In recent news, Fox News correspondent Hillary Vaughn confirmed that House Republicans plan to move forward in citing Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for contempt of Congress.
This decision comes as a result of the social media giant’s alleged failure to turn over documents requested by the House Judiciary Committee during their investigation into coordinated censorship between the White House and executive branch.
Contempt of Congress is defined as any willful act or omission which obstructs or impedes either house of Congress in carrying out its constitutional duties.
It also includes any conduct that tends to bring both houses into disrepute or disregard their authority.
This could include failing to provide information upon proper request, interfering with proceedings or witnesses, or refusing to comply with established rules and procedures.
The House Judiciary Committee has been investigating claims that social media companies such as Facebook have been engaging in coordinated censorship against users on their platform, thus violating First Amendment rights.
The committee says that they have yet to receive enough information from Facebook regarding these allegations despite issuing a subpoena back in February and following up with an ultimatum in May stating that they would not remain compliant with requests if sufficient materials were not provided soon after.
Although they recently received even more internal documents from the company, sources say it still isn’t enough evidence—leading them to pursue holding Mark Zuckerberg personally responsible for contempt of Congress.
If held accountable for contempt, Mark Zuckerberg could face up to one year behind bars depending on whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) chooses to prosecute him further.
However, this is unlikely due to how difficult it is actually to hold someone accountable under such charges–as proven by previous cases involving high-profile political figures such as Attorney General Eric Holder during Barack Obama’s tenure as President.
Despite being held guilty shortly afterwards by a bipartisan vote from both chambers within Congress, no action was taken against Holder due lack of DOJ intervention–making it highly improbable that something similar would happen again now regardless if found guilty once again by congressional vote later down the line.
“Fox has confirmed the House will move forward to cite Mark Zuckerberg for contempt of Congress” pic.twitter.com/S81XKWtNXK
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 25, 2023
