House Oversight chair demands Parler financing information

House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) sent a letter to Parler on Monday asking for details about the controversial social media platform’s financing.

The request comes as questions are being raised about the service’s ties to Russian companies and after Maloney asked the FBI to investigate the platform over its role in the deadly insurrection at the Capitol last month.

“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,” Maloney wrote.

Parler, which has pitched itself as a haven for free speech, was rife with posts about storming the Capitol in the run-up to Jan. 6.

The platform was temporarily taken down after being pulled from both the Apple and Google app stores and being dropped by Amazon’s web hosting service. 

The service is now back up, albeit without functionally, with the help of a Russian technology firm.

“When U.S. hosting services cut ties with Parler for repeatedly failing to moderate content advocating violence, Parler re-emerged on a Russian hosting service, DDos-Guard, which has ties to the Russian government and counts the Russian Ministry of Defense as one of its clients,” Maloney wrote.

The letter to Parler COO Jeffrey Wernick asks for a list of all individuals and entities with ownership of the platform and documents or communications tying it to a Russian firm or person.

The Hill has reached out to Parler for comment on the letter.