Censorship Update!



[INSIDE JW]

JUDICIAL WATCH SUES OVER THE FBI INVESTIGATION OF PARENTS AT SCHOOL
BOARD MEETINGS

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It is staggering to think that our FBI was sent out to investigate
parents at school board meetings. Let that sink in. We did, and we
acted.

We filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit against the Justice
Department for all communications from FBI officials regarding
investigations carried out after an October 4, 2021, memo
[[link removed]]
from
Attorney General Merrick Garland instructing investigators to target
American parents due to an alleged “increase in harassment,
intimidation and threats of violence against school board members,
teachers and workers in our nation’s public schools” (_Judicial
Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice_
[[link removed]]
(No.
1:23-cv-01856)).

Judicial Watch’s legal team is following up on the controversial
memo
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by Garland instructing federal law enforcement to “open dedicated
lines of communication for threat reporting, assessment, and
response” on possible criminal threats to local school board members
over politically charged issues such as Critical Race Theory and other
extremism.

We filed the lawsuit after the Justice Department and FBI failed to
respond to a February 17, 2023, FOIA request for:

> Records and communications (internal and external) of the below
> named Federal Bureau of Investigation employees or former employees
> regarding 1) school board threats 2) meetings with U.S. attorneys’
> offices in accordance with Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Oct.
> 4, 2021 memo, which directed the FBI to partner with local law
> enforcement and U.S. attorneys to identify parental threats at
> school board meetings 3) EDUOFFICIALS 4) National School Boards
> Association (NSBA) 4) Moms for Liberty 5) Turning Point USA
>
> a. Christopher Wray, Director of the FBI
> b. Paul Abbate, Deputy Director of the FBI
> c. Carlton L. Peeples, SAIC, Birmingham Field Office
> d. Jay Greenberg, SAIC, St. Louis Field Office
> e. Calvin A. Shivers, Assistant Director, Criminal Investigative
> Division, FBI Headquarters
> f. Brian M. Cohen, Unit Chief and Senior Program Manager, FBI
> Headquarters
> g. Timothy Langan, Executive Assistant Director, Criminal, Cyber,
> Response, and Services Branch, FBI Headquarters
> h. Kevin Vorndran, former Deputy Assistant Director,
> Counterterrorism Division, FBI Headquarters

The request also asked that the FBI search the following
systems/databases for responsive records:

> SENTINEL

> Electronic Surveillance (ELSUR), Microphone
> Surveillance (MISUR),
> Physical Surveillance (FISUR) and Technical
> Surveillance (TESUR) records/indices
> Investigative Data Warehouse (IDW), including IDW-S,
> SPT, and DOCLAB-S sub-systems/indices
> Data Integration and Visualization System (DIVS)
> Law Enforcement National Data Exchange (N-Dex)

Among the records we are seeking are those concerning “Moms for
Liberty
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a nationwide advocacy
group working empower parents to defend their parental rights.

Another group likely to be of interest to the FBI is, Turning Point
USA
[[link removed]],
a conservative organization that
educates and organizes students. It initiated a project to report
indoctrination of school children, “school board watchlist
[[link removed]

In a March 21, 2023, report
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on
the Garland memo, the House Judiciary Committee’s Select
Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government cited FBI
data which states that 25 inquiries under the threat tag
“EDUOFFICIALS” had been opened since the bureau began tracking the
alleged incidents.

In testimony
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before
the House Judiciary Committee on October 21, 2021, Garland said that
he based his memo off of a letter from the National School Board
Association (NSBA) (formerly available on its website
[[link removed]],
now available here
[[link removed]])
that labeled parents as “domestic terrorists.” The National School
Boards Association later issued an apology
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for the letter. In
November 2021, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee questioned
the completeness
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of Garland’s
testimony.

The House committee report concluded that Biden administration
officials “colluded” with school board association leaders “to
create a justification to use federal law-enforcement and
counterterrorism resources against parents.”

The Biden administration sicced the FBI on political opponents –
parents who objected to left-wing and sex propaganda being forced on
children at schools. The American people deserve to know the full
details of how and why their government surveilled Americans accused
of being “domestic terrorists” simply for exercising their First
Amendment rights to protect their children at school board meetings.

We filed a related lawsuit
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in December 2021
for all FBI records related to the October 4, 2021, memorandum issued
by Attorney General Garland targeting parents with objections to
Critical Race Theory in schools. In March, the DOJ stated that no
responsive records had been located. An additional search
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is
being conducted, and the DOJ is to begin producing material by
mid-August.


JUDICIAL WATCH SUES DHS OVER BIOLOGICAL DEFENSE PROGRAM GRANT TO
ECOHEALTH ALLIANCE

Our government’s secretive dealings with the Chinese virus lab where
COVID-19 likely originated need a thorough airing, and we’re busy
providing it.

Our latest move is a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit against
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records and
communications between DHS component offices and the U.S. Biological
Defense Program regarding a $2 million grant awarded by the DHS’s
Ground Truth Network to EcoHealth Alliance (_Judicial Watch v. U.S.
Department of Homeland Security_
[[link removed]]
(No.
1:23-cv-01855)).

EcoHealth Alliance is implicated in using tax dollars for
“gain-of-function” coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute for
Virology and elsewhere in China.

This U.S. government secretive grant to EcoHealth Alliance on
“biosafety” deserves a full accounting, especially given the
ongoing “gain-of-function” scandal in Wuhan.

The lawsuit names the National Biosurveillance Integration Center
[[link removed]]
(NBIC)
and the Office of Health Affairs
[[link removed]],
which are part of DHS’s
U.S. Biological Defense Program, which DHS states was established
to increase the U.S.’s “preparedness against chemical and
biological threats through improved threat awareness, advanced
surveillance and detection, and responsive countermeasures.” The
Ground Truth Network was set up under the National Biosurveillance
Integration Center.

We sued after DHS failed to respond to a February 17, 2023, FOIA
request for:

> Records and communications of the National Biosurveillance
> Integration Center (NBIC), Office of Health Affairs, DHS of the
> following current or former employees (1) Heather Poindexter, (2)
> LCDR Reajul Mojumder, (3) Teresa Quitugua, regarding:
>
> A. Ground Truth Network Project
> B. PIID HSHQDC16C00113
> C. HSHQDC16C00113
> D.HSHQDC-16-R-00116
> E. EcoHealth Alliance interface with NBIC analysts through written
> documents (e.g., emails, written reports, maps, data, etc.), oral
> communication (e.g., phone calls, conference call, etc.), and
> face-to-face meetings.
> F. Any requests for information (RFIs) sent to EcoHealth Alliance
> and any responses to RFIs from EcoHealth Alliance
> G. Plans detailing Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) available to NBIC
> and the process for direct and indirect communications with SMEs
> H. Credibility of the source(s) from whom any information was
> obtained under Ground Truth Network
> I. Concurrence and / or Closeout letters from DHS to EcoHealth
> Alliance

This requests also includes communications or interface of DHS NBIC
employees with the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis (DHS I&A)
regarding:

* Construction or editing of the Ground Truth Network RFP, grant or
contract
* Information shared between NBIC and DHS I&A received from
EcoHealth Alliance or Ground Truth Network

According to the USASpending.gov
[[link removed]]
federal
database, the grant (PIID HSHQDC16C00113
[[link removed]])
awarded
to EcoHealth Alliance was awarded in September 2016 with a potential
end date of October 2022. Of the $2.1 million potential award,
$974,298 was awarded. It was closed out in October 2021.

Lt. Commander Reajul Mojumder, Project Officer at
DHS’s Bio-Preparedness Collaboratory, Countering Weapons of Mass
Destruction office, was managing the grant to EcoHealth Alliance,
according to the database. Mojumder was later replaced by Teresa
Quitugua, deputy director and chief scientist of the National
Biosurveillance Integration Center, Maryland.

Through FOIA, we have uncovered a substantial amount of information
about the COVID-19 controversy, including information about the role
of EcoHealth Alliance in conducting “gain-of-function” bat
coronavirus research in China with U.S. tax dollars:

* HHS records
[[link removed]]
included the
initial grant application and annual reports to the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) from EcoHealth Alliance, describing the aim
of its work with the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China to create
mutant viruses “to better predict the capacity of our CoVs
[coronaviruses] to infect people.”
* HHS records included emails
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of
then-Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Francis
Collins showing a British physicians’ group recommended the use of
Ivermectin to prevent and treat COVID-19.
* Heavily redacted HHS records showed
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that just two
days prior to FDA approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine a
discussion was held between U.S. and UK health regulators regarding
the COVID shot and “anaphylaxis,” with the regulators emphasizing
their “mutual confidentiality agreement.”
* We obtained HHS records
[[link removed]]
regarding
data Moderna submitted to the FDA on its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, which
indicated a “statistically significant” number of rats were born
with skeletal deformations after their mothers were injected with the
vaccine. The documents also revealed Moderna elected not to conduct a
number of standard pharmacological studies on the laboratory test
animals.
* Heavily redacted records
[[link removed]]
from
the FDA regarding the COVID-19 booster vaccine detailed pressure on
COVID booster use and approval.
* HHS records
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detailed
internal discussions about myocarditis and the COVID vaccine. Other
documents detail adverse “events for which a contributory effect of
the vaccine could not be excluded.”
* We uncovered
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HHS
records detailing the extensive media plans for a Biden administration
propaganda campaign to push the COVID-19 vaccine.
* HHS records revealed previously redacted
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locations
of COVID-19 vaccine testing facilities in Shanghai, China. The FDA had
claimed the name and location of the testing facilities were protected
by the confidential commercial information exemption of the FOIA.
* NIH records showed an FBI “inquiry” into the NIH’s
controversial bat coronavirus grant tied to the Wuhan Institute of
Virology. The records also show National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases (NIAID) officials were concerned about
“gain-of-function” research in China’s Wuhan Institute of
Virology in 2016. The Fauci agency was also concerned about EcoHealth
Alliance’s
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lack of compliance
with reporting rules and use of gain-of-function research in the
NIH-funded research involving bat coronaviruses in Wuhan, China.
* Texas Public Information Act (PIA) records showed the former
director of the Galveston National Laboratory at the University of
Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), James W. Le Duc
[[link removed]],
warned
Chinese researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology of potential
investigations into the COVID issue by Congress.
* HHS records regarding biodistribution studies and related data for
the COVID-19 vaccines showed how a key component of the vaccines
developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), were found
outside the injection site
[[link removed]],
mainly the liver, adrenal glands, spleen and ovaries of test animals,
eight to 48 hours after injection.
* Records
[[link removed]]
obtained
from HHS through a FOIA lawsuit related to hydroxychloroquine and
COVID-19 revealed that a grant to EcoHealth Alliance was cancelled
because of press reports that a portion of the grant was given to the
Wuhan Institute of Virology.
* HHS records revealed that from 2014 to 2019, $826,277
[[link removed]]
was given to the
Wuhan Institute of Virology for bat coronavirus research by the NIAID.
* NIAID records showed that it gave nine China-related grants to
EcoHealth Alliance
[[link removed]]
to research
coronavirus emergence in bats and was the NIH’s top issuer of grants
to the Wuhan lab itself. The records also included an email from the
vice director of the Wuhan Lab asking an NIH official for help finding
disinfectants for decontamination of airtight suits and indoor
surfaces.
* HHS records included an “urgent for Dr. Fauci
[[link removed]
email chain,
citing ties between the Wuhan lab and the taxpayer-funded EcoHealth
Alliance
[[link removed]].
The government emails
also reported that the foundation of U.S. billionaire Bill Gates
worked closely with the Chinese government to pave the way for
Chinese-produced medications to be sold outside China and help
“raise China’s voice of governance by placing representatives from
China on important international counsels as high level commitment
from China.”
* HHS records included a grant application for research involving
the coronavirus that appears to describe “gain-of-function
[[link removed]
research involving RNA extractions from bats, experiments on viruses,
attempts to develop a chimeric virus and efforts to genetically
manipulate the full-length bat SARSr-CoV WIV1 strain molecular clone.
* HHS records showed the State Department and NIAID knew immediately
in January 2020 that China was withholding COVID data
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which was
hindering risk assessment and response by public health officials.
* HHS records show that NIH officials tailored confidentiality
forms
[[link removed]]
to China’s
terms and that the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted an
unreleased, “strictly confidential” COVID-19 epidemiological
analysis in January 2020.
* Fauci emails
[[link removed]]
include his approval of
a press release supportive of China’s response to the 2019 novel
coronavirus.

Despite all this work, there is clearly more to be done on this issue.
And Judicial Watch is happy to do the heavy lifting thanks to your
support!

BIDEN CENSORSHIP: FBI COLLUDES WITH UKRAINIAN INTEL TO SILENCE
AMERICANS

The censorship tentacles of our leftist Deep State agencies in
Washington have reached into some bizarre corners, as our _Corruption
Chronicles_ blog details
[[link removed]].

> In the most recently exposed Biden administration scheme to combat
> misinformation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) colluded
> with a compromised Ukrainian intelligence agency to censor the
> speech of Americans. The federal agency responsible for protecting
> the nation against terrorists, violent street gangs and serial
> killers joined forces with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU),
> which is widely known to be infiltrated by Russian-aligned forces,
> to take down the authentic social media accounts of Americans. This
> includes a verified U.S. State Department profile and those
> belonging to American journalists. Interestingly, accounts targeted
> for removal by the SBU and FBI criticized Russian President Vladimir
> Putin and expressed pro-Ukrainian views.
>
> Details of the illicit operation are outlined in a new
> congressional report
>
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> made public this week by the House Judiciary Committee. The document
> also exposes how the FBI offered Facebook and Instagram legal cover
> to delete social media accounts singled out by the SBU. The two
> agencies routinely sent the popular social media platforms
> spreadsheets and other documents identifying thousands of profiles
> to eliminate. “Regardless of its intended purpose in endorsing the
> SBU’s requests, the FBI had no legal justification for
> facilitating the censorship of Americans’ protected speech on
> social media,” the report states. “In contrast to the Biden
> Administration’s stated support for Ukraine, the FBI, on behalf of
> the SBU, flagged Americans’ accounts and posts that were critical
> of Vladimir Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
>
> The report says that the FBI also delivered censorship orders from
> the SBU to Google and YouTube and reveals that a senior
> cybersecurity employee at Google said the company was “deluged
> with various requests” for content removal after Russia invaded
> Ukraine. The primary liaison between the FBI and Silicon Valley is
> Elvis Chan, a San Francisco-based assistant special agent in charge
> of the division’s cyber branch. The congressional probe highlights
> the FBI’s unconstitutional role in enabling the SBU’s censorship
> regime and raises grave concerns about the agency’s credibility
> and competence as the nation’s premier law enforcement
> organization. “Put simply, the FBI worked with and on behalf of a
> foreign intelligence agency—widely known to be compromised by
> Moscow at the time—and directly abetted efforts to censor
> Americans engaging in protected speech,” the report says. “As a
> result, the FBI agents’ actions had the potential to render
> substantial aid to the Kremlin’s war effort.
>
> Strangely—or perhaps not surprisingly—the alarming document has
> received scant coverage from the mainstream media. One national
> outlet that did publish a story about it dismissed it
>
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as
> “the latest in a series of Republican efforts to attack the Biden
> administration’s work with social media platforms, which ramped up
> over intervention on stories about Hunter Biden’s laptop.” The
> operation is hardly the first involving the administration’s
> highly questionable efforts to control information. Just days ago, a
> federal judge issued an order
>
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> prohibiting the Biden administration from pressuring social media
> companies to suppress free speech protected under the Constitution.
> The ruling involves a lawsuit filed by states accusing the federal
> government of going too far to supposedly combat COVID-19
> disinformation. In the decision, the judge wrote that there was
> “substantial evidence” of a far-reaching censorship campaign.
>
> It is part of a broader effort to divert public funds for a
> fictitious crisis created by the Biden administration to control
> information. The movement started with a Department of Homeland
> Security (DHS) panel known as the Disinformation Governance Board,
> which was technically dismantled after major backlash. Taxpayer
> dollars keep flowing to related causes, however. Millions in DHS
> terrorism prevention grants have gone to combat “misinformation
> and disinformation” and to create media disinformation networks
> worldwide. Large sums have also gone to related projects such as
> fighting science misinformation and misperceptions in black
> communities and, of course, COVID-19 misinformation, especially
> involving minorities and vaccines.
>

Until next week,





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