House Judiciary subpoenas ODNI’s Avril Haines for records related to alleged collusion with Big Tech companies
Panel investigating whether Biden admin colluded with and coerced Big Tech to censor speech
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}EXCLUSIVE: The House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines on Thursday for documents as part of its investigation into the Biden administration’s alleged collusion with Big Tech companies and its intermediaries to "censor speech."
Fox News Digital reviewed the subpoena issued to Haines on Thursday, and committee Chairman Jim Jordan’s letter to her. Jordan, R-Ohio, has been seeking communications between Haines' office, private companies and other third-party groups, such as nonprofit organizations, related to the "collusion and coercion."
Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jordan said, though, that ODNI’s "response without compulsory process has, to date, been woefully inadequate." Jordan, back in April 2023, sought voluntary cooperation as part of his investigation, and requested relevant documents.
Jordan said that despite communications between the committee and ODNI staff, ODNI "has yet to produce a single document in response to the committee’s request."
Jordan said that through its investigation, the committee has found that the federal government "has pressured and colluded with Big Tech and other intermediaries to censor certain viewpoints on social media in ways that undermine First Amendment principles."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Avril Haines, director of national intelligence, during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
JORDAN DEMANDS BIG TECH RECORDS DETAILING 'COLLUSION' WITH BIDEN ADMIN TO CENSOR CONSERVATIVES
"The First Amendment prohibits government officials from imposing viewpoint-based restrictions on speech," Jordan wrote. "State action doctrine prohibits government officials from circumventing constitutional strictures by using private actors—whether through coercion, encouragement, entwinement, or joint participation—to accomplish what the government cannot directly."
Jordan said the investigation has revealed that the Biden administration has "weaponized federal authority to censor speech online directly and by proxy," and stressed the importance of Congress’ work to "gauge the extent to which ODNI officials have coerced, pressured, worked with, or relied upon social media and other tech companies to censor speech."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jordan went on to say that the committee has obtained documents that demonstrate that ODNI personnel were invited to meetings between major social media companies and federal government agencies, but said that ODNI has not produced any records related to them, despite repeated requests.
"Pursuant to the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee has jurisdiction to conduct oversight of matters concerning ‘civil liberties’ to inform potential legislative reforms," Jordan wrote.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Accordingly, given ODNI’s woefully inadequate voluntary compliance, please find attached a subpoena for the Committee’s highest priority documents and information," Jordan wrote.
The subpoena compels ODNI to produce all documents and communications referring or relating to the moderation, deletion, suppression restriction, or reduced circulation of content on social media platforms. It also compels the agency to produce records related to content moderation policies.
The subpoena also compels ODNI to produce records referring to ODNI’s identification or analysis of alleged "misinformation," "disinformation," or "malformation;" documents related to meetings with social media companies; and more.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The subpoena demands the production of records by Feb. 9 at 9:00 a.m. ET.
Jordan, last February, as part of the investigation, subpoenaed the CEOs of Google, Amazon, Facebook and others for documents relating to the government’s alleged "collusion" with Big Tech companies to "suppress free speech."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Also last year, Jordan subpoenaed the Justice Department and the FBI for documents related to the probe.
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The investigation comes after Republicans have sounded the alarm for years on Big Tech censorship and bias against conservatives.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Separately, the Supreme Court agreed in October to review a court-ordered ban on certain communications between the Biden administration and Big Tech platforms after state attorneys general from Missouri and Louisiana accused high-ranking government officials of working with social media companies "under the guise of combating misinformation." They argued this ultimately led to censoring speech on topics that included Hunter Biden’s laptop, COVID-19 origins and the efficacy of face masks.