FTC Chair Lina Khan refused to sit out Meta case

WASHINGTON – Federal Trade Commission Chairman Lina Khan has refused to recuse herself from the agency’s case against Meta Platforms at the suggestion of the agency’s top officials. Internal FTC Documentation published by Bloomberg News.

An ethics official advised Khan to review Facebook parent Meta’s proposed merger with virtual reality fitness service Within Limited in 2022 “to avoid the appearance of bias.”

“From a federal ethics standpoint, I have strong reservations about Chairman Khan’s involvement in this process as an adjudicator, and most recently, before joining the committee, she repeatedly called on the FTC to block any future acquisitions by Facebook,” Lorielle Pankey, a designated Ethics Officer, wrote in the August 2022 memo.

The FTC did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Pankey added that Khan’s decision to rule the case “is not, in itself, a violation of the federal code of ethics.” The FTC has defended Khan’s involvement in the case, and the agency’s Democratic majority approved her decision over the objections of former Republican Commissioner Christina Wilson, Bloomberg reported.

Wilson stepped down earlier this year.

Khan’s apparent opposition to Meta takeover That prompted the company’s request to disqualify her from the case.US Federal Trade Commission Blocked Meta’s petition In February, though a federal judge allowed the acquisition to go ahead.

The FTC sued the technology company in July 2022 to block the Within Limited merger. John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, accused Meta of “trying to get to the top by buyout” through “illegal acquisitions.”

in her objection Judging by the recusal decision, Wilson, who attacked Khan in his resignation letter, argued that the FTC chief “categorically stated that Meta trading was illegal” in 2017.

Read the full Bloomberg report here.