Chairman Jordan Subpoenas Director of National Intelligence in Big Tech Censorship Investigation

Letter

Dear Director Haines:
The Committee on the Judiciary (Committee) is conducting oversight of how and to what
extent the Executive Branch has coerced and colluded with companies and other intermediaries
to censor speech. To develop effective legislation, such as the possible enactment of new
statutory limits on the Executive Branch’s ability to work with social media platforms and other
companies to restrict the circulation of content and deplatform users, the Committee must first
understand the nature of this collusion and coercion. To this end, we have asked for
communications between the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), private
companies, and other third-party groups such as nonprofit organizations, in addition to other
information. Your response without compulsory process has, to date, been woefully inadequate.

The investigative work performed by the Committee and its Select Subcommittee on the
Weaponization of the Federal Government, along with other publicly available information, have
revealed how the federal government has pressured and colluded with Big Tech and other
intermediaries to censor certain viewpoints on social media in ways that undermine First
Amendment principles. The First Amendment prohibits government officials from imposing
viewpoint-based restrictions on speech. State action doctrine prohibits government officials
from circumventing constitutional strictures by using private actors—whether through coercion,
encouragement, entwinement, or joint participation—to accomplish what the government cannot
directly.

The Committee and Select Subcommittee’s investigation has revealed how the Executive
Branch has weaponized federal authority to censor speech online directly and by proxy. It is
necessary for Congress to gauge the extent to which ODNI officials have coerced, pressured,
worked with, or relied upon social media and other tech companies to censor speech. The scope
of the Committee’s investigation includes understanding the extent and nature of ODNI’s
involvement in this censorship.
On April 18, 2023, the Committee wrote to you seeking your voluntary cooperation with
our oversight. Among other things, we requested communications between ODNI employees
and private companies, internal communications, and communications between ODNI and other
third parties discussing content moderation on social media. ODNI failed to timely respond to
the Committee’s request. Committee staff subsequently followed up with ODNI on May 4,
May 12, May 24, June 8, and August 15. It was not until August 16, almost four months after
the Chairman’s initial letter regarding this matter, that ODNI personnel responded to Committee
staff.
Despite additional correspondence on September 6, September 8, October 2, October 3,
November 7, November 8, November 9, December 11, and December 18, ODNI has yet to
produce a single document in response to the Committee’s request. ODNI did not provide a
formal written response until January 8, 2024, and that response did not include any
documents. Publicly available information regarding the ODNI’s Foreign Malign Influence
Center makes clear that records related to the Center’s activities fall within the scope of the
Committee’s request for documents. Moreover, the Committee is in possession of documents
that demonstrate that ODNI personnel were invited to meetings between major social media
companies and federal government agencies, often referred to as “USG-Industry Sync” meetings.
ODNI has yet to produce any records related to these or any other meetings.
Pursuant to the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee has jurisdiction to
conduct oversight of matters concerning “civil liberties” to inform potential legislative reforms.
In addition, House Resolution 12 authorizes the Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the
Weaponization of the Federal Government to investigate “issues related to the violation of the
civil liberties of citizens of the United States.”
Accordingly, given ODNI’s woefully inadequate voluntary compliance, please find
attached a subpoena for the Committee’s highest priority documents and information.

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