Watchdog: Will Rumble Attorney Turned FTC Nominee Mark Meador Push Commission To File Bogus Anti-Trust Lawsuits To Benefit Companies Tied to Trump Administration?

Washington D.C. – On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a nomination hearing for Mark Meador to become a Federal Trade Commissioner. A new review from government watchdog Accountable.US found President Trump’s choice of Meador presents yet another major potential conflict of interest for the administration amid an already lengthy list. 

At Issue: Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that lawyers representing Elon Musk’s X had apparently threatened advertisers with lawsuits and potential political disruptions from the Trump Administration should they fail to increase spending on the platform. In the wake of these revelations and of several antitrust lawsuits filed by Musk and his companies, Trump’s nomination of Meador to fill a seat on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is problematic given that Meador represented fringe-right social media platform Rumble when it joined X in filing antitrust claims against boycotting advertisers in August 2024. After Meador filed a barrage of antitrust claims on behalf of Rumble between 2021-2024, as a member of the Federal Trade Commission, he would be positioned to push similarly “absurd” and frivolous lawsuits on behalf of the federal government to advance the interests of conservative companies with ties to the Trump administration under the guise of protecting the public from monopolies. Billionaire Trump Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s family also has a major financial stake in Rumble.

“Another day, another conflict of interest for the Trump administration that could easily lead to a wave of frivolous federal lawsuits designed to enrich media companies in the Trump orbit and threaten free speech, while taxpayers pick up the tab,” said Accountable.US Executive Director Tony Carrk. “Senators should press Mr. Meador under oath whether he plans to push more lawsuits threatening companies that dare to choose not to advertise on Trump-aligned platforms like X or Rumble – only this time with the full resources of the federal government behind it. The President continues to stack his administration with wealthy insiders whose resumes read like foxes applying for henhouse security detail – walking conflicts of interest who are in it for themselves while the interests of working people fade further away.” 

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