EXCLUSIVE – A former senior COVID-19 adviser to the Biden administration was forced to defy a congressional subpoena this week after the White House asked him not to comply due to considerations about regulations surrounding his appearance.
Andrew Slavitt, a veteran fitness official who served on President Joe Biden’s coronavirus response team, was scheduled to appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Jan. 31. Letters received through the Washington Examiner reveal that the White House has asked Slavitt not to appear.
“Because of the constitutional separation of powers and the institutional interests of the White House, I am writing to tell you that the White House does not authorize Mr. Slavitt to appear at the Committee’s scheduled deposition,” the White House suggests, Richard Sauber wrote to Slavitt’s lawyer. . one day before the scheduled deposit.
Sauber shared the same message with Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) in a separate letter, saying management objected to the committee’s upcoming deposition with Robert Flaherty, Biden’s former chief virtual strategist.
The committee will speak with Slavitt and Flaherty about the well-documented pressure they are putting on social media corporations to censor content, specifically about COVID-19, starting in 2021.
Flaherty, who now works for Biden’s presidential campaign, was cited dozens of times in a wide-ranging memo from a federal judge, who found that the former official played a key role in forcing Meta, X and YouTube to censor content.
Flaherty called on corporations to report their content removal practices, such as posts showing “vaccine hesitancy” and “dubious content. “
In one instance, Flaherty became angry at Meta in July 2021, saying he was dissatisfied with the platform’s efforts to censor an organization that became known as the “Disinformation Dozen,” which included Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“Are you guys f***ing serious? I want an answer on what happened here and I want it today,” Flaherty wrote to Meta.
Slavitt, for example, wrote a disturbing email to the platform saying, “Internally, we’ve been thinking about our functions on what to do about [the lack of censorship]. “
The Judiciary Committee can simply prosecute the two former officials or attempt to prosecute them for contempt of Congress for failing to comply with subpoenas.
“Everything is on the table as to what happens next,” a committee spokesperson said.
The White House referred to Sauber’s correspondence for comment.
Sauber cited in his letter to Slavitt’s attorney the Department of Justice’s long-held stance that Congress is obligated to allow government counsel to be present at certain depositions, a position that the Judiciary Committee disputes.
“Due to constitutional flaws in the Committee’s subpoena and consistent with its prior advice, [the DOJ] has informed me of its position that Mr. Slavitt be prosecuted for contempt of Congress,” Sauber wrote.
The committee has already faced similar resistance from the Biden administration regarding transcripts of depositions and interviews. The committee has argued before Congress that it allows witnesses to appear with a private attorney, but not with a government attorney, unless it is a transcribed interview. and the witness does not have a private lawyer.
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Slavitt’s attorney wrote to Jordan on the day of the scheduled deposition; its consumer had flown from California to Washington, D. C. , to meet with the committee.
“My client has no interest in turning around and heading back to California without speaking to the Committee. However, given that Mr. Slavitt now has received a letter from the White House instructing him not to appear, he unfortunately cannot do so,” the attorney wrote to Jordan.