{"id":2630231,"date":"2026-07-15T16:27:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T20:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/even-under-trump-fbi-fights-foias-that-would-show-how-much-agency-paid-big-tech-to-censor-conservatives\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T16:28:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T20:28:40","slug":"even-under-trump-fbi-fights-foias-that-would-show-how-much-agency-paid-big-tech-to-censor-conservatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/even-under-trump-fbi-fights-foias-that-would-show-how-much-agency-paid-big-tech-to-censor-conservatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Even Under Trump, FBI Fights FOIAs That Would Show How Much Agency Paid Big Tech to Censor Conservatives"},"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\">36<\/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%2Feven-under-trump-fbi-fights-foias-that-would-show-how-much-agency-paid-big-tech-to-censor-conservatives%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=2630231&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>The passage discusses concerns about government transparency and alleged censorship activities. It highlights a lawsuit filed by the New Civil Liberties Alliance against the FBI and the Department of Justice,aiming to obtain records related to payments made to social media platforms like Twitter for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-fbi-isnt-the-only-guilty-party-in-the-twitter-files-and-it-isnt-partisan-to-say-so\/\" title=\"The ... Isn\u2019t The Only Guilty Party In The \u2018...,\u2019 And It Isn\u2019t \u2018Partisan\u2019 To Say So\">content moderation requests<\/a>,especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 election. The article suggests that these agencies engaged in covert efforts to suppress details that challenged official narratives, with evidence emerging from the &#8220;Twitter Files&#8221; revealing communications between government officials and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ga-poll-watcher-it-expert-non-trump-supporter-affidavit-sudden-surge-of-20000-mail-in-votes-for-biden-in-early-hours-on-nov\/\" title=\"GA Poll Watcher, IT Expert, Non-Trump Supporter Affidavit: Sudden Surge of 20,000 Mail-In-Votes For Biden In Early Hours On Nov\">social media companies<\/a>. It questions the motives behind such actions, implying a possible appetite for power and self-interest within federal agencies. The piece ultimately criticizes what it perceives as institutional abuse and the broader implications of secrecy in government operations.  <\/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\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Never assume that the federal government\u2019s perennial resistance to transparency stems from something passive and morally neutral like institutional sclerosis.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, consider whether federal agencies\u2019 determination to preserve secrecy through every change of administration has a much darker explanation.<\/p>\n<p>Late last month, attorneys for the New Civil Liberties Alliance filed a <a href=\"https:\/\/nclalegal.org\/filing\/plaintiffs-motion-for-summary-judgment-and-memorandum-of-points-and-authorities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">motion<\/a> for summary judgment in their lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice, which have allegedly stonewalled the NCLA in its request for censorship-related documents under the Freedom of Information Act.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, NCLA \u201crequested records relating to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/former-democratic-mayor-pleads-guilty-bribery-scheme-getting-nabbed-undercover-fbi-agents\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FBI<\/a> payments to Twitter and comparable entities for time spent processing any FBI \u2018requests.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By \u201cany FBI \u2018requests,&#8217;\u201d NCLA meant possible payments to social media companies for satisfying the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >federal agencies\u2019 content-moderation demands<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Recall that during the dark days of the COVID-19 scare and the presidential election-related controversies of 2020-21, social media companies actively <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mark-zuckerbergs-meta-agrees-pay-trump-huge-settlement-censorship-lawsuit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">censored<\/a> users whose speech ran counter to official government narratives. Under the guise of public health, companies censored so-called \u201cmisinformation\u201d and \u201cdisinformation\u201d about COVID protocols or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/texas-ag-sues-pfizer-covid-vaccine-conspiracy-censor-public-discourse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">treatments<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In the weeks preceding the 2020 election, those same companies conspired to suppress true information about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/department-justice-finally-admits-truth-hunter-biden-laptop-new-court-filing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hunter Biden\u2019s<\/a> laptop. Then, they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/cal-thomas-stolen-election-isnt-just-ballots-censorship-suppression\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">censored<\/a> users who questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<p>In 2022, after Elon Musk purchased the social media platform then known as Twitter, he opened the books and allowed journalists to see \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-elon-musk-reveals-shocking-thing-twitter-files-makes-major-confession\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Twitter files<\/a>,\u201d a shocking repository of communications between company officials and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/fbi-issues-response-twitter-files-bombshells-takes-aim-conspiracy-theorists\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">government agents<\/a> who \u201crequested\u201d content moderation designed to silence dissent.<\/p>\n<p>Most of this occurred on former President Joe Biden\u2019s watch. Biden, of course, had no interest in revealing any of this to the public.<\/p>\n<p>To date, President Donald Trump\u2019s administration has allegedly continued the cover-up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlaintiff seeks records necessary to determine whether FBI\u2019s payments were limited to statutorily authorized reimbursements, or whether taxpayer funds were also used to induce, facilitate, or compensate other actions intended to limit speech,\u201d the NCLA motion read. \u201cYet for over three years, FBI has treated Plaintiff\u2019s request as though it sought only one discrete category of records that, conveniently enough, FBI could claim was subject to a categorical Glomar response, thereby purporting to relieve itself of any obligation to determine whether responsive documents exist.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In short, a \u201cGlomar\u201d response means that a federal agency neither confirms nor denies the existence of such records. The agency often justifies this response by asserting that the revelation of such records would imperil national security.<\/p>\n<p>For the history of this insidious term and practice, which began with a sunken Soviet submarine, see <a href=\"https:\/\/foia.blogs.archives.gov\/2024\/01\/25\/what-the-foia-is-glomar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/revealed-fbi-mole-newsom-camp-recording-gathering-info-corruption-dirty-dealings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FBI<\/a>, in other words, continues to abuse its power. Having violated the Constitution by conspiring to censor Americans\u2019 speech, it now allegedly violates the law under FOIA.<\/p>\n<p>The question, of course, is why. What could possibly compel Trump\u2019s FBI to cover for Biden\u2019s?<\/p>\n<p>One explanation, of course, lies in the nature of bureaucracy. Plodding, over-officious, and self-serving, a bureaucracy almost always does everything poorly and for its own sake. Thus, not even the handful of well-intentioned bureaucrats could alter institutional inertia.<\/p>\n<p>A darker explanation, however, lies in the nature of man.<\/p>\n<p>To illustrate, remember your Tolkien. Call to mind that classic \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d trilogy. Why did Isildur refuse to destroy The One Ring?<\/p>\n<p>Could it be that those who finally reach the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/congress-big-wig-investors-new-theory-explain-americas-data-center-revolt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FBI<\/a>, no matter how they arrived there, recognize immediately the power it affords them, and thus they refuse to expose the institution\u2019s inner workings, lest it deprive them of the same opportunities for self-aggrandizing mischief that their predecessors enjoyed?<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]] = document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display = 'block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src = firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id'] = firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting = jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display = 'block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Never assume federal resistance to transparency is merely institutional sclerosis; it may have darker motives. Recently, NCLA attorneys filed a motion for summary judgment against the FBI and DOJ over FOIA requests related to payments to social media companies for content moderation, revealing ongoing secrecy efforts during Biden\u2019s administration<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2630232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBI-big-tech-censorship.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[23092,6371,50645,9507],"class_list":["post-2630231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-big-tech","tag-censorship","tag-fbi-2","tag-foia"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBI-big-tech-censorship.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2630231","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2630231"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2630231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2630236,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2630231\/revisions\/2630236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2630232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2630231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2630231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2630231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}