Things that make you go hmmm
Stephen Bannon once pondered infiltrating Facebook for a Breitbart investigation
While serving as editor of Breitbart in 2016, Stephen Bannon reportedly plotted to infiltrate Facebook to learn if there was a liberal bias in its hiring process, BuzzFeed News reports. Bannon expressed interest in an emailed proposal sent to him from Chris Gacek, a former congressional staffer, who included links to openings at the tech company that could serve as possible inroads for the investigation:
"There is one for a DC-based 'Public Policy Manager' at Facebook's What's APP [sic] division," Gacek, the Senior Fellow for Regulatory Affairs at the group, wrote on August 1, 2016. "LinkedIn sent me a notice about some job openings."
"This seems perfect for Breitbart to flood the zone with candidates of all stripe who will report back to you / Milo with INTEL about the job application process over at FB," he continued.
"Milo" is former Breitbart News Tech Editor Milo Yiannopoulos, to whom Bannon forwarded Gacek's email the same day.
"Can u get on this," Bannon instructed his staffer. [BuzzFeed News]
There is no evidence that Breitbart's efforts advanced much past the email conversation (the job discussed by Bannon and Gacek ultimately went to Christine Turner, a National Security Council staffer under President Obama, BuzzFeed News reports), but the report of an attempted infiltration arises amid separate concerns of the use of the social media website as a pro-Trump political manipulation tool. Read the full report at BuzzFeed News.