Leaked emails show Steve Bannon tried to plant a pro-Trump mole at Facebook in 2016

Shortly before he joined Donald Trump's presidential campaign, Breitbart News boss Steve Bannon worked to get a mole hired at Facebook to ensure that pro-Trump content wasn't being "censored" by the tech giant.

Leaked emails obtained by BuzzFeed show that that Bannon exchanged several messages with former GOP staffer Chris Gacek, who sent Bannon a job listing for a public policy manager that could be exploited to help infiltrate Facebook.

"There is one [opening] for a DC-based ‘Public Policy Manager’ at Facebook’s What’s APP [sic] division,” Gacek wrote to Bannon on August 1 last year. "This seems perfect for Breitbart to flood the zone with candidates of all stripe who will report back to you / Milo [Yiannopoulos] with INTEL about the job application process over at FB."

Bannon seemed enthusiastic about the proposal, and he forwarded Gacek's email to a staffer and told them to "get on this."

"News that Bannon wanted to infiltrate the Facebook hiring process comes as the social media giant faces increased scrutiny from Washington over political ads on the platform and the part it played in the 2016 election," notes BuzzFeed. "That charge — and the threat of regulation — has mostly come from the left. But conservatives, who have often complained about the liberal bias of the major tech companies, have also argued for bringing Silicon Valley to heel."