House Republicans revealed on Thursday behind-the-scenes details about their conflicts with an FBI official who they say had a key role in social media companies censoring the story about Hunter Biden's laptop in 2020.

The GOP-led House Judiciary Committee released a lengthy thread on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, laying out how tense discussions with Elvis Chan, a San Francisco-based assistant special agent in charge, resulted in the committee subpoenaing Chan for an Oct. 5 deposition.

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The thread showed several emails committee staffers sent to Chan in which they repeatedly stated their policy that either a personal attorney or an agency attorney, such as one from the Department of Justice or FBI, could appear with witnesses at interviews but not both.

Chan was set to appear voluntarily for an interview on the morning of Sept. 15, and the night before, the committee said it received an email from the DOJ that the department would be sending an attorney to attend the interview alongside Chan and his personal attorney. A staffer reiterated the committee's policy and said that if Chan appeared with both agency and personal counsel, he would instead receive a subpoena to appear for a deposition.

The committee said that the next morning, right before the interview, the DOJ and FBI said their attorneys would attend, in defiance of committee policy, and the committee responded by telling them not to come.

The FBI countered in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner that this was a "significant departure from" the committee's "normal procedures."

Chan had arrived at the Capitol that morning after traveling across the country for the interview and "was denied the right to have his chosen legal counsel accompany him," the FBI said.

"Upon arrival at the Capitol, Committee staff directed agency counsel to leave the premises, and the interview was unable to proceed," the FBI continued. "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 committee has issued dozens of subpoenas this year, but sharing with the public the internal drama surrounding Chan's derailed interview is a rare move that signals the committee could be preparing for further problems with Chan should his forthcoming deposition not go according to plan.

Chan is a key witness in Republicans' investigation of social media censorship of controversial issues, which include Hunter Biden's laptop, COVID-19 vaccines, and election-related matters.

Chan was deposed as a witness in Missouri v. Biden, an ongoing case in which two Republican attorneys general alleged that the federal government inappropriately pressured social media companies to censor First Amendment-protected speech.

A judge mentioned Chan in a sweeping memorandum on July 4, saying Chan participated in regular "industry meetings" with various social media companies, including Meta, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and others.

During the 2020 election cycle, the FBI, while already in possession of Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop, raised concerns in these meetings about the possibility of "hack and dump" operations related to the election, the memorandum stated.

While the FBI had repeatedly warned of such an operation, after the story about Hunter Biden's laptop was published by the New York Post, the bureau made a decision not to confirm the laptop's authenticity when the companies asked about it, citing its policy that it did not discuss open criminal matters.

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Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) has accused Chan of making false statements in his deposition because of internal Meta documents he obtained that he said revealed Chan had more detailed knowledge about the laptop than he let on.

"Is there any wonder why the Biden DOJ has so far stonewalled the Committee’s efforts to interview Agent Chan?" Jordan stated on X, adding that his committee is considering "legislation to fight the censorship-industrial complex and protect the First Amendment."