Judge Blocks Biden Admin’s Attempt to Shield FBI Official from Deposition on Social-Media Censorship

An FBI official will be deposed in a lawsuit over alleged collusion between the Biden administration and social-media companies to censor speech on topics ranging from Hunter Biden’s laptop to Covid-19, a judge ruled Monday.

The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit by Missouri attorney general Eric Schmitt and Louisiana attorney general Jeff Landry accusing the federal government of working “hand-in-hand with social media companies to censor freedom of speech on their platforms.” The lawsuit has grown to include 67 defendants, including top officials at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the White House, and others.

Last month, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana granted the two states’ request for depositions from several top-ranking governmental officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, director of White House digital strategy Rob Flaherty, surgeon general Vivek Murthy, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency director Jen Easterly, and FBI supervisory special agent Elvis Chan.