House Committee on Oversight and Reform Chair Carolyn B. Maloney asked the social media platform Parler to hand over financial information, including whether the company has any ties to Russia.
The New York Democrat previously asked the FBI to investigate Parler regarding whether the platform played a role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and said her committee would begin its own investigation.
Amazon Web Services took Parler offline after the riot amid concerns about future harm resulting from content on the platform, and Apple and Google removed Parler’s app from their app stores.
On Monday, Ms. Maloney wrote to Parler COO Jeffrey Wernick to request capitalization tables, a list of any Parler creditors, any agreements with Russians, and any communications with Russians considering financing Parler.
“Since the attacks, numerous Parler users have been arrested and charged for their roles, with the Department of Justice citing in several instances the threats that individuals made through Parler in the days leading up to and following the attack,” wrote Ms. Maloney. “In addition, Parler reportedly allowed Russian disinformation to flourish on its platform prior to the November 2020 election, facilitating Russia’s campaign to sow chaos in the American electorate. Although similar disinformation was removed by other social media platforms, it was allowed to remain on Parler.”
Parler did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After Ms. Maloney urged the FBI to investigate Parler last month, two oversight committee Republicans urged her to request investigations of Facebook and Twitter too. Reps. James Comer and Greg Steube wrote a letter to Ms. Maloney last month that called her focus on Parler a “transparently political ploy” that was designed to shut down speech that Democrats dislike.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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