Elon fires Twitter’s general counsel James Baker

Twit chief Elon Musk has fired Twitter general counsel James A. Baker, citing his alleged involvement in suppressing the release of internal documents on Twitter’s censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal.

“In light of concerns about Baker’s possible role in suppressing information important to public dialogue, he has been removed from Twitter today,” Musk wrote in a tweet on Tuesday.

Musk added that Baker’s explanation of the events surrounding the laptop saga was “lame.”

Journalist Matt Taibbi, who published the first batch of internal files on the Hunter saga on Friday, claimed that Baker had been fired in part for “scrutinizing the first batch of ‘Twitter Files’, without the knowledge of the new management.”

Also Tuesday, Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, sent Baker a letter requesting his appearance before the House Oversight Committee next year, when the Republican Party takes control of the House.

Before joining Twitter, Baker was a former FBI general counsel under James Comey, and played a key role in the saga surrounding the bureau’s controversial investigation into possible collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Baker’s departure from Twitter follows the release last week of internal documents showing him and other executives discussing the company’s October 2020 ban on a news report on Hunter’s foreign dealings, based on emails. of his abandoned laptop.

On Friday, Taibbi released the batch of internal documents, calling them the “Twitter Files,” which included an exchange between Baker and former vice president of global communications Brandon Borrman.

Borrman asks, regarding the banning of an article about Hunter Biden under Twitter’s ‘hacked materials’ policy: ‘Can we honestly say that this is part of the policy?’

Baker responded, appearing to argue in favor of upholding the ban, because “caution is warranted.”

In a new Twitter thread on Tuesday, Taibbi alleged that Baker had been fired after it was discovered that he “vetted” internal documents before they were published and delayed the delivery of a second tranche of files to Taibbi and another journalist, Bari Weiss. .

Taibbi wrote that the “new management,” meaning Musk, was unaware of Baker’s role in reviewing the files prior to publication.

Developing story, more to follow.