I previously wrote about the closeness between Twitter and the FBI. The FBI regularly contacts Twitter users to flag tweets for their attention. It’s not criminal tweets, mind you. But anything that would make you think the FBI should be concerned. They’re just focusing on “election misinformation” and things like jokes about election day.
There were deeper connections between Twitter and the FBI, which was revealed by the addition of the 80-member team of social media-oriented FBI agent agents, regular contacts for flag tweets, and weekly meetings between the FBI with other executive agencies.
We are familiar with James Baker, former FBI general counsel. He joined Twitter in June 2020 as its deputy general counsel. Elon Musk fired him for allegedly having vetted Twitter files without permission.
It turned out that there were many more. More than a dozen ex-FBI officials have gone on to take important positions at Twitter.
Matthew Williams was a senior supervisory Intelligence analyst and was with the FBI for fifteen years. He was also a Democratic donor. Baker joined Twitter in the same month. He was “senior vice president of product trust, revenue policy, and counsel systems & analysis at Twitter” and he noted that this was a significant position.
Dawn Burton, the former deputy chief-of-staff for James Comey’s FBI Director, joined Twitter in September 2019. She was “director of the strategy, operations and counsel organization”. She was also a Democratic donor. She left to join Google in July.
Jeff Carlton was an intelligence officer in Marine Corps and worked for the FBI, the CIA, and the FBI. In May 2021, he joined Twitter. He was part of the “Strategic Response Team”, which dealt with high-profile suspensions. He also donated $100 to a California Democrat for 2021.
There were many more.
After 12 years of FBI intelligence analyst work, Kevin Michelena became a “Senior Security Analyst” at Twitter in July 2021. His collaboration with “public policy & site integrity leads has ensured policies are properly implemented which has mitigated the risk to users from identified threats actors,” but as the NY Post pointed out, his LinkedIn profile has been “heavily deleted.”
Michael Bertrand, a 23-year veteran of the FBI, was a chief of staff to the top brass and worked in counterterrorism, and internal investigations, as well as being a chief officer to the FBI’s top brass. He joined Twitter in January.
Karen Walsh, a former FBI Special Agent who spent more than 20 years on “Public-Private Sector Outreach,” joined Twitter in March 2020.
Doug Hunt, a 20-year veteran as a supervisory agent, was appointed a “Senior Director” at Twitter in February 2016.
Vincent Lucero, a supervisory special agent who has been with the FBI for over 20 years, joined Twitter as a “Senior Safety Manager” in July 2019.
Mark Jaroszewski, another supervisory special agent, was appointed director of corporate security on August 2018. He was “focused to help the FBI create strategic and mutually beneficial relationships with the private sector,” he said.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R.OH) stated that they are investigating many aspects of the Twitter scandal and FBI connections, as well as if the government was operating a “misinformation campaign.”
What’s the deal with so many people? This is a deliberate effort by the government and their former employees to control such a large social media platform. It seems quite concerning at this stage, especially considering the level of policing jokes they are making that could offend Democrats. Elon Musk might need to review the people he has left at the agency and what they’re doing.
