It is the First Amendment that allows President Donald Trump to repeatedly say he won the 2020 election—when, in fact, he did not.

It is the First Amendment that permitted Donald Trump to call those who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, “patriots.”

That same Amendment allowed the president to say COVID-19 would “disappear, like a miracle.” It is the data from the CDC and Johns Hopkins that show more than a million Americans died from the virus.

It is the First Amendment, Mr. Chairman, that allowed Donald Trump to say the Mueller investigation found “no obstruction, no collusion”—despite the report documenting numerous instances of potential obstruction and extensive contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russian operatives.

It is the First Amendment that allowed Donald Trump to say the FBI planted evidence at Mar-a-Lago when they did not.

That same Amendment, Mr. Carr allowed Donald Trump to say immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country”–when census and labor data show immigrants contribute to economic growth and make up a significant share of America’s workforce.

The First Amendment allowed former CDC Director Susan Monarez to testify before a Senate committee, stating: “Secretary Kennedy told me to commit in advance to approving every Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendation regardless of the scientific evidence. He directed me to dismiss career officials responsible for vaccine policy, without cause. He said if I was unwilling to do both, I should resign.”

It is that same Amendment that allowed Secretary Kennedy—absent any corroboration—to call Director Monarez a liar.

And it is these words— “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press”—that belong to every citizen giving each of us the power to speak truth to lies, challenge authority, and keep democracy alive.

As Chairman of the FCC, you would do well to reacquaint yourself with the very Amendment that protects your words as much as everyone else’s.