EXCLUSIVE: FBI Places Censorship Agent Elvis Chan on 'Terminal Leave'

FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Elvis Chan has been placed on “terminal leave” and has not accessed his agency devices for over a month, sources confirm.

Chan served as the main liaison between the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF) and social media platforms before the 2020 presidential election. 

Breanna’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication.
To receive new posts and support my work,
consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

The FBI declined to comment on Chan’s status, citing its policy on personnel matters.

Chan, who identifies with “he/him” pronouns on his LinkedIn profile, still lists himself as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge at the FBI’s San Francisco Bay office, where he has served for over 19 years.

Chan’s leave follows a turbulent period involving a lawsuit filed by the House Judiciary Committee last year. The committee accused Chan of obstructing its investigation into alleged social media censorship by failing to comply with a subpoena for a deposition. The lawsuit, lodged in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., claims Chan disregarded the subpoena after the Department of Justice challenged the committee’s deposition protocols. “Chan has violated and continues to violate his legal obligations by refusing to appear before the Judiciary Committee,” the House’s Office of General Counsel stated in the filing.

Chan also appeared as a witness in Missouri v. Biden, a federal case examining government influence over social media content moderation. During a deposition, he claimed to have “no internal knowledge” of the suppression of The New York Post’s 2020 story about Hunter Biden’s laptop.

The controversy surrounding Chan coincides with a 2023 ruling by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that the FBI, White House, U.S. Surgeon General, CDC, and CISA likely violated First Amendment rights by “coercing or significantly encouraging” social media platforms to censor content.

I NEED YOUR SUPPORT! INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM ONLY THRIVES WHEN WE HAVE YOUR SUPPORT. PLEASE BECOME A PAID SUBSCRIBER TO THE INDEPENDENT NEWSROOM FOR $5 A MONTH. SUPPORT MY WORK BY CLICKING HERE.