A federal judge has ordered White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci and multiple other Biden administration officials to testify in a lawsuit alleging the government worked with social media companies to censor users’ viewpoints the government disfavored.
The legal action was originally filed by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry in May, and alleged that Biden administration officials colluded with social media companies to suppress freedom of speech on topics including but, not limited to: the Hunter Biden laptop story, the COVID-19 lab leak theory, debate over the efficacy of masks and pandemic lockdowns, and speech about election integrity.
In a 26-page order, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty granted the request to compel testimony from Fauci and other officials as to their knowledge of events surrounding allegations that the U.S. government worked to suppress the speech of U.S. citizens online.
“After reviewing the Plaintiffs and the Defendants’ arguments, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have proven that Dr. Fauci has personal knowledge about the issue concerning censorship across social media as it related to COVID-19 and ancillary issues of COVID-19,” Judge Doughty wrote.
He stated the following “substantive reasons” why Fauci should be deposed: Fauci’s publicly available emails proving he acted as an intermediary in censorship on multiple social media platforms, that Fauci has yet to provide any statements under oath on this topic, the court finds there is “no doubt that Dr. Fauci was engaging in communications with high-ranking social-media officials, which is extremely relevant in the matter at hand.”
In July 2021, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration is “flagging problematic posts for Facebook” to censorpic.twitter.com/dQ76fI8hzi
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 1, 2022
Judge Doughty also ordered testimony from:
- Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of White House Digital Strategy Rob Flaherty OR former White House Senior COVID-19 Advisory Andrew Slavitt
- Former White House Press Secretary Jennifer Psaki
- FBI Supervisory Special Agent Elvis Chan
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly OR CISA official Lauren Protentis
- Surgeon General Vivek Murthy
- U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Chief of the Digital Media Branch Carol Crawford
- Acting Coordinator of the State Department’s Global Engagement Center Daniel Kimmage
“After finding documentation of a collusive relationship between the Biden Administration and social media companies to censor free speech, we immediately filed a motion to get these officials under oath,” Attorney General Schmitt said in a statement. “It is high time we shine a light on this censorship enterprise and force these officials to come clean to the American people, and this ruling will allow us to do just that. We’ll keep pressing for the truth.”
The government sought to shield the federal officials from providing testimony. Legal precedent has established the “apex doctrine,” which is a requirement that the testimony of top executive department officials may only be compelled in “extraordinary circumstances.” The general rule also applies to former high-ranking officials.
Judge Doughty determined that the facts in this case meet the threshold of “extraordinary circumstances.” He also found substantive reasons for deposing the other officials “overwhelming” and that their positions grant them specific knowledge to the issue of whether the government engaged in censorship.
