House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sent a letter on May 8 to Alphabet—the corporate parent of Google and YouTube—stating that the company has not fully complied with a subpoena that the committee issued in early mid-February and demanding that it turn over all the information the subpoena ordered in relation to censorship concerns.
The committee sent subpoenas to the CEOs of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Twitter as part of a probe the committee is conducting into communications between the tech companies and the Biden administration to determine if they colluded with the White House in censoring and blocking the release of information that should be protected under the Constitution yet was detrimental to the administration.
Jordan cites in the letter that Alphabet flouted the subpoena by sending redacted documents to the Judiciary Committee and holding back other information.
Jordan set a deadline of May 22 for Alphabet to produce the documents demanded in the subpoena. Alphabet could face a contempt of Congress charge if it fails to provide the information by the deadline.
“Alphabet has produced just 4,049 pages of material in response to the Committee’s subpoena,” wrote Jordan in the letter. “Moreover, despite explicit instructions enclosed with the subpoena to produce unredacted documents, Alphabet has frustrated the Committee’s review of the responsive material by unilaterally redacting key information necessary to understand the context and content of the material.
“These redactions do not appear to be based on any applicable privilege— because Alphabet has asserted none—and the Committee requires this material to be produced without redactions.”
A Google spokesperson issued The Epoch Times a comment on Jordan’s letter, saying: “Since December, we have been producing relevant documents in response to the committee’s requests and will continue to work constructively with them. ”
Probing Claims of Big Tech Collusion
Jordan has been stewarding the effort of the Judiciary Committee looking into whether, at the request of the Biden administration, Big Tech squelched and banned lawful speech.Information that Republicans allege that the tech power players helped in blocking, including data and findings related to the origin of COVID-19 that were at odds with the narrative that Dr. Anthony Fauci and President Joe Biden pushed, and also ties that then Vice President Biden may have had to shady business dealings of his son Hunter Biden.
President Joe Biden with son Hunter Biden arrives at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, N.Y., on Feb. 4, 2023. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
Jordan began to put pressure on the tech companies back in December after the GOP took back the House in the 2022 midterm elections but prior to the next Congress being seated in January.
On Dec. 14, as Jordan, a lawmaker who is known to be tenacious and blunt, readied himself to soon take on the chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee, he sent letters to the CEOs of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft, voicing concern that they worked with the Biden administration to suppress the exercise of the First Amendment.
“Big Tech is out to get conservatives, and is increasingly willing to undermine First Amendment values by complying with the Biden Administration’s directives that suppress freedom of speech online,” Jordan wrote in his Dec. 14 letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
“This approach undermines fundamental American principles and allows powerful government actors to silence political opponents and stifle opposing viewpoints. Publicly available information suggests that your company’s treatment of certain speakers and content may stem from government directives or guidance designed to suppress dissenting views,” he wrote.
