The Department of Justice pulled a last-minute maneuver to block an FBI agent allegedly involved in Big Tech’s suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story from testifying before Congress. 

The House Judiciary Committee is investigating whether Hunter Biden’s laptop was downplayed by social media companies. As part of the probe, Chairman Jim Jordan uncovered that an FBI agent involved in the saga – Elvis Chan – lied about the computer.

Chan had agreed to voluntarily appear Friday to provide the committee testimony and be represented by his personal counsel. 

Agency witnesses are allowed to bring either agency counsel or personal counsel to committee interviews, but not both. The rule is set up so agency witnesses can be more candid in testimony without fear of professional retribution, according to the committee.

But two sources with direct knowledge of the situation tell DailyMail.com that DOJ derailed the testimony because agency counsel also showed up Friday morning. As a result, Chan’s interview did not take place as planned.

Now, an official subpoena is expected to be issued later Friday for Chan to appear for a transcribed interview next Thursday, Sept. 21. 

The FBI disputed the claim that DOJ blocked Chan from testifying, calling it a ‘significant departure’ from normal procedures. And the DOJ said the committee blocked the interview, not them.

‘Today, after an FBI employee traveled across the country to voluntarily participate in a scheduled interview, he was denied the right to have his chosen legal counsel accompany him,’ an FBI spokesperson told DailyMail.com.

‘Upon arrival at the Capitol, Committee staff directed agency counsel to leave the premises, and the interview was unable to proceed. This is a significant departure from normal procedures and an unnecessary escalation of this Committee’s treatment of FBI officials. The FBI employee remains willing to take part in a voluntary interview with appropriate legal representation.’

‘The FBI recognizes the importance of congressional oversight and will continue to proceed in accordance with the long established accommodations process,’ the spokesperson continued.

The spokesperson also noted that more than a dozen other FBI employees have participated in interviews with the committee with no incident.

A Justice Department official told DailyMail.com that ‘DOJ did not block the interview, the Committee did.’

‘Agent Chan chose to be represented by both agency and personal counsel. He went to the Capitol this morning to testify and, instead of asking him questions, Committee staff turned him away and threatened to throw agency counsel out of the room.’ 

Last month, Jordan published excerpts of the testimony given by Chan, who served as one of the FBI’s liaisons with tech companies, and Laura Dehmlow, the current FBI section chief of the Foreign Influence Task Force.

Chan testified in November 2022 as part of Missouri and Louisiana‘s lawsuit against the federal government and the Biden administration for colluding with social media companies to censor speech.

Jordan said that Chan held a repeat meeting with Facebook about the laptop, but testified he had only had one session. He also testified that he was not aware of internal debate about the laptop, but told a colleague he was ‘up to speed.’

Dehmlow spoke to Jordan’s committee earlier this summer without incident. 

Jordan said that Dehmlow revealed how the FBI knew the laptop was not a forgery or plant, but refused to confirm its authenticity to social media companies. 

Jordan recently publicized internal Facebook documents have resulted in bombshell revelations about Hunter Biden’s laptop, arguing that it illustrated the FBI knew the laptop was authentic and belonged to him – but refused to confirm the fact to Facebook and Twitter.

That decision led to the New York Post’s report about the laptop being blocked by the social media companies, who labelled it as disinformation.

‘Internal FB docs reveal that an FBI Special Agent made false statements in testimony about the FBI’s role in the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story,’ tweeted Jordan last month.

Jordan explained in a Twitter thread how, on October 14, 2020, The New York Post published its first story about the laptop, which Biden had left behind in a Delaware repair shop.

The laptop contained damning pictures of Hunter doing drugs and enjoying the company of prostitutes. 

It also contained emails and massive amounts of information about his business dealings. 

On the day the Post published its story, Chan and Dehmlow met with representatives of Twitter and then Facebook.

Twitter’s team asked whether the FBI thought Hunter Biden’s laptop was real: one FBI representative replied yes, and then another quickly said: ‘No comment.’

Dehmlow told Jordan’s committee that there was then internal deliberations, and it was decided that the answer would be ‘no comment’ from then on.

At the next meeting, with Facebook, Dehmlow herself told Facebook ‘no comment’ when asked if the laptop was real.

‘It was an ongoing investigation, and we generally don’t comment on ongoing investigative matters when asked,’ she told Jordan’s committee.

Jordan on Monday declared: ‘Did Dehmlow know that the FBI had the laptop and it was real? Yes.

‘Did other key members of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force know? Yes.

‘The FBI knew the laptop was real and yet decided it would say ‘no comment.’

‘We know what happened next.

‘Twitter and Facebook censored the @nypost story.

‘The Biden campaign secretly set in motion the events that led to the 51 former intel officials discrediting the story as Russian disinformation.’

Jordan and his allies are convinced that the FBI was working to discredit the story, in a bid to downplay it and help Joe Biden’s electoral chances.

Jordan then singled out extracts from Chan’s testimony at the end of last year.

Chan was asked by the Missouri and Louisiana officials whether he had been involved in any meetings after October 14 with Facebook, where the Hunter Biden laptop was discussed.

Chan replied that he did not believe so.

‘I was confident that I was not a party to any meeting with social media companies where Hunter Biden was discussed outside of the one incident that I told you about,’ said Chan.

However, Jordan said that his committee ‘recently obtained an internal Facebook document PROVING that Agent Chan had a secret ‘follow up’ call with Facebook about the Hunter Biden laptop story on October 15, just one day after the @nypost story and the first Facebook meeting!’

Jordan noted that Chan also claimed that he had ‘no internal knowledge of [the FBI’s] investigation’ involving Hunter Biden’s laptop, but according to internal Facebook documents told a colleague he was ‘up to speed on the current state of the matter within the FBI.’

Jordan added: ‘Is there any wonder why the Biden DOJ has so far stonewalled the Committee’s efforts to interview Agent Chan?’

The committee still plans to get to the bottom of the ‘lie’ when Chan sits down with them next week.  

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