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Attorney General O'Connor Joins Multistate Letter Urging Biden Administration to Stop Its Attack on the First Amendment

OKLAHOMA CITY - Attorney General John O’Connor is joining a coalition of state attorneys general submitting a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas opposing the Biden Administration’s attack on the First Amendment. The creation of a “Disinformation Governance Board” violates the constitutional freedoms that state attorneys general are responsible for defending. 

“President Biden is deliberately suppressing Americans’ first amendment rights,” Attorney General O’Connor said. “Every Oklahoman and American has the right to express their opinion and beliefs without fear of censorship. The Disinformation Governance Board is entirely un-American, and I will vigorously oppose every attempt by Biden to silence those who oppose his political views.”

The attorneys general argue that this government watchdog agency would abridge a citizen’s right to express their opinions and disagree with the government, furthering self-censorship rather than protecting freedom of speech. The board’s creation is also an example of federal overreach. There is no statutory authority to support its inception – particularly as the public’s elected representatives debate the issue of disinformation in Congress. 

The letter states that “the Disinformation Governance Board, by its very existence, and almost certainly by design, threatens to ‘enforce silence’ when Americans wish to express views disfavored by the Administration. It is therefore already chilling free speech and impeding the political process… this is unconstitutional, illegal, and un-American. Unless you turn back now and disband this Orwellian Disinformation Governance Board immediately, the undersigned will have no choice but to consider judicial remedies to protect the rights of their citizens.”

Attorneys general from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia joined the letter.

Read the letter

 

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