Rand Paul to FBI head: 'You should admit whether or not you have a program going after our speech'

On Thursday, Sen. Rand Paul asked FBI Director Christopher Wray during a Homeland Security Committee hearing about reported collusion between the federal government and Facebook.

“You may think it’s just jolly well to get all this stuff without a warrant that people volunteer to you, but many of us are alarmed that you’re getting this information that are private communications between people, because it is against the law,” Paul said to Wray.

“It’s against the law for Facebook, or social media companies to give it to you," Paul added. "But it’s also against the law for you to receive it.”

Paul continued to press Wray, “Are you taking information that you’re getting not through the warrant process, and then going around and coming back and using that as a predicate for getting a warrant to actually get the information you’ve already been given?”

Wray replied that the FBI merely got “tips” from companies.

Paul had good reason for his line of questioning.

The Intercept's Lee Fang reported on October 31 (emphasis added), "The Department of Homeland Security is quietly broadening its efforts to curb speech it considers dangerous, an investigation by The Intercept has found. Years of internal DHS memos, emails, and documents — obtained via leaks and an ongoing lawsuit, as well as public documents — illustrate an expansive effort by the agency to influence tech platforms."

The report added, "Behind closed doors, and through pressure on private platforms, the U.S. government has used its power to try to shape online discourse."

Paul said to Wray on Thursday, “The question is — is when we start to talk about political speech."

The senator then cited the New York Post's Hunter Biden laptop story that Facebook suppressed before the 2020 presidential election.

“What ‘The New York Post’ article said is, yes, you’re getting this,” Paul explained. “And then when they’re finally read in context — and this is from a whistleblower, which makes us suspect you’re not being forthcoming or honest with us — is that whistleblowers are saying you are receiving this information from Facebook and others, and that you are going around the Constitution then come back and try to get warrants for it. But then once you read it, there’s been no actionable intelligence on this."

"But this is an active program that you’ve got," Paul added. "You work for the government, you should admit to us whether or not you have a program going after our speech.”

Wray insisted that the federal government's only interest was in investigating violence and not speech or expression.

To be continued...