contributed to this report.
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