OAN’s Abril Elfi
3:59 PM – Saturday, September 16, 2023
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan subpoenaed FBI Agent Elvis Chan after backing out of an appearance before the House Judiciary Committee.
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On Friday, the committee chairman (R-Ohio) released a subpoena against Chan where he mentions how the executive branch has “coerced and colluded with companies and other intermediaries to censor speech.”
“The Committee on the Judiciary is conducting oversight of how and to what extent the Executive Branch has coerced and colluded with companies and other intermediaries to censor speech,” Jordan wrote. “As the primary liaison between the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF) and social media companies, you are uniquely positioned to aid the Committee’s oversight.”
Jordan mentions how during the COVID-19 outbreak, the federal government collaborated with key social media corporations to censor political opinions that went against their viewpoints.
The Republican chairman then claimed that court proceedings and public reporting have “exposed how the federal government has pressured and colluded with Big Tech and other intermediaries to censor certain viewpoints on social and other media in ways that undermine First Amendment principles.”
“It is necessary for Congress to gauge the extent to which FBI agents coerced, pressured, worked with, or relied upon social media and other tech companies to censor speech. The scope of the Committee’s investigation includes understanding the extent and nature of the FBI’s involvement in this censorship,” Jordan wrote.
Chan was scheduled to give a transcribed interview on Friday, but the interview was canceled due to a disagreement between the FBI and the Committee over protocol. As a result, the subpoena was issued by the committee.
The subpoena comes amid an ongoing court case, Missouri vs Biden, in which Republican-led states are accusing the federal government’s pressure on social media platforms to censor political opinions that the Biden Administration alleges as misinformation about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and mask requirements.
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