The Federal Trade Commission just opened an investigation into Media Matters, and surprise, surprise, it just happens to be “investigating” the exact same thing Elon Musk sued Media Matters over. And thanks to Donald Trump’s illegal removal of the Democratic members of the FTC, you can expect a lot more of this.
In November 2023, Musk sued Media Matters, alleging that it had somehow manufactured some white supremacist racist garbage posts to appear next to paid advertisements on X. Given that Musk’s entire goal in purchasing Twitter was to turn it into a Nazi bar, this was patently absurd. It’s a lawsuit that should have been tossed immediately, but Musk filed the case in the Northern District of Texas so that Judge Reed O’Connor could hear the case.
Judge-shopping to O’Connor is almost always successful for conservatives. This time was no exception, even though NPR uncovered that O’Connor is a Tesla investor. O’Connor should have recused himself, but rules are for suckers.
Demonstrators protest against Elon Musk outside a Tesla dealership in Kansas City, Missouri.
Pursuing this vendetta via lawsuits costs Musk money. So, why not just have the government pursue the vendetta instead on the taxpayers’ dime? The good citizens of Texas and Missouri already got to pay for their attorneys general to investigate whether Media Matters engaged in fraudulent business practices by … finding Nazi posts on Elon’s website.
So the FTC is getting in on the action, investigating Media Matters about whether it colluded with advertisers. It also demands that Media Matters produce everything it has produced in Musk’s lawsuit. It’s a transparent attempt to have the FTC backstop Musk’s lawsuit, and the Trump administration is no longer bothering to disguise that it sees agencies only as weapons, ways to attack Trump’s—and Musk’s—political enemies.
The FTC is supposed to be an independent body, with members protected from removal. There’s a whole Supreme Court case about it and everything.
But two months ago, Trump fired all the Democratic commissioners, which means that the FTC is wholly under his control. The two commissioners have sued, and the case is proceeding through the courts.
However, given that the Supreme Court just functionally overturned Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, the case that had ruled the president couldn’t fire FTC commissioners on a whim, it appears that firing them is fine and dandy.
So now the FTC is just three hard-right conservatives in a trench coat, standing ready to do Trump’s bidding.
With this, the FTC joins the other agencies Trump has reshaped to make their primary focus the unyielding harassment of anyone who has displeased Trump and, apparently, Musk.
The Department of Justice is going after ActBlue and attacking colleges and universities. The Department of Education no longer investigates civil rights complaints, instead shifting to attacking schools for having diversity initiatives and letting trans kids just live their lives.
The courts could stop this. Congress could stop this. Instead, they’re letting Trump run wild and letting him blatantly expand the power of the executive branch. One would think that the other branches would be interested in preserving their power, but they seem content to let Trump dismantle democracy, root and branch. Media Matters may be the first to be attacked by the FTC, but it certainly won’t be the last.
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