Jim Jordan (Republican from Ohio) and Matt Gaetz(Republican from Florida) have pledged to investigate the State Department’s bankrolling of a “disinformation tracking group” that, according to the Washington Examiner, is secretly blacklisting conservative media outlets and taking steps towards defunding them.

Republican legislators have raised concerns about two State Department-backed entities: the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the Global Engagement Center (GEC), which granted $665,000 to the Global Disinformation Index between 2020-2021. Jordan and Gaetz now plan to investigate this funding via the newly formed Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.

Gaetz stated that he was deeply concerned by the issue and that it is part of a horizontal pattern in government that aims to influence how people consume information. It has been reported to the Department of Homeland Security. It’s at the FBI. It’s been seen at the Department of State.”

“I will be focusing my attention on the subcommittee for weaponization on these issues. Gaetz stated that this direct attack on the First Amendment is being made along with the way in which the extraordinary powers of government have been combined with technology’s capabilities to limit rights that Americans cherish and hold dear,” Gaetz said.

According to a source close to National Endowment for Democracy, the Washington Examiner was told by a source that the non-profit group, which gets almost all its funding from Congress, has not funded GDI’s “dynamic excluded list” of conservative websites in America.

First Amendment lawyers still believe that the flow of taxpayer money to GDI could pose a problem for government. According to David Warrington, an attorney at Dhillon Law Group, any ties between the State Department (and GDI) are alarming.

“This issue is clearly concerning to Chairman Jordan,” Russell Dye, a spokesperson for Jordan, said to the Washington Examiner. Dye was also chairman of the subcommittee.

According to the State Department, the $100,000 that the Global Engagement Center donated to GDI was first steered by Park Advisers. Park Advisers is an investment firm that combats “disinformation and terrorism, violent extremisms, hate speech” and many other issues. Records show that it was given to GDI in the U.S. Paris Tech Challenge. This challenge sought “to advance development of promising and innovative technologies împotriva disinformation and propaganda.”

The Atlantic Council, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and U.K. Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport were the partners in the challenge.

“Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are core American values and should be protected against radical progressors seeking to censor opinions and facts which don’t fit into their political narrative,” Rep. James Comer (R-KY), told the Washington Examiner Tuesday. He noted that the House Oversight and Accountability Committee that he chairs “will press the Biden Administration for answers about this attack upon the First Amendment.”

The Americans for Prosperity Foundation opened a Freedom of Information Act request inquiry on Thursday in relation to the NED, and the GEC. The Virginia-based conservative non-profit group seeks “documents reflecting any financial assistance — or details about that support — given the GDI, Disinformation Index, Inc., AN Foundation, Disinformation Index Foundation or Park Advisers.”

According to FOIA requests, it is also asking for “internal as well as external communications” in the form email, text, instant messages and calendar information.

Gaetz stated, “I believe this will be something that the weaponization subcommittee’s will look at.” “We work closely with the Oversight Committee.”

He said, “We have always preferred less intensive tools than subpoenas.” “But unfortunately, the Biden administration has not been willing to use the usual tools of oversight. If they are going be unusual in how they respond to the traditional tools we use to accommodate, then it might be necessary to be unconventional in how we pursue this.”

Washington Examiner was told by a spokesperson for the State Department that they were unaware of the specific interest. However, the State Department is committed in working with Congressional Committees with jurisdiction over U.S. Foreign Policy to meet their information needs to enable them to conduct oversight for their legitimate legislative purposes.