Warren, Booker, Senators Raise Alarm About Reports of X Officials Leveraging Musk’s Government Position to Drive Ad Revenue
The senators urge DOJ to investigate if evidence emerges of criminal violation of federal ethics laws: “Musk is not above the law by virtue of being the world’s richest man.”
The senators sent a second letter urging the FTC and DOJ Antitrust Division to independently review the merger Musk may be threatening.
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) led Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) in sending a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, raising concerns about reports that Elon Musk’s social media company “X” (formerly Twitter) is leveraging his influential position in the Trump Administration to extract revenue from advertisers. If Musk uses his government position to protect those who engage in business with him — or harm those who do not — then he risks running afoul of criminal ethics laws. The Department of Justice (DOJ) would be responsible for investigating a potential criminal violation of federal ethics laws.
In 2023, a wave of advertisers withdrew ads from X after Musk “endorsed an antisemitic post” and loosened content moderation rules in ways that increased inflammatory content on the platform, reportedly costing the company as much as $75 million in ad revenue that year.
In 2024, as Musk prepared to begin his new role in the federal government, an attorney at X allegedly demanded that the advertising conglomerate Interpublic Group “get its clients to spend more on Elon Musk’s social-media platform, or else.”
“Interpublic understood the implication of this threat: if its advertisers do not generate more revenue for X, it would face the risk that Musk could use his power in the Trump Administration to delay, or even block, Interpublic’s pending $13 billion dollar merger with its rival — a merger that requires review by antitrust enforcers such as the DOJ,” wrote the senators.
If Musk acts on this threat, he risks violating criminal ethics laws. The senators are calling attention to the fact that it would be the responsibility of the Department of Justice to investigate such potential violations.
“Musk is not above the law by virtue of being the world’s richest man,” continued the senators. “If evidence emerges that Musk is, in fact, using his official role to coerce advertisers or is participating in particular matters in which he has a financial interest, we ask that DOJ investigate the potential violation of federal ethics laws, as the Department should for any other federal employee who appears to be breaking the law.”
Additionally, in a related letter sent today, the senators urged Chair Andrew Ferguson of the Federal Trade Commission and Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice to independently evaluate the Interpublic merger that Musk may be threatening.
They raised concerns that “X officials could … be attempting to strike a quid-pro-quo deal, pressuring Interpublic to get its clients to spend a certain amount on advertising on X in exchange for directing President Trump to use his antitrust enforcement agencies to allow Interpublic’s merger with Omnicom to proceed.”
“As the heads of federal agencies tasked with enforcing our nation’s antitrust laws and promoting competition in America’s markets, we urge you to prioritize this mission and resist any pressure based on private business interests to manipulate your agenda,” concluded the senators.
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