New Report Accuses Google of Election Interference To Stop Trump
Google intends to intervene in the 2020 presidential election in an effort to thwart President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, according to a new report from Project Veritas.
The accusation comes after one of Google’s executives, Jen Gennai, was recorded admitting that Google was focused on “never letting somebody like Donald Trump come to power again.”
Gennai said that Google was “training our algorithms, like, if 2016 happened again, would we have, would the outcome be different?”
The Project Veritas report claims Google’s efforts against President Trump could violate the Federal Election Campaign Act.
Specifically, the report says, “As an incorporated entity, Google is forbidden under the FECA to use resources to ‘never let [] somebody like Donald Trump [to] come to power again.’
“It is similarly forbidden to promote candidates it would favor. Using its massive resources to alter search results, impact electoral internet traffic, or otherwise attempt to prevent a candidate from winning an election are all illegal acts when done by corporate actors.”
Because FECA prohibits corporations from making in-kind contributions to support or oppose a candidate for office, Google “is forbidden under the FECA to use resources” in this way.
Benjamin Barr, a partner with Statecraft Law who drafted the report for Project Veritas, listed examples of past violations of FECA.
“[I]t would be illegal for a corporation to give free private jet transportation to favored candidates, but not to others,” Barr wrote.
“Any use of corporate resources to advance or hinder candidates online is equally suspect and should be evaluated. This should be a grave concern for the Department of Justice and the Federal Election Commission.”
The report’s conclusion is printed in clear and concerning language:
“Through Project Veritas’s investigative reporting, it has found:
- Big tech companies are likely using corporate resources to influence elections.
- Big tech and social media companies hide behind the grant of congressional immunity
under Section 230 to manipulate speech and search queries. - Free speech is being hindered, not advanced, by these trends.”
In a touch of literary flair, Barr closes the report with a quote from George Orwell who said that if “liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
Project Veritas sent Statecraft’s report to 11 members of Congress including Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Josh Hawley.
The Western Journal reached out to Google for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication of this article.
Read the full letter here.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
