Central Louisiana News

U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, Tom Cotton, Mitch McConnell, Thom Tillis, and Pete Ricketts have called for an investigation into alleged media leaks from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The senators addressed their concerns in a letter to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz and FTC Inspector General Andrew Katsaros.

The lawmakers expressed concern that these leaks resulted in negative headlines about antitrust targets under the Biden-Harris administration. They suggested that such actions might violate ethics rules. "These leaks result in negative headlines about the administration’s targets while the targeted companies have no way to respond, as they haven’t yet seen the potential lawsuits," wrote the senators.

According to their letter, Bloomberg News has reported at least twelve instances since 2023 where DOJ or FTC was allegedly preparing legal action before filing any lawsuit. The senators noted that most of these reports were made by a single journalist, indicating a pattern of intentional publicizing by certain officials at DOJ and FTC.

The letter emphasized that both agencies have ethics rules prohibiting leaking civil cases before they are filed. It further stated: "These leaks aren’t just unethical, but they harm these companies’ employees, shareholders, and others."

The senators urged an investigation into what they described as systematic and potentially illegal leaks.