Do Americans Have a Free Press?

            Last November, The FBI raided the home and office of James O’Keefe, the CEO of Project Veritas, a news organization that reports by making undercover videos. The purpose for the raid was to seek information about a diary allegedly belonging to Ashley Biden, the daughter of President Joe Biden. A source found the diary in a home that he rented and contacted O’Keefe. Someone from O’Keefe’s conservative non-profit organization traveled across state lines to obtain the diary.

            O’Keefe tried to verify that the diary belonged to Ashley Biden and contacted the Biden campaign for verification. Meanwhile, O’Keefe read the diary, determined that it was confidential information, and declined to publish it. He gave the diary to the police and did not have possession of it at the time of the raid. Because O’Keefe is a journalist, the FBI raid is tantamount to a raid on the free press, and every journalist should be standing with O’Keefe.

            Some Republicans in the House of Representatives are calling for a congressional investigation into the FBI raid to seize information from Project Veritas. Potentially, there may be other government actions taken against a member of the press. After a House GOP forum on press freedom, Representative Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) was interviewed by The Daily Signal.

I have called for a specific investigation into how some of those tools were used against Project Veritas….

So, I want to be a little more specific than just a general review of the law and subject area. I want to see, if in this particular case, the standards that the Department [of Justice] sets and that are set in law may have been violated….

Our objective here is to vindicate a free press. I don’t think the specific substance of Ashley Biden’s diary is as important as these broader principles that seem to be implicated by the government’s control….

As we prepare for our time in the majority, it is not enough to pass laws and believe those laws will have their own fiat.

It has to be done on the front end, and then there has to be rigorous and aggressive oversight on the back end. Based on my review of the facts in M. O’Keefe’s case, we ought to launch an investigation, immediately upon taking the majority, not just of this policy area, but of this particular circumstance regarding Project Veritas, because it unlocks so many things.

            Gaetz is not the only member of Congress concerned about the FBI raid on Project Veritas. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), the chairperson of the hearing-style forum, agree with the need for a congressional investigation. “One thing that should frighten every American is when the freedom of the press is threatened by the weaponization of the state police apparatus.” He continued, “Neither side of the partisan aisle should tolerate any kind of aggressive attempt to silence or censor speech, and particularly of a free press.”

            Biggs spoke of the FBI raid on Project Veritas and former President Donald Trump’s verbal attacks on certain news outlets and reporters. He said that is no comparison between Trump’s verbal attacks and the Biden administration turning the power of federal law enforcement against media outlets.

            Biggs explained the difference as follows: “On one hand, you have a president actually exercising his First Amendment speech being critical of the Fourth Estate. On the other hand, you had administrations weaponizing and using the police apparatus to go against people they wanted to stifle. I think that’s a huge difference.”

            O’Keefe believes that there should be a congressional investigation and hopes that there is bipartisan support for ensuring that other journalists do not experience similar raids. “If I’m wrong, and there isn’t bipartisanship on this issue, then we’re doomed.”

            Ironically, the FBI raided O’Keefe’s home and office after he had declined to publish the diary. However, Josh Gerstein actually published the leaked draft of the Supreme Court opinion reversing the 1973 Roe v. Wade, and he did not face any legal consequences. The FBI is obviously biased about the news organizations that it raids.