A Biden-appointed judge is blocking the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) probe into the leftist pro-censorship organization Media Matters over its alleged coordination with other media watchdog groups to launch advertiser boycotts of X, arguing that the Trump administration is trying to stifle the group’s freedom of speech.
U.S. District Court Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan for the District of Columbia issued an injunction Friday preventing the FTC’s investigation, which was originally launched in May, the Associated Press reported.
Sooknanan wrote that the commission’s probe, “purportedly to investigate an advertiser boycott concerning social media platforms,” is a violation of the First Amendment.
“It should alarm all Americans when the government retaliates against individuals or organizations for engaging in constitutionally protected public debate,” she argued.
A civil investigative demand obtained by Reuters when the investigation was announced revealed that the FTC sought all documents produced or received by Media Matters as part of an ongoing lawsuit launched by X owner Elon Musk in 2023, which alleges that it attempted to damage the site’s relationship with advertisers.
The commission was seeking information about the Washington, DC-based organization’s communications with similar Democrat-aligned groups, including a World Federation of Advertisers initiative called Global Alliance for Responsible Media — another subject of an ongoing X lawsuit.
Media Matters has frequently attacked Breitbart News and its late founder, Andrew Breitbart — even targeting ABC News for including him in its 2010 midterm election coverage and ultimately convincing the network to drop the conservative firebrand from the show.
“This is about cowardice and caving into what was an overwhelming onslaught by Media Matters, The Huffington Post, TalkingPointsMemo, and Daily Kos,” Breitbart told POLITICO at the time. “This is their bowing to left-wing pressure… They know they can do it at any time and any place and ABC will bow to pressure.”
Following ABC’s cancellation of Breitbart, Media Matters founder and CEO David Brock said, “I’m pleased that ABC finally came to its senses and realized that nothing good can come from associating in any way with Andrew Breitbart.”
He continued his slander: “I still don’t understand why they ever thought it would be a good idea to host a racist right-wing hoaxster like him, but cooler heads have prevailed. The man is poison.”
Media Matters President Angelo Carusone called the FTC’s investigation a “threat” by the Trump administration in a May statement to the New York Times.
“Right-wing media figures holding key posts and abusing government power to target critics are two hallmarks of the Trump administration,” he said in a statement on Thursday. “Threats won’t work, our mission continues.”
Following Sooknanan’s injunction, Carusone said, “The court’s ruling demonstrates the importance of fighting over folding, which far too many are doing when confronted with intimidation from the Trump administration.”
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
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