GOP Senator pushes for Google subpoenas over Trump assassination search results

FIRST ON FOX: A Republican senator is urging the Senate Homeland Security Committee to issue subpoenas for Google's CEO and software engineers to force them to answer questions about the search engine's results during and after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in July.

“I request that the Committee request the presence of Google's CEO, Mr. Sundar Pichai, as well as all relevant software development personnel, to answer questions about Google's search algorithm and the processes the company uses to influence the visibility, ranking, and visual presentation of election/political content in U.S. search results, news feeds, and on YouTube,” Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) wrote in a letter to Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and the committee's ranking member Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

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Marshall is a member of the HSAGC's Standing Subcommittee on Investigations.

When users searched for information about the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump in July, Google's autocomplete feature did not recognize the topic.

Instead of suggesting the attempted assassination of Trump, the feature offered users autocomplete options for the failed assassination attempt on former President Ronald Reagan, the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, whose death sparked World War I, the shooting of Bob Marley, and the failed assassination attempt on former President Gerald Ford.

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As recently as July 28, when Marshall first submitted a public query to Google, the feature did not provide any autocomplete suggestions regarding the assassination of Trump.

During an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, a gunman opened fire and shot Trump in the ear, killing one person and seriously wounding two others. After Trump was shot and blood was visible on his face, the Secret Service pulled him from the stage.

“As one of the dominant search aggregators, Google exerts enormous influence on the public's access to knowledge and controls approximately 80 to 90 percent of the total search engine market share worldwide,” Marshall wrote.

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When users searched for information about the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump in July, Google's autocomplete feature did not recognize the topic. (Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“In addition, given the company's sophisticated technological capabilities, there was no justifiable reason for Google not to update its algorithms to anticipate an increase in searches in response to the most recent and significant assassination in U.S. history,” he said.

According to the senator, “Google has been caught playing politics instead of actively working to recommend the most current and fact-rich results.”

Marshall expressed concern that if Google is not given control over its practices, it could introduce bias into its search suggestions “against President Trump and other conservatives.”

He also stressed the importance of investigating this matter with Google before the 2024 elections.

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Former President Donald Trump is pushed off the stage during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The Republican had launched his investigation into Google at the end of July and sent the company a letter demanding answers as to why the search function did not produce any results related to the assassination attempt on Trump.

In response, Google told Marshall that the search results were due to a company policy designed to prevent search results for “hypothetical political violence against current figures.”

According to Google, the systems have since been updated and the previous “outdated systems resulted in an inadequate user experience.”

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At the time, Marshall made it clear that he did not accept that answer. “Google now openly admits that they blocked and eliminated search prompts related to the assassination of President Trump,” he said in a statement in response to her letter. “Most shocking is their bizarre written defense that Trump's assassination was a 'hypothetical act of political violence,' even up until our public inquiry on July 28.”

Neither Google, Peters nor Paul provided Fox News Digital with a comment in time for publication.