The Trump campaign reportedly worked with Elon Musk‘s social media platform, X, to halt the dissemination of hacked campaign materials on the former president's running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).
What Happened: These materials, allegedly acquired through an Iranian hack, were shared by independent journalist Ken Klippenstein, leading to the suspension of his account and the blocking of links to his Substack.
According to The New York Times, Klippenstein’s actions were deemed a violation of X’s rules, as he posted “unredacted private personal information,” including sensitive data about Vance.
This collaboration between X and the Trump campaign has sparked concerns among lawmakers, with Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) questioning the potential for hearings on the matter.
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The House Judiciary’s weaponization subcommittee has previously investigated alleged censorship of conservative speech by the Biden administration.
The FBI confirmed that the hack, targeting the Trump campaign, was orchestrated by Iran.
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Why It Matters: The suspension of Klippenstein’s account on X has led to accusations against Musk of being an “outspoken” Trump supporter.
This incident follows warnings from the FBI and other intelligence agencies about potential Iranian attempts to influence the U.S. election, as reported on Threads, which also restricted access to the leaked documents.
Earlier, U.S. intelligence agencies revealed that Iran tried to share hacked Trump campaign data with President Biden’s team, though the FBI found no evidence of a response from Biden’s campaign, as detailed in a joint statement by the FBI, ODNI, and CISA.
This situation echoes past controversies, such as Musk’s decision to make internal Twitter conversations public regarding the censorship of the New York Post’s story on Hunter Biden’s laptop, which he deemed “necessary to restore public trust."
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