Whistleblowers say the FBI is not taking the recent free speech ruling U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty of Louisiana seriously, according to The Washington Times.
The Missouri v. Biden (2022) case, which cited MRC Free Speech America research, made efforts to hold the Biden administration’s feet to the fire for colluding with social media companies to silence Americans’ speech. In a July 4 preliminary injunction, Doughty ordered that the Biden administration no longer “engag[e] in any communication of any kind” with Big Tech companies for the purpose of encouraging censorship of constitutionally protected speech.
Whistleblower FBI agents reportedly told the House Judiciary Committee that the FBI is not complying with the order, according to The Washington Times, which reviewed the agents’ disclosures.
“According to the disclosures, the FBI usually would immediately disseminate information and provide training when the federal judiciary issues new legal guidance or directives,” The Times reported. “The information typically would come in email alerts, the immediate circulation of training materials and official guidance from FBI headquarters in Washington.” The whistleblowers claim that this did not happen.
“‘Neither FBI Director [Christopher] Wray nor FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate issued bureau-wide emails to address the issue with the agents, task force officers, and analysts that may in the course of their duties have contact with the social media companies,” The Times reported.
MRC Free Speech America Vice President Dan Schneider called the FBI’s apparent inaction a “coup against the constitution.” He said. “It’s the guys with guns telling the American public and the judiciary that we don’t count anymore. That they’re in charge and that we have to bow down to them. We must not stand for this any longer.”
In an official statement to The Times, the FBI denied the accusations. “Any suggestion that the FBI did not provide official guidance on this matter is false,” The bureau reportedly claimed. “A copy of the judgment and compliance instructions were distributed on July 6, 2023, by the Office of the General Counsel to all field office and headquarters management and legal counsel for compliance and further dissemination to their divisions.”
The disclosures were released the same day that Doughty rejected the federal government’s request for a stay of the injunction making his ruling.
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