MRC Free Speech America update summary: On July 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned Douglass Mackey’s conviction, effectively nullifying the Biden administration’s aggressive prosecution of constitutionally protected free speech.
The following article is a supplement to the MRC Report: The Biden Administration Waged War on Free Speech with 57 Censorship Initiatives.
Initiative #33
The Speech Prosecutions
Type of Censorship: Direct Action
Agencies Involved:
- Department of Justice
- Criminal Division
- National Security Division
- Office of the Solicitor General
- Office of the Special Prosecutor Jack Smith
- Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
- Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama
- Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas
Summary:
Under President Joe Biden, the Justice Department pursued prosecutions based on constitutionally-protected speech.
These speech-based prosecutions were detailed in an MRC report. The immediate victims of the targeting included former and future President Donald J. Trump among others. Trump was subjected to a “gag order” banning him from talking about weaponization of government during the 2024 presidential campaign. The indirect victims of this censorship are all Americans, as the Justice Department used these cases to erode the First Amendment’s free speech protections and expand the category of expression the government could criminalize.
Key Individuals:
- Jessica Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
- Nicole Argentieri, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division
- Chris Bodnar, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama
- Jay Bratt, Chief of the Counterintelligence & Export Control Section
- Sean Costello, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama
- John Demers, Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division
- Eric Feigin, Deputy Solicitor General
- Merrick Garland, Attorney General
- Scott Gray, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama
- Richard Moore, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama
- Matt Olsen; Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division
- Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York
- Kenneth Polite, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division
- Elizabeth Prelogar, Solicitor General
Jack Smith, Special Counsel
