‘Precisely the Opposite’: Dan Goldman Rebuts Republican Colleague’s Twitter Claim on House Floor

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) rebutted GOP colleague Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC), on Wednesday over a floor speech in which Edwards accused the federal government of “coordinating” with Twitter to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story and interfering in the 2020 election. Goldman and Edwards gave dueling floor speeches on a GOP-sponsored bill aimed at protecting speech on social media platforms.

“In a recent hearing held by the Oversight and Accountability Committee with former executives from Twitter, a clear and very disturbing pattern emerged,” Edwards declared, adding:

A coordinated effort between a privately owned social media giant and the federal government to suppress critical reporting ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

Goldman had a much different view of the hearing.

“I have no idea what hearing the gentleman from North Carolina is referring to, because at the hearing with Twitter executives that I attended, where the head of trust and safety was specifically asked if the FBI had given any information, instructions or directions about the Hunter Biden New York Post story,” Goldman replied.

“He specifically said, ‘No.’ They did not receive any information. So if that’s what you all think, that you are basing this bill on, the actual facts and evidence are precisely the opposite of that. It’s preposterous that you continue to say that over and over and over as if it’s true when the evidence is directly contradictory to that,” Goldman concluded.

During the February House Oversight hearings on Twitter, top executives expressed regret and argued they made a mistake by temporarily suppressing the New York Post’s Hunter Biden laptop story, but all of the witnesses made clear they were not pressured by government officials to do so.

Ironically, many of the key takeaways from the hearings ended up being about the Trump administration, including pressure to have Twitter delete a tweet by Chrissy Teigen critical of Donald Trump, and Democrats accusing Twitter of not doing enough to stop the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Watch the clip above.