Psaki deposition blocked by federal appeals court in social media censorship case
Jack Birle
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A federal appeals court has halted attempts for two states to get testimony from former White House press secretary Jen Psaki as part of a lawsuit against the Biden administration accusing it of suppressing free speech on social media platforms.
The three-judge panel on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals argued that Psaki’s testimony was not necessary as she was not in charge of developing or executing policy.
JEN PSAKI DEALT A BLOW IN FREE SPEECH COURT CASE
“As Press Secretary, Psaki’s role was to inform the media of the administration’s priorities, not to develop or execute policy. Unsurprisingly, then, the record does not demonstrate that Psaki has unique first-hand knowledge that would justify the extraordinary measure of deposing a high-ranking executive official,” the court wrote in its decision.
Noting that authorizing Psaki’s deposition would merit “extraordinary circumstances,” the court overturned a lower court’s ruling. The lower court had argued the deposition would not be an “undue burden” and there would be “no irreparable harm to Psaki” for testifying.
The initial deposition request was approved by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in October but has now been halted after various appeals. Others who were set to be deposed included Biden administration officials such as Dr. Anthony Fauci.
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The lawsuit, brought by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana in May 2022, accuses the Biden administration of “colluding to suppress freedom of speech” with major tech companies. The examples the attorneys general point to include the Hunter Biden laptop story and theories on the origins of COVID-19.