Amid “first buddy” Elon Musk’s ongoing public war against Media Matters for America, the Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into the liberal media watchdog over what it says could be illegal collusion with advertisers.
Essentially piggybacking on Musk’s lawsuits against Media Matters over the group’s research into hateful and antisemitic content on the mega-billionaire’s social media platform X, the FTC sent a letter to the organization requiring it to share communications and documents related to its research, as well as copies of its budgets.
“This demand is issued pursuant to Section 20 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. § 57b-1, in the course of an investigation to determine whether there is, has been, or may be a violation of any laws administered by the Federal Trade Commission by conduct, activities, or proposed action as described in Item 3,” the letter states.
Media Matters president Angelo Carusone said the formal government probe was an escalation of President Donald Trump’s efforts to punish his critics, which have resulted in executive orders against law firms, investigations into Democratic-aligned groups, and threats against media outlets.
A storied US agency, one that began under President Kennedy in 1961 with the aim of...
