Media Matters claims victory in its fight against Trump’s Federal Trade Commission

One of the more unsettling developments of Donald Trump’s second term involves the number of investigations that have been launched against Democrats and organizations affiliated with progressive politics. That includes Media Matters, a media watchdog organization, which found itself facing a Federal Trade Commission probe a year ago this month.

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Media Matters soon after fought back by suing the FTC, claiming that the agency was waging a politically motivated “campaign of retribution,” as part of a broader effort to “attempt to silence and harass an organization for daring to speak the truth.”

The pushback appears to have worked quite well. The New York Times reported:

[T]he Federal Trade Commission agreed to withdraw a subpoena it had sent to the liberal watchdog group Media Matters, the nonprofit said on Monday. The subpoena was part of an F.T.C. investigation that began after Mr. Musk accused Media Matters of trying to damage X’s relationship with advertisers.

Those claims about Republican megadonor Elon Musk have long been at the heart of the matter. Indeed, the billionaire first sued the progressive media watchdog a few years ago, raising related allegations and accusing Media Matters of playing a role in advertisers steering clear of the Musk-owned social media platform.

It was against this backdrop that the Trump administration not only launched an investigation into the group — the FTC said in writing last year that it was exploring whether the organization “illegally colluded with advertisers” — but also asked Media Matters to turn over all the documents related to Musk’s litigation.

It now appears, however, that the entire endeavor has collapsed. In a press release about the latest developments, Media Matters noted that the FTC approved a settlement agreement in which the agency conceded, in writing, that the progressive group is no longer the target of any federal investigation.