House Republicans press Twitter board to preserve all records of Elon Musk’s offers to buy company

House Republicans are asking Twitter’s board of directors to preserve all records related to Elon Musk’s offer to buy the company, according to a letter sent Friday. 

The request, led by House Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and signed by 17 colleagues, raises the possibility of Republicans probing the Twitter board’s decisions regarding the offer if the GOP wins back majority power in the fall. 

“As Congress continues to examine Big Tech and how to best protect Americans’ free speech rights, this letter serves as a formal request that you preserve all records and materials relating to Musk’s offer to purchase Twitter, including Twitter’s consideration and response to this offer, and Twitter’s evaluation of its shareholder interests with respect to Musk’s offer,” they wrote.

The letter adds to Republicans’ unsubstantiated accusations that tech companies, particularly Twitter, are censoring content in a way that demonstrates an anti-conservative bias.

Musk has laid out a vision for a less-content-moderation-heavy platform if he is successful in his bid to buy the social media company. 

Republicans, including Jordan and others who signed onto the letter, have cheered Musk’s offer to buy Twitter based largely on his vision for less content moderation. 

A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment. 

Tesla CEO Musk filed an offer last week to buy Twitter for $46.5 billion. 

The company moved to counter the bid a couple days later by adopting a so-called poison pill that would help prevent it from undergoing a hostile acquisition. Under the poison pill, if any person or group acquires 15 percent or more of Twitter’s stock without the board’s approval, other shareholders are allowed to purchase additional shares at a discount. 

Musk has proceeded with his plans to buy the company. On Thursday he revealed letters he received committing to provide the funding for the purchase in an updated securities filing.

— Updated at 10:51 a.m.