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US judge blocks FTC subpoena of Media Matters, citing First Amendment

By Mike Swift ( August 15, 2025, 23:08 GMT | Insight) -- The US Federal Trade Commission can't enforce its investigative subpoena of Media Matters for America, a Washington, DC, federal judge ruled today, saying the FTC's subpoena was likely "a retaliatory act" over protected speech that lies at "the heartland of the First Amendment." In a strongly worded order granting Media Matters' motion for a preliminary injunction, US District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan wrote that nothing "in the FTC Act suggests that Congress meant to declare open season on journalists by allowing a retaliatory FTC to decide if and when its retaliation will be reviewed by a federal court."A Washington, DC, federal judge granted an injunction today that blocks the US Federal Trade Commission from enforcing an investigative subpoena of Media Matters for America, saying that its speech “on matters of public concern is the heartland of the First Amendment.”...

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