{"id":2215673,"date":"2024-04-08T14:25:01","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T18:25:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-oversight-committee-threatens-to-subpoena-doj-for-tiktok-and-al-jazeera-documents\/"},"modified":"2024-04-08T14:26:58","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T18:26:58","slug":"house-oversight-committee-threatens-to-subpoena-doj-for-tiktok-and-al-jazeera-documents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-oversight-committee-threatens-to-subpoena-doj-for-tiktok-and-al-jazeera-documents\/","title":{"rendered":"House Oversight Committee may issue subpoena for DOJ documents related to TikTok and Al Jazeera"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhouse-oversight-committee-threatens-to-subpoena-doj-for-tiktok-and-al-jazeera-documents%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2215673&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>House Oversight Committee Republicans are threatening to\u2064 subpoena the Justice Department for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/giuliani-president-trump-should-declassify-more-documents\/\" title=\"Giuliani: President Trump should declassify more documents\">documents related<\/a>\u2064 to investigations about TikTok and Al Jazeera under the Foreign Agents\u200d Registration\u2064 Act. Chairman James Comer expressed concern about the lack\u200b of transparency\u200d and indicated a deadline of April 15\u2064 for the DOJ\u200d to comply before considering subpoenas. This move \u200cfollows \u200clegislative efforts\u2063 to address\u2064 TikTok&#8217;s ties to China.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/house-oversight\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>House Oversight<\/a> Committee Republicans are threatening to subpoena the <a href=\"http:\/\/washigntonexaminer.com\/tag\/justice-department\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Justice Department<\/a> if it does not willingly turn over documents related to any investigations of <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tiktok\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>TikTok<\/a> and <em><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/al-jazeera\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Al Jazeera<\/a><\/em>  under the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/fara\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title> Foreign Agents Registration Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In a new letter to Attorney General <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/merrick-garland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Merrick Garland<\/a> sent on Monday, Oversight Committee Chairman <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/james-comer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>James Comer<\/a> (R-KY) wrote that the DOJ has \u201crefused\u201d to provide documentation on any FARA-related investigations into the two companies for eight weeks since it last sent its request on Feb. 8. <\/p>\n<p>Comer pointed to a memorandum of understanding between TikTok and the Qatari Ministry of Communications signed in late February that seeks to \u201cexpand Qatar\u2019s digital footprint\u201d and will allow both organizations to operate in the United States without \u201cproper transparency\u201d in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe evidence that TikTok and Al Jazeera are operating at the behest of foreign principals<br \/>is substantial, but they continue to operate without registration,\u201d Comer wrote. \u201cThe Department has not been responsive to the Committee\u2019s inquiries regarding both Al Jazeera and TikTok\u2019s internal status relating to FARA registration.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Department\u2019s lack of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hunter-bidens-art-dealer-lawyers-up\/\" title=\"Hunter Biden\u2019s Art Dealer Lawyers Up\">transparency continues<\/a> to raise questions about its commitment to the objective enforcement of FARA,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>House Republicans are giving the DOJ until April 15 to provide the requested document. Otherwise, the committee will consider subpoenas to force production.<\/p>\n<p>Comer\u2019s letter comes nearly a month after the House voted overwhelmingly to pass legislation that would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2918167\/house-votes-to-force-sale-of-tiktok-by-chinese-owner\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>force TikTok to separate <\/a>from its parent company, ByteDance, or otherwise face a possible ban in the U.S. In the week leading up to the vote, TikTok had presented the legislation as a \u201ccomplete ban\u201d and encouraged users to call their members and protest the measure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe week prior, when the bill was introduced, TikTok blatantly engaged in \u2018political<br \/>activities\u2019 without registering under FARA, seemingly in violation of the law,\u201d Comer wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTikTok\u2019s content has been recognized as advancing a global pro-CCP agenda, influencing Americans at the behest of the CCP and constituting \u2018political activities\u2019 under FARA,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/2021-tokyo-games-moving-forward-as-scheduled\/\" title=\"2021 Tokyo Games moving forward as scheduled\">chairman added<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Al Jazeera<\/em>, a foreign news organization based in Qatar, has pushed back against Republican efforts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/1164364\/al-jazeera-pushes-back-on-gop-effort-to-force-it-to-register-as-a-foreign-agent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>in the past<\/a> to force the network to register as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-court-is-fast-tracking-sidney-powells-request-for-a-forensic-exam-of-dominion-voting-machines\/\" title=\"Federal Court Is Fast-Tracking Sidney Powell\u2019s Request For A Forensic Exam Of Dominion Voting Machines\">foreign agent<\/a>, claiming that it is not directed or controlled by the Qatari government. However, Comer claimed in his letter on Monday that <em>Al Jazeera<\/em> continues to skirt FARA obligations \u201ceven though its entities are funded by and act on behalf of the Qatari government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAl Jazeera journalists are increasingly being linked to Hamas-backed attacks, and Qatar has reportedly hosted a Hamas headquarters in Doha, paying the terrorist group $30 million per month since 2018,\u201d the Kentucky Republican wrote, citing an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commentary.org\/jonathan-schanzer\/the-growing-list-of-al-jazeera-terrorists\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>article<\/a> from <em>Commentary Magazine<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p><em>Al Jazeera <\/em>has faced increased scrutiny since the escalation of the war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly seeking to \u201cact immediately\u201d and block the network, which he calls a \u201cterrorist channel,\u201d from broadcasting in Israel following a national security law passed by the Israeli parliament. <\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The White House has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/2947598\/white-house-knocks-israels-plan-block-foreign-news-outlets-operating-inside-country\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>pushed back<\/a> against Israel\u2019s pledge to block <em>Al Jazeera<\/em>, citing the \u201cconcerning\u201d move as a detriment to the freedom of the press. In October last year, shortly after the Oct. 7 attacks perpetrated by Hamas against Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked the Qatari prime minister to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2023\/10\/25\/tony-blinken-qatar-israel-hamas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>tone down<\/a> <em>Al Jazeera\u2019s<\/em> rhetoric about the war in Gaza, per <em>Axios<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> reached out to <em>Al Jazeera<\/em>, the Justice Department, and TikTok for comment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House Oversight Committee Republicans may subpoena the Justice Department for documents on TikTok and Al Jazeera investigations under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Chairman James Comer (R-KY) warned of potential action in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2648,"featured_media":2215674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24059576102674-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2215673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24059576102674-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2648"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2215673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2215674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2215673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2215673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2215673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}