WASHINGTON – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan on Friday subpoenaed FBI agent Elvis Chan to testify about the bureau’s efforts to “censor” social media, as the Biden administration argued it was simply using his “bullying pulpit.”
Jordan (R-Ohio) wrote that Chan did not show up for a scheduled interview and would therefore be forced to testify to establish the “extent to which the Executive Branch has coerced and colluded with companies and other intermediaries to censor speech.” ”.
Chan worked in San Francisco as the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force liaison to companies like Facebook and Twitter, even before the 2020 election, and was interviewed last year by attorneys representing the attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri.
“[T]The Committee has uncovered evidence that appears to contradict several statements in its statement in Missouri v. Biden, particularly as it relates to his communications with social media platforms,” Jordan wrote, without further specifying.
The Ohioan said the FBI agent did not appear voluntarily because of a committee rule that required him to choose between having a personal or FBI attorney present.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan subpoenaed FBI agent Elvis Chan on Friday.Getty Images
Missouri and Louisiana are defying federal government pressure on social media platforms to censor alleged misinformation, including about the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and mask-wearing requirements.
The case, Missouri v. Biden, could be decided by the Supreme Court, which is considering a request by the Biden administration to overturn the New Orleans-based Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which sided with the US judge’s conclusion. lower court Terry Doughty that officials went too far in pushing. companies to remove content.
Doughty issued a preliminary injunction on July 4 prohibiting federal officials from pressuring companies to remove constitutionally protected speech.
Chan worked in San Francisco as a liaison for the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force with companies including Facebook and Twitter.FBI
Attorney General Elizabeth Prelogar on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to overrule the lower courts, writing that there would be “striking” implications of imposing “unprecedented limits on the ability of the president’s closest aides to use the pulpit to address matters of concern.” public”. about the FBI’s ability to address threats to the nation’s security, and about the CDC’s ability to transmit public health information at the platforms’ request.”
Free speech advocates point out that many topics that were initially censored by federal claims about foreign influence campaigns and health misinformation later gained widespread acceptance.
Previously censored topics that are now widely accepted include the Post’s reporting on documents from first son Hunter Biden’s laptop that linked President Biden to his relatives’ overseas businesses and the widely debated theory that COVID-19 It was leaked from a Chinese laboratory that was conducting risky research. .
“The First Amendment prohibits government officials from imposing viewpoint-based censorship restrictions,” Jordan wrote to Chan.
“The state action doctrine defends the proposition that government officials cannot circumvent constitutional restrictions by using private actors—whether through coercion, encouragement, entanglement, or joint participation—to accomplish what the government cannot directly.”
“Since January, more than a dozen current and former FBI officials have appeared for transcribed interviews with the House Judiciary Committee. “Today, after an FBI employee traveled across the country to voluntarily participate in a scheduled interview, he was denied the right to have his chosen legal counsel accompany him,” the FBI said in a statement late Friday.
“Upon arriving at the Capitol, Committee staff ordered the agency’s attorney to leave the premises and the interview could not continue. 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 participate in a voluntary interview with appropriate legal representation,” the agency added.
“The FBI recognizes the importance of congressional oversight and will continue to act in accordance with the long-established accommodation process.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn