Biden admin pressured Facebook to censor Tucker Carlson: report

In an April 14, 2021 email to an unidentified Facebook employee, White House Director of Digital Strategy Rob Flaherty complained of Carlson saying the Covid vaccines "don't work," as well as citing fellow conservative commentator Tomi Lahren's public vow to pass up on the jab.

"Since we've been on the phone – the top post about vaccines today is [T]ucker Carlson saying they don't work. Yesterday it was Tomi Lehren [sic] saying she won't take one,” Flaherty wrote.

He continued, requesting a "reduction" in posts, and again naming Carlson as a target.

"This is exactly why I want to know what 'Reduction' actually looks like – if 'reduction' means 'pumping our most vaccine hesitant audience with [T]ucker Carlson saying it doesn't work' then… I'm not sure it's reduction!"

The Facebook employee wrote back, saying that they were "running this down now," according to the document shared by Landry.

"So the Biden WH directed Big Tech to censor Tucker Carlson. Not only does this sound like an actual threat to press freedom, but it's a dangerous violation of the 1st Amendment," wrote Republican strategist Andrew Surabian.

Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene gave her two cents in a quote-tweet.

"These crimes will not go unpunished," she said.

Landry, along with fellow Republican Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, sued the Biden administration in May, reported the Daily Caller News Foundation. The suit complained of collusion between the federal government and social media companies to censor dissenting opinions on the 2020 presidential election, Covid, and other politicized topics.

In July, a federal court ordered the administration to hand over internal communications documents between officials and the tech companies, including Facebook and Twitter.

"When the federal government colludes with Big Tech to censor speech, the American people become subjects rather than citizens," said Landry while speaking of the lawsuit in September. "The USDOJ must not be allowed to hide behind the vail of executive privilege, especially when there is already compelling evidence that the people"s government colluded with these social media companies to suppress their right of free speech."