The House Judiciary Committee announced Tuesday that it has filed a lawsuit against FBI agent Elvis Chan for defying a Congressional subpoena. Chan allegedly played a key role in censoring the Hunter Biden laptop story on social media ahead of the 2020 election.
The Republican-led Committee issued the subpoena on September 21, 2023 compelling Chan to appear for a deposition in October. Chan was scheduled to be interviewed by the Committee on September 15, but failed to appear after negotiations between the Bureau and the Committee broke down.
“No amount of lies and excuses will stop the Committee from deposing FBI Agent Elvis Chan,” the Judiciary Republicans wrote on X at the time. “The American people deserve to hear the full truth about the Biden censorship regime. And they will.”
The Department of Justice stonewalled the Committee’s requests to interview Chan for months, and allegedly advised him to defy the subpoena.
“There is no lawful basis for Chan’s refusal to appear before the Judiciary Committee for his deposition,” the Committee stated in its complaint.
“Chan’s failure to comply with the Subpoena is impeding the Committee’s investigation into a matter of significant public concern, and the Committee asks this Court to compel him to appear forthwith,” the complaint states. “The Judiciary Committee has been, and will continue to be, injured by Chan’s actions.”
Chan was deposed on November 29, 2022 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana as part of the State of Missouri, Schmitt et al. v. Biden, et al lawsuit.
According to the Missouri and Louisiana state prosecutors, Chan indicated that the FBI had played a major role in censoring speech online with actions ranging “from weekly meetings with social media companies to demanding takedowns of specific accounts and facilitating suppression of certain stories.” Chan testified at that time that the platforms became far more aggressive in removing alleged “misinformation” during the 2020 election cycle than in previous election cycles, and they have remained so.
Last August, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) accused Chan of making false statements in his testimony regarding the FBI’s role in the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story.
“The Judiciary Committee has constitutional and other legal authority to investigate the FBI’s coordination with social media and other technology companies regarding online speech and to develop legislative reforms to address that topic,” the Committee argued in the complaint.
“The Judiciary Committee has attempted to make reasonable accommodations for Chan’s testimony, but those efforts are at an impasse, and Chan continues to refuse to appear for his deposition,” the Committee added.
The Complaint states that “Chan has violated and continues to violate his legal obligations by refusing to appear before the Judiciary Committee as required by the Subpoena, and by refusing to answer questions when there has been no assertion of privilege by the Executive Branch.”
The Committee asked the Court for the following declaratory and injunctive relief regarding Chan’s defiance of their subpoena.
1. Declare that Chan’s refusal to appear before the Committee in response to the Subpoena lacks legal justification; and
2. Issue an injunction ordering Chan to appear and testify immediately before the Committee.
B. Retain jurisdiction to review any disputes that may arise over compliance with the Court’s order.
C. Grant the Committee such other and further relief as may be just and proper under
the circumstances.
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