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House Judiciary Committee ChairmanJim Jordan(R-OH) is dangling the possibility of a subpoena to theWhite Houseto uncover records on how it "coerced and colluded with companies and other intermediaries to censor speech."

Jordan's panel requested in April the White House turn over information on its relationships with private entities when it comes to allegedly thwartingspeech. However, the chairman is now rebuking Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, for apparently trying to shift the request to the jurisdiction of executive branch agencies, claiming the records sought are unique to the Executive Office of the President, according to a Thursdaylettersent to White House chief of staff Jeff Zients.

"Accordingly, for the Committee to wholly and effectively fulfill its oversight obligations, the Committee must obtain documents and communications in the custody and control of the EOP," Jordan wrote in his letter, providing a June 29 deadline for compliance. "Please be advised that the Committee may be forced to resort to compulsory process if these requests remain outstanding."

Jordan added: "In short, there is already extensive evidence that the White House played a unique role in urging and directing social media companies to impose viewpoint-based censorship. Based on this evidence, and in light of the EOP's unique position within the executive branch, the Committee has good reason to believe that additional material exists in the EOP's custody and control that would help the Committee to understand the nature and extent of its involvement in this censorship scheme."

The Thursday letter cited unearthed emails showing that White House Digital Strategy Director Rob Flaherty, on several occasions, communicated with the likes of Facebook and Twitter in 2021 to advise the companies on content moderation, including on posts related toCOVID-19. The Biden administration as a whole has been accused by Republicans and conservative watchdogs of throttling speech in tandem with social media companies.

"Mr. Flaherty represented to companies that President Biden himself was the driving force behind these demands," Jordan wrote. "After accusing YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, of 'funneling' people into vaccine hesitancy by inadequately censoring material on its website, Mr. Flaherty remarked to Google that his concern was 'shared at the highest (and I mean the highest) levels of the WH,' prompting a company executive to respond that Google was working to 'address your concerns related to COVID-19 misinformation.'"

Jordan's demand to Zients, former counselor to the president, comes the same day theWashington Examinerreportedon how Biden's Department of Health and Human Services granted $500,000 to a university in Texas to fight "disinformation." Former President Donald Trump's HHS chief of staff, Brian Harrison, likened the program to "government censorship."

The White House did not return a request for comment.

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Biden White House threatened with subpoena from Jim Jordan for ... - House Judiciary Committee