State legal officials are asking SCOTUS to uphold a recall or ban law as Trump’s request remains pending

Republican attorneys general in Virginia and Montana recently filed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to require TikTok to sever its ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as the social media platform’s fate in the US remains uncertain.

The amicus brief, filed Friday, came on the same day that President-elect Trump filed an amicus brief of his own, asking the Supreme Court to temporarily halt the TikTok ban and allow him to make executive decisions about TikTok once he is inaugurated.

In an announcement, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said that he, along with Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen and other state law officials, recently filed a petition with the Supreme Court to uphold a recall or ban law against TikTok.

The social media company has come under intense scrutiny over its parent company, ByteDance, which is linked to the Chinese Communist Party. In his brief, Miyares said whistleblower reports prove that ByteDance shared sensitive information with the Chinese Communist Party, including Americans’ browsing habits and facial recognition data.

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“Allowing TikTok to operate in the United States without severing its ties with the Chinese Communist Party exposes Americans to the undeniable risk of the Chinese Communist Party accessing and exploiting their data,” Miyares said in a statement. “Virginians deserve a government that stands firm in protecting their privacy and security.

“The Supreme Court now has the opportunity to affirm Congress’ authority to protect Americans from foreign threats while ensuring that the First Amendment does not become a tool to defend the exploitative practices of foreign adversaries.”

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Trump’s brief said he “does not support either party” and said the future president has the right to make decisions about TikTok’s fate. Trump’s spokesman and incoming White House communications director, Stephen Cheung, told Fox News Digital that Trump’s decision “will preserve America’s national security.”

“(The brief) asked the court to extend the deadline that would trigger the imminent shutdown of TikTok and allow President Trump the opportunity to resolve the issue in a way that saves TikTok and preserves American national security once he resumes office as president of the United States on January 20, 2025,” Cheung said. .

Trump’s summary notes that he has a “unique interest in the First Amendment issues raised in this case” and that the case “represents an unprecedented, new, and difficult tension between free speech rights and foreign policy and national security concerns.” On the other hand.”

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“As the next Chief Executive Officer, President Trump has a particularly strong interest in and responsibility for matters of national security and foreign policy, and is the appropriate constitutional actor to resolve a dispute through political means,” Trump’s brief said.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.