Parler, a social media company favored by conservatives, has asserted that CEO John Matze’s family and wife have been smeared after the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the FBI requesting an investigation.
“Over the past few weeks, Parler has been repeatedly mischaracterized and treated unjustly. But the recent personal attacks on our CEO John, his wife Alina, and their family are reprehensible,” the company wrote in a post on its website on Thursday.
The Nevada-based firm added: “Alina, whose working-class family lived in the former Soviet Union, came to America to start her own multi-racial, interfaith family with John. To subject them to baseless accusations that their marriage is part of some twisted espionage scheme—all because she is an immigrant—is precisely the sort of ‘racism, nativism, fear, [and] demonization’ President Biden urged us to reject in his inaugural address.”
House Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) wrote in a letter that the FBI should carry out a “robust investigation” into whether Parler played a role in the Capitol breach on Jan. 6.
Maloney also suggests that the agency investigate whether the social media website is a “potential conduit for foreign governments” after the company retained the services of Russian company DDoS-Guard, ostensibly for traffic rerouting. The firm confirmed that Parler is using its services, but it stipulated to The Epoch Times that Parler isn’t using its hosting platform.
Maloney said that “questions have also been raised about Parler’s financing” as well as its “ties to Russia,” claiming that Parler was founded by Matze “shortly after he traveled to Russia with his wife,” who is a Russian national and “whose family reportedly has ties with the Russian government.”
But Parler, which was de-platformed by Big Tech companies in recent weeks and has been attempting to find a hosting service, wrote that it stands behind its CEO and his wife.
“The Entire Parler Team stands behind John and Alina,” the company wrote. “Our new President called for unity: ‘We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We can do this, if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts.’ The smears against John and Alina are exactly the sort of tactics he is imploring us all to abandon. Let’s all commit to working together toward unity and healing.”
The development came as a court in Washington state refused to order Amazon Web Services to reinstate Parler’s service after Amazon suspended its hosting service about two weeks ago. What’s more, the lawsuit asserted that Amazon violated U.S. antitrust laws and breached its contract with Parler.
Amazon, for its part, said that Parler failed to moderate violent threats before the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, although Parler, in another court filing, said that an Amazon representative only appeared to be concerned about whether former President Donald Trump would join the social media website.
