Google seeks to enforce subpoenas for communications between Jenner lobbyists and state AG
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Google is asking a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to enforce subpoenas seeking information on communications involving lobbyists at Jenner & Block and Mississippi’s attorney general.
Google contends the documents will show the Jenner lobbyists helped orchestrate actions against Google by Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, the National Law Journal (sub. req.) reports. Google also wants information on communications between Hood, the Motion Picture Association of America, and the Digital Citizens Alliance, which Google calls “a supposed consumer rights organization heavily funded by the MPAA.” Jenner lobbyists represent the MPAA.
A Dec. 19 suit by Google says Hood was investigating the Internet search engine for alleging encouraging sales of objectionable third-party content, such as illegal drugs, pornography and pirating websites. A federal judge in Mississippi granted Google’s request for a preliminary injunction stopping the investigation in this March 27 order (PDF), Ars Technica reported that month.
Google had claimed it was protected by the Constitution and several laws, including the Communications Decency Act. In its bid to enforce the subpoenas, Google claims the subpoenaed documents are likely to show Hood’s investigation was intended to silence speech in violation of Google’s constitutional rights, and the documents are not protected by attorney-client privilege or the work-product doctrine.
Meanwhile, Google has also filed papers in Manhattan federal court seeking to enforce subpoenas against Twenty-First Century Fox Inc., NBCUniversal Media Inc. and Viacom Inc., according to the National Law Journal and Reuters.
