A judge in Louisiana has ordered federal officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, to turn over emails and answer questions as a result of a lawsuit alleging a “sprawling federal censorship regime.”
In a Sept. 6 discovery order, U.S. Judge Terry Doughty of the Western District of Louisiana gave Fauci, Jean-Pierre and other officials 21 days to provide written information and emails to the plaintiffs’ attorneys. The nonprofit New Civil Liberties Alliance, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt initiated the lawsuit.
Plaintiffs in the case allege that scores of federal officials from at least 11 federal agencies engaged in secret communications with social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, to suppress private speech that the federal officials oppose. The lawsuit is uncovering a “sprawling federal censorship regime that will shock the conscience of Americans,” according to the New Civil Liberties Alliance.
Plaintiffs Martin Kulldorff, an epidemiologist and former professor of medicine at Harvard University, and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of health policy at Stanford University, allege in the litigation that their social media accounts were censored after they took part in critiques about the government’s COVID-19 policies.
“We hope to gain a clearer understanding of (federal) individuals’ involvement in driving social media censorship by obtaining emails exchanged between them and the tech companies,” Jenin Younes, litigation counsel for the New Civil Liberties Alliance, told the Louisiana Record in an email. “We have also asked for any correspondence that mentions certain people that we believe may have been targeted by the administration, including two of our clients, Jayanta Bhattacharya and Martin Kulldorff.”
The information already provided by the U.S. Department of Justice proves that a massive “Censorship Enterprise” is in operation across a panorama of federal agencies, according to the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office. About 45 federal officials may have engaged with tech companies about “misinformation” and censorship, the office reported.
“When the federal government colludes with Big Tech to censor speech, the American people become subjects rather than citizens," Landry said in a prepared statement. "The (Department of Justice) must not be allowed to hide behind the veil of executive privilege, especially when there is already compelling evidence that the people's government colluded with these social media companies to suppress their right of free speech."