Missouri AG Issues Preservation of Evidence Demand for Feds’ Communications With Twitter

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced he sent a legal notice to Twitter asking the platform to preserve evidence relating to communications between the company and the federal government relating to “misinformation” or “content moderation.”

On the platform, Schmitt, a Republican, made reference to new owner Elon Musk’s decision to release communications to journalist Matt Taibbi and others—known as the “Twitter Files”—that showed former FBI official and then-Twitter general counsel James Baker communicated with other Twitter managers about the 2020 Hunter Biden laptop story. According to emails released by Taibbi, Baker had called for the laptop story to remain censored amid discussion about how to proceed with the story weeks ahead of the General Election.

“We sent a letter to Twitter,” Schmitt, who was elected to Missouri’s Senate seat last month, wrote on Monday evening, “asking the platform to look into whether any key documents were deleted.”

The letter, in part, calls for Twitter to conduct a “preservation of evidence” in connection to a lawsuit Schmitt and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry had filed against the federal government earlier this year. Citing Musk’s recent disclosures, Schmitt wrote that the firm needs to take immediate steps to prevent the destruction of evidence that may have occurred under Baker’s direction.

“Further, we asked Twitter to reveal who from the federal government communicated with Twitter to censor speech. Based on our recent depositions, we believe the previous list we received pursuant to a third party subpoena was incomplete,” the Republican attorney general wrote. “Lastly, we asked Twitter to provide responsive documents pursuant to our original third party subpoena.”

After Taibbi’s initial reporting, it was later revealed that Baker was vetting documents and messages that were being sent to him and other journalists under Musk’s direction. Musk wrote last week that Baker had departed the company, although it’s not clear why he was still working there after Musk took it over in October.

Taibbi wrote that Baker allegedly was “vetting the first batch of ‘Twitter Files’ – without knowledge of new management” under Musk.

“The news that Baker was reviewing the ‘Twitter files’ surprised everyone involved, to say the least. New Twitter chief Elon Musk acted quickly to ‘exit’ Baker Tuesday,” Taibbi also wrote on Dec. 6. “Reporters resumed searches through Twitter Files material—a lot of it—today. The next installment of ‘The Twitter Files’ will appear” in the near future, he wrote.

Schmitt argued that if Baker or other Twitter staff are destroying or are in the process of destroying documents relevant to his lawsuit, “such actions would impose unfair prejudice on us and our clients.” Because of the suit, Twitter should “take immediate steps to prevent such spoliation activities.”

The Epoch Times has contacted an email associated with Baker for comment. Since he departed Twitter, Baker has not publicly issued any comments.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, left, talks to reporters with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in Washington in an April 26, 2022, file image. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Before serving as Twitter’s general counsel starting in 2020, Baker had a role as the FBI’s general counsel for several years. Notably, in special counsel John Durham’s case against former Hillary Clinton lawyer Michael Sussmann, Durham had alleged Sussmann had provided information about the Trump Organization to Baker during the 2016 presidential campaign.

The files showed that Baker has involved in the decision-making process when Twitter moved to block sharing or direct messaging of the New York Post’s October 2020 story detailing Hunter Biden’s business deals. The Post was also locked out of its account for several weeks after the article was posted online.

Baker, according to messages posted by Taibbi, had written around that time that he supports the “conclusion that we need more facts to assess whether the materials were hacked.”

It was later determined that details of the story that were sourced from the laptop were authentic. At the time, a Delaware computer repair shop owner confirmed that Hunter Biden left the laptop at his business and never returned for it, which has never been disputed by the younger Biden.

Several news outlets that initially suggested the NY Post story was part of a Russian disinformation plot later interviewed forensic experts who said the laptop was authentic. However, those stories were published months or even years after it was revealed in the fall of 2020.

Responding to questions about Baker’s exit last week, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that the administration was not involved and was not in communication with him or anyone else at Twitter.

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Jack Phillips is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times based in New York. He covers breaking news.

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