The lawsuit argues that ‘the Biden Administration colluded with and pressured social media giants Meta, Twitter, and YouTube to suppress and censor free speech on topics like the Hunter Biden laptop story, the Lab Leak Theory, and more.’

By Ashley Sadler
Article Source

COVID czar Dr. Anthony Fauci and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre are among a list of top-ranking officials subpoenaed in a federal lawsuit alleging the Biden administration colluded with Big Tech to quash Americans’ freedom of speech. Five social media companies have also been served with subpoenas.

The subpoenas come after Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry filed a lawsuit in May alleging that the Biden administration had conspired with social media companies to suppress Americans’ free speech on a range of controversial subjects.

Naming a bevy of Biden officials, including President Joe Biden himself, the lawsuit argues that “the Biden Administration colluded with and pressured social media giants Meta, Twitter, and YouTube to suppress and censor free speech on topics like the Hunter Biden laptop story, the Lab Leak Theory, and more.”

U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty granted permission last week for the discovery phase of the trial to move forward, The Center Square reported.

Doughty’s decision means that several top-ranking Biden administration officials, including National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) head Dr. Anthony Fauci and Jean-Pierre, have been given 30 days to respond to subpoenas in the case.

In addition to issuing subpoenas for Fauci and Jean-Pierre, the federal judge authorized discovery requests to be served to the NIAID and CDC, along with Jen Easterly and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Center Square noted.

A request was also served to Nina Jankowicz, who headed the Biden administration’s Disinformation Governance Board before it was paused after extensive backlash.

The court additionally greenlit third-party subpoenas to be served to five social media companies: Twitter, YouTube, Meta, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Schmitt said in a media release cited by the Center Square that the requests are meant to identify any communications between the Biden administration and social media companies having to do with potential censorship or alleged “misinformation.”

Also of interest is any correspondence having to do with the “Great Barrington Declaration,” an open letter crafted by epidemiologists who opposed COVID-19 lockdowns, the outlet noted.

“In May, Missouri and Louisiana filed a landmark lawsuit against top-ranking Biden Administration officials for allegedly colluding with social media giants to suppress free speech on topics like COVID-19 and election security,” Schmitt said in a statement, the Center Square reported.

We will fight to get to the bottom of this alleged collusion and expose the suppression of freedom of speech by social media giants at the behest of top-ranking government officials,” Schmitt said.