Show-Me State Times

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced today that the United States Supreme Court has permitted his office to obtain additional discovery in his First Amendment case against the Biden administration. The case, Murthy v. Missouri, alleges that federal officials coerced social media companies into infringing on Americans' free speech rights.

Attorney General Bailey stated, "My office filed suit against dozens of officials in the federal government to stop the biggest violation of the First Amendment in our nation’s history. The record is clear: the deep state pressured and coerced social media companies to take down truthful speech simply because it was conservative. Today’s ruling does not dispute that."

Bailey emphasized that Missouri would continue its efforts: "Missouri is not done. We are going back to the district court to obtain more discovery in order to root out Joe Biden’s vast censorship enterprise once and for all." He added, "We will remain vigilant to build the wall of separation between tech and state, but I could not be prouder of what my team and this case has exposed so far."

The case was initially filed by attorneys general from Missouri and Louisiana on May 5, 2022. It later became known as Murthy v. Missouri after revealing extensive evidence of alleged censorship through over 20,000 pages of documents and depositions from high-ranking federal officials including Dr. Anthony Fauci and FBI Special Agent Elvis Chan.

A motion for a preliminary injunction was filed on March 6, 2023, citing over 1,400 facts suggesting collusion between federal officials and social media companies. On July 4, 2023, a federal district court granted an injunction blocking further violations of First Amendment rights by top government officials—a decision upheld twice by the Fifth Circuit.

On June 26, 2024, the Supreme Court allowed Attorney General Bailey's office to pursue further discovery and depositions in this landmark case. His office continues to evaluate additional options in their ongoing battle against censorship.