Muzzling Media Matters

On Wednesday morning, an IT staffer at Media Matters for America received a letter, hand-delivered by a process server. The staffer didn’t panic. These days, being served legal documents has become an almost routine occurrence at the progressive watchdog group, a direct consequence of the litigation unleashed by Elon Musk and other prominent right-wing figures. The staffer, unfazed, passed the letter to an administrative assistant. This assistant, in turn, later found themselves engaged in an informal conversation with the non-profit's chief operating officer. The executive, curious about the letter in the assistant’s hand, asked what it was. The assistant casually handed it to her.

That casual demeanor didn't last. The moment the executive began to read the document, her tone shifted dramatically. It was not merely another legal missive; it was an official demand letter from the Federal Trade Commission. The federal government, it appeared, was initiating a formal probe into Media Matters. The executive immediately phoned Angelo Carusone, the organization’s president, who at that very moment was in Chicago, preparing to step onto a stage for a panel discussion focused on the information environment. Carusone delivered his speech, then quickly departed to begin grappling with the full scope of the alarming development.