The Congressional hearing commenced with Jordan criticizing Khan’s tenure at the agency, labeling it a “disaster.” Jordan specifically highlighted the investigation into billionaire Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, arguing that it constituted an overreach by the FTC.
Khan was grilled relentlessly by members of the committee, including Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY), who appeared to show instances of Khan’s ethical violations, including an issue regarding her license to practice law “in good standing.”
In a disturbing turn of events, it has been further revealed that the FTC under President Joe Biden’s administration reportedly sought action from Ernst & Young (EY) to penalize Elon Musk’s Twitter purchase. EY, one of the Big Four accounting firms, expressed concerns that failing to comply with the government’s request could potentially result in retaliation.
The chilling news is consistent with the Biden administration’s record of retaliation against and intimidation of political dissidents. It was shared by the House Judiciary Committee’s official Twitter account on Thursday.
“The FTC was so ‘adamant’ with EY, conveying that ‘this is absolutely what you will do and this is going to occur, and you’ll produce a report at the end of the day’ that would be negative about Twitter, that senior EY leaders feared that, if EY resigned as the independent assessor, ‘the FTC [would] take [] exception to [EY’s] withdrawal and create [] ‘other’ challenges for EY over time,” stated the Motion for Protective Order in the court case United States v. Twitter.
On Thursday, Twitter had filed a motion with a federal court seeking to either terminate or modify a 2011 FTC order that governs the company’s handling of user information.
“This motion asks the Court to rein in an investigation that has spiraled out of control and become tainted by bias, and to terminate a misfit consent order that no longer can serve any proper equitable purpose,” the motion said. “As detailed below, the FTC has engaged in conduct so irregular and improper that Ernst & Young (‘EY’)—the independent assessor designated under a consent order between Twitter and the FTC to evaluate the company’s privacy, data protection, and information security program—’felt as if the FTC was trying to influence the outcome of the engagement before it had started.’ Recent sworn testimony details how the FTC, through a series of interactions with EY immediately after Elon Musk acquired Twitter, attempted to co-opt EY’s independent assessment in order to generate evidence of ‘deficiencies in Twitter’s privacy and information security
program’.”
Thus, the Biden administration allegedly was leaning on EY to generate non-compliance issues in reference to the 2011 FTC order or potentially be retaliated against.
The initial agreement, which settled charges against Twitter for inadequate user data protection, mandated an independent assessment of its security program for a decade and prohibited the platform from misleading consumers about its privacy practices for 20 years.
According to the new filing, Twitter wants the court to evaluate the equity of the 2011 FTC order in light of the agency’s conduct, stating that the investigation has become tainted by bias and has spiraled out of control. The company alleges that the FTC has been continuously demanding burdensome document protections, particularly since Elon Musk assumed control of Twitter. Since Musk’s involvement, Twitter, operated by X Corp, claims to have received 16 demand letters, compared to around 28 from the agency over the previous decade.
The filing also mentions the FTC’s demand to depose Musk, who is not a party to the Consent Order. In May 2022, prior to Musk’s involvement, Twitter reached a $150 million settlement with the FTC and the Department of Justice for allegedly violating the 2011 order by failing to adequately inform users about the use of their contact information for targeted ads.
On Thursday, Elon Musk commented about the new court filing, saying, “Insanely illegal overreach by FTC.”
The FTC had expressed its commitment to upholding its orders after key privacy and security executives departed from Twitter following Musk’s takeover. Twitter’s filing further suggests that the company would request the court to compel the FTC to provide evidence to X Corp and suspend the enforcement of the agreement until the evidence is presented.
In March, the FTC issued a series of demands to then-Twitter Inc., requesting the disclosure of internal communications concerning owner Elon Musk, as well as detailed information regarding recent layoffs. The FTC expressed concerns that these staff reductions could potentially compromise Twitter’s ability to safeguard its users.
In a total of 12 letters sent to Twitter and its legal representatives since Elon Musk’s takeover on October 27, the FTC additionally requested the identification of all journalists who were granted access to company records. Furthermore, the commission sought information regarding the launch of Twitter’s revamped subscription service called Twitter Blue, as revealed in the documents.
“We are concerned these staff reductions impact Twitter’s ability to protect consumers’ information,” an FTC official wrote to Twitter’s lawyers on Nov. 10 following an initial wave of layoffs, according to a copy of the letter viewed by the Wall Street Journal.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, commented on Twitter in March, “Joe Biden’s FTC wanted Elon Musk to identify the journalists that Twitter was in communication with. We shouldn’t be surprised. They wanted to chill the First Amendment rights of journalists because they were getting us the TRUTH!”
Khan, known for her activism within the administration, has been at the forefront of challenging corporate mergers, particularly in the Big Tech industry. She arrives at the Capitol at a challenging moment in her tenure, having recently experienced a significant setback with the court’s ruling against the FTC’s attempt to block Microsoft’s acquisition of video game company Activision Blizzard.
This defeat follows an earlier loss in a case involving Meta’s purchase of a virtual reality app. While the agency dropped the Meta case, it is appealing the court’s ruling on the Microsoft acquisition.
Thus, the FTC has developed a track record of failing to protect Americans from the threat of monopolization of digital media and social media debate by Big Tech.
https://en-volve.com/2023/07/13/the-biden-administration-put-elon-musk-on-enemies-list-retaliated-against-him-for-buying-twitter/
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