February 8, 2023, 5:09 PM 2:17 Vijaya Gadde, former chief legal officer of Twitter, testifies during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing about Twitter's handling of a 2020 New York Post story about Hunter Biden and his laptop, in Washington, D.C., Feb. 8, 2023. Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters Former Twitter executives told a House committee Wednesday that the social media company made a mistake in its handling of a controversial New York Post story on Hunter Biden's laptop. The action by the social media platform just weeks before the 2020 election unleashed a wave of backlash from Republicans, who accused Twitter executives of suppressing the story to shield President Joe Biden and his family from what they say was damaging material found on a laptop hard drive belonging to the president's son. During a hearing of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Republicans grilled the three executives about the company's decision to block users from sharing the story on the younger Biden, and suggested the social media giant acted under orders from the government when it suppressed the story. MORE: Hunter Biden asks for Trump allies to be investigated, sends cease-and-desist to Fox News "America witnessed a coordinated campaign by social media companies, mainstream news and the intelligence communities to suppress and de-legitimize the existence of Hunter Biden's laptop and its contents," Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in his opening remarks. The former Twitter employees called the platform's decision regarding the story a "mistake," but denied that they had acted in concert with government officials. "I've been clear that in my judgment at the time, Twitter should not have taken action to block the New York Post's reporting," said Yoel Roth, former head of safety and integrity. He said the company made the decision because the Biden laptop story was reminiscent of the 2016 Russian hack of the Democratic National Committee. Vijaya Gadde, Twitter's former chief legal officer, echoed Roth by saying that Twitter admitted that "its initial action was wrong" and changed its policy within 24 hours. Vijaya Gadde, former chief legal officer of Twitter, testifies during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing about Twitter's handling of a 2020 New York Post story about Hunter Biden and his laptop, in Washington, D.C., Feb. 8, 2023. Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters "The New York Post chose not to delete its original tweets, so Twitter made an exception after two weeks to retroactively apply the new policy to the Post's tweets," Gadde said. "In hindsight, Twitter should have reinstated the Post account immediately." During the hearing Roth also said that Twitter's relationship with government employees would benefit from increased transparency. "Transparency is at the heart of this work, and it's where I think Twitter -- and all of social media -- can and must do better," Roth said. "Trust is built on understanding, and right now the vast majority of people don't understand how or why content moderation decisions are made." Republicans accused former Twitter executives of "being terrified" of Joe Biden not winning 2020 election and colluding with the FBI. "You were entrusted with the highest level of power at Twitter, but when you were faced with the New York Post story, instead of allowing people to judge the information for themselves, you rushed to find a reason why the American people shouldn't see it," said Comer. "In a matter of hours, you were deciding on the truth of a story that spans years and dozens of complex international transactions. You did this because you were terrified of Joe Biden not winning the election in 2020." MORE: Republicans say they'll push ahead with Hunter Biden probe despite some warnings from within