How an L.A. Official Used Ties to Adam Schiff to Silence Covid Critics

A remarkable court filing reveals behind-the-scenes negotiations with Twitter.

Last summer, 855 days into California’s grueling Covid-19 state of emergency and just weeks shy of the first day of school, Los Angeles County director of public health Barbara Ferrer warned locals that she would impose a countywide mask mandate, beginning July 29.

“With the continued increase in cases, and now as you’re seeing the corresponding increase in hospitalizations . . . we’re really worried,” she told reporters on July 7, 2022.

Twitter began to simmer and, on July 13, reached a...