House Republican tries to protect Musk and Twitter from FTC investigation
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) subpoenas FTC, claims it "harassed" Twitter and Musk.
JON BRODKIN - 4/12/2023
US Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) speaks at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) in Washington, DC, on March 2, 2023.
Getty Images | Pacific Press237WITH
A Republican lawmaker who chairs a key House committee subpoenaed Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan today in an attempt to rein in the agency's ongoing investigation into Twitter.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the newly created Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, told Kahn today that his committee's research shows "the FTC harassed Twitter in the wake of Mr. Musk's acquisition" and "abused it [sic] statutory and enforcement authority."
Jordan teamed up with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) last month to demand documents from the FTC about what they called "inappropriate and burdensome demands coinciding with Elon Musk's acquisition of the company." Jordan wasn't happy with Khan's response, so he followed up with today's subpoena.
"To date, your voluntary compliance has been woefully insufficient. Accordingly, the Committee is issuing a subpoena to compel the production of documents necessary to inform our oversight," Jordan wrote in a letter to Khan today.
Khan: We “enforce the law without fear or favor”
In response, an FTC spokesperson told news outlets that "we have made multiple offers to brief Chairman Jordan's staff on our investigation into Twitter. Those are standing offers made prior to this entirely unnecessary subpoena."
Khan reportedly told Jordan in a March 27 reply that FTC investigations are confidential and that the agency "will continue to faithfully discharge our statutory obligations and enforce the law without fear or favor." She also wrote that ensuring compliance is especially critical "when dealing with recidivists," referring to Twitter's earlier privacy transgressions.
Jordan did not release a copy of today's subpoena, but last month's letter requested all documents and communications "referring or relating to the FTC's investigation(s) of Twitter for the period April 1, 2022, to the present," and all communications "referring or relating to Mr. Musk's purchase of Twitter or the FTC's investigation of Twitter."
Musk is apparently concerned about the investigation into Twitter's privacy and data practices, as he requested a meeting with Khan late last year. Khan declined the meeting request and told Twitter that she was "troubled by Twitter's delays and the obstacles that these delays are creating for the FTC's investigation."
The FTC investigation reportedly focuses on whether Twitter is complying with conditions in a May 2022 settlement with the agency in which it agreed to pay a $150 million penalty for targeting ads at users with phone numbers and email addresses collected from those users when they enabled two-factor authentication. Twitter was already subject to a 2011 settlement that prohibited the company from misrepresenting its privacy and security practices.
Jordan dismisses FTC answer as “pretextual”
Jordan claims the FTC has gone beyond the stated purpose of the investigation. "On March 27, 2023, you sent a response letter seeking to justify the scope of the FTC's inquiry into Twitter by linking it to the terms of a narrower FTC Order related to Twitter's privacy practices," Jordan wrote, arguing that "the FTC's requests to Twitter were not limited to the scope of the Order, making the FTC's justification pretextual at best."
Jordan objected to the FTC asking for "the identities of the journalists with whom it was engaging." That's a reference to a December 13, 2022, request the FTC made related to Musk's release of the so-called "Twitter Files."
The FTC asked Twitter to identify any journalists who were "granted any type of access to the Company's internal communications (e.g., Slack, emails)" or to internal documents and files since Musk bought the company. The FTC request noted that journalist Bari Weiss "was reportedly given access to Twitter's employee systems, added to its Slack channel(s), and given a company laptop," and that she and other journalists were provided "extensive, unfiltered access to Twitter's internal communication and systems."
The FTC request was shown in the Judiciary Committee staff report titled, "The weaponization of the Federal Trade Commission: An agency's overreach to harass Elon Musk's Twitter." As reported by The Wall Street Journal today, the FTC letter also asked Twitter to say "whether the journalists were background-checked, and what steps the company took to ensure they didn't gain unauthorized access to sensitive user data."
Khan told Jordan in her reply letter last month that the FTC was concerned about journalists potentially being given access to user information. "Since the threat to Twitter users' privacy and security can arise any time anyone outside of Twitter is accessing users' personal information, there is no journalist exemption to the FTC's order," she wrote.
A Republican lawmaker who chairs a key House committee subpoenaed Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan today in an attempt to rein in the agency's ongoing investigation into Twitter.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the newly created Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, told Kahn today that his committee's research shows "the FTC harassed Twitter in the wake of Mr. Musk's acquisition" and "abused it [sic] statutory and enforcement authority."
Jordan teamed up with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) last month to demand documents from the FTC about what they called "inappropriate and burdensome demands coinciding with Elon Musk's acquisition of the company." Jordan wasn't happy with Khan's response, so he followed up with today's subpoena.
"To date, your voluntary compliance has been woefully insufficient. Accordingly, the Committee is issuing a subpoena to compel the production of documents necessary to inform our oversight," Jordan wrote in a letter to Khan today.
Khan: We “enforce the law without fear or favor”
In response, an FTC spokesperson told news outlets that "we have made multiple offers to brief Chairman Jordan's staff on our investigation into Twitter. Those are standing offers made prior to this entirely unnecessary subpoena."
Khan reportedly told Jordan in a March 27 reply that FTC investigations are confidential and that the agency "will continue to faithfully discharge our statutory obligations and enforce the law without fear or favor." She also wrote that ensuring compliance is especially critical "when dealing with recidivists," referring to Twitter's earlier privacy transgressions.
Jordan did not release a copy of today's subpoena, but last month's letter requested all documents and communications "referring or relating to the FTC's investigation(s) of Twitter for the period April 1, 2022, to the present," and all communications "referring or relating to Mr. Musk's purchase of Twitter or the FTC's investigation of Twitter."
Musk is apparently concerned about the investigation into Twitter's privacy and data practices, as he requested a meeting with Khan late last year. Khan declined the meeting request and told Twitter that she was "troubled by Twitter's delays and the obstacles that these delays are creating for the FTC's investigation."
The FTC investigation reportedly focuses on whether Twitter is complying with conditions in a May 2022 settlement with the agency in which it agreed to pay a $150 million penalty for targeting ads at users with phone numbers and email addresses collected from those users when they enabled two-factor authentication. Twitter was already subject to a 2011 settlement that prohibited the company from misrepresenting its privacy and security practices.
Jordan dismisses FTC answer as “pretextual”
Jordan claims the FTC has gone beyond the stated purpose of the investigation. "On March 27, 2023, you sent a response letter seeking to justify the scope of the FTC's inquiry into Twitter by linking it to the terms of a narrower FTC Order related to Twitter's privacy practices," Jordan wrote, arguing that "the FTC's requests to Twitter were not limited to the scope of the Order, making the FTC's justification pretextual at best."
Jordan objected to the FTC asking for "the identities of the journalists with whom it was engaging." That's a reference to a December 13, 2022, request the FTC made related to Musk's release of the so-called "Twitter Files."
The FTC asked Twitter to identify any journalists who were "granted any type of access to the Company's internal communications (e.g., Slack, emails)" or to internal documents and files since Musk bought the company. The FTC request noted that journalist Bari Weiss "was reportedly given access to Twitter's employee systems, added to its Slack channel(s), and given a company laptop," and that she and other journalists were provided "extensive, unfiltered access to Twitter's internal communication and systems."
The FTC request was shown in the Judiciary Committee staff report titled, "The weaponization of the Federal Trade Commission: An agency's overreach to harass Elon Musk's Twitter." As reported by The Wall Street Journal today, the FTC letter also asked Twitter to say "whether the journalists were background-checked, and what steps the company took to ensure they didn't gain unauthorized access to sensitive user data."
Khan told Jordan in her reply letter last month that the FTC was concerned about journalists potentially being given access to user information. "Since the threat to Twitter users' privacy and security can arise any time anyone outside of Twitter is accessing users' personal information, there is no journalist exemption to the FTC's order," she wrote.
GOP accused of pushing Musk’s narrative
At a hearing last month, Democrat Stacey Plaskett reportedly accused Republicans of using "cherry-picked, out-of-context emails and screenshots designed to promote [Musk's] chosen narrative."
Plaskett is a nonvoting delegate to the House from the US Virgin Islands. According to The Wall Street Journal, she said that "Musk is helping you out politically, and you're going out of your way to promote and protect him."
The Jordan-chaired Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government was created in January after Republicans took control of the House. In February, Jordan subpoenaed Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft for documents related to what he called "the federal government's reported collusion with Big Tech to suppress free speech."
Separately, New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg sued Jordan and other members of the Judiciary Committee in a federal court yesterday over their alleged attempts to interfere with the prosecution and investigation of former President Donald Trump. Bragg's lawsuit criticized Jordan and his committee for overstepping their authority, saying: "Congress has no power to supervise state criminal prosecutions."
No comments:
Post a Comment