The Democrats no longer care about the freedom of speech. They want to crack down on what people are allowed to say.
And this bombshell report reveals Joe Biden’s heinous scheme to axe free speech.
Biden Administration Allocates $267 Million to “Misinformation” Research: OpenTheBooks Report Reveals
An eye-opening report by the nonprofit transparency group OpenTheBooks reveals that the Biden administration has spent $267 million since 2021 on research grants referencing the term “misinformation.”
OpenTheBooks, founded in 2011, aims to shed light on government spending. Notably, the group has ties to the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, co-sponsored by then-Senator Barack Obama and Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK).
This landmark legislation was designed to provide public access to federal spending records. Coburn later served as honorary chairman of OpenTheBooks until his passing in 2020.
The report highlights that $127 million of the allocated funds specifically targeted research into the spread of misinformation or initiatives to persuade the public to align with COVID-19 public health recommendations.
“The feds have spent at least $127 million in grants specifically targeted to study the spread of ‘misinformation’ — or to help people ‘overcome’ it, so to speak — by persuading them to go along with Covid-related public health recommendations and mandates,” the report says.
Interestingly, a note in the report cautions that the true scope of such spending may be even larger.
“This likely does not cover all grants given to combat misinformation, because transaction descriptions may not include this keyword, but the trend in spending illustrates a sudden explosion of interest in misinformation starting in 2021,” it explains.
Major contributors to this spending include the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with $185 million, the National Science Foundation with $65 million, and the State Department with $12 million.
The report also ties into findings from the House Committee on Energy & Commerce’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
According to the subcommittee’s report, HHS launched the “We Can Do This” campaign in August 2020. Costing over $900 million, this campaign aimed to shape public attitudes on mask usage, vaccine effectiveness, and other COVID-related issues.
“The Campaign came to serve as a critical vehicle for disseminating the Biden-Harris administration’s messaging on mask usage, social distancing, vaccine effectiveness, the risks COVID-19 posed to children, and how to reopen schools, businesses, and civil society,” the report said.
However, OpenTheBooks points out inconsistencies in the administration’s stance:
“It appears the administration most concerned with ‘misinformation’ itself trafficked in misinformation: on masks, on risks to children, on social distancing, and on the need to vaccinate even infants,” the group states.
In December 2022, then-former President Donald Trump criticized federal efforts to monitor speech, pledging significant reforms if re-elected. “Within hours of my inauguration, I will sign an executive order banning any federal department or agency from colluding with any organization, business, or person, to censor, limit, categorize, or impede the lawful speech of American citizens,” Trump said.
He further vowed to end the use of federal funds for labeling domestic speech as misinformation and to fire bureaucrats involved in such activities.
The revelations highlight a growing debate over the federal government’s role in combating misinformation and limiting the lawful speech of Americans.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
