After it was revealed that the Washington Examiner had shown that the federal bureaucracy spent hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars on censorship, James Comer, Chairman of the House Oversight Committee announced an investigation into State Department.

“The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is looking into reports that federal funds administered to the Department of State were used for suppression of lawful speech and defunding disfavored news outlets in the name of fighting disinformation. Recent reports that taxpayer money was transferred to a foreign entity running an advertisement blacklist of organisations accused of hosting disinformation websites has disturbed the Committee. This includes several conservative-leaning news outlets. Comer sent a Thursday letter to Antony Blinken asking for documents and staff briefings to better understand the Department’s use federal funds to fund a taxpayer-funded “censorship campaign.”

The letter continued, “We remain concerned by federal government efforts to censor lawful speech of Americans” and to discredit legitimate criticisms as mis- or dis- or mal-information. This could be done through the creation of a Disinformation Governance Board or labeling dissenting views as threats to critical infrastructure. The federal government should not be censoring speech or policing which news outlets Americans choose. Third parties should not be allowed to use taxpayer funds to suppress lawful speech or limit the freedom of expression.

Comer requests a list of documents from the State Department and a briefing by Blinken to Committee staff members by March 3. Comer wants documents to be made to allow him to inspect the Department’s handling of funds that flow to organizations that suppress free speech and censor legal speech.

1. All communications and documents relating to any grant or other funding that the Department or its organizations has administered from January 20, 2021 to present.

2. All communications and documents relating to any grant or other funding that the Department grants or organizations that are funded by it is sent to the Global Disinformation Index.

3. All communications and documents between any Department employee, contractor or grantee and any other person, regardless of whether they are within or outside the federal governments, that refer or relate to any efforts to suppress mis-, diss-, or malinformation uttered by or hosted within the United States.

4. All documents and communications that are sufficient to prove the identity of Department employees, contractors or grantees.