In a new piece for MS NOW, I explain how my organization fought Trump’s FTC and won. While the fight ahead for Media Matters will not be easy, the administration’s broader strategy of using government power to intimidate critics can be challenged — and defeated — if we fight rather than fold.
Here’s what I concluded:
The Trump administration does not have the law on its side, which is a part of the reason it’s so cowardly and consequential when entities fold in the face of their attacks. This kind of capitulation by the government is rare, and it matters, but the fight is not over. The whole point of this approach is the one-two punch: state power on side, civil litigation on the other. We have, for now, beaten back one of those vectors. The other is Elon Musk’s existential lawsuit, where this all began. That litigation has cost us more time and money than all three government investigations combined.
Whether the pressure comes from a federal agency or the richest man on earth, the goal is identical: Deter scrutiny, punish dissent, and make journalism too expensive to do. Different tools, same goal. But we all must continue to fight.
