FOIAengine Analysis Reveals Targets and Topics
News media outlets continued to be the leading submitters of Freedom of Information Act requests to the Federal Trade Commission during the first half of 2024, with many of the requests focused on the agency’s investigation of investments and partnerships involving generative AI companies and major cloud service providers.
The media’s FOIA focus on technology companies continues a trend we first noted earlier this year, in our last round-up of FTC FOIA requests. See our February 7 article entitled A Raft of Document Requests from the FTC and Media.
AI was by no means the only subject of interest to news media requesters. According FOIAengine’s analysis of FTC FOIA requests for the first six months of 2024, journalist requests also addressed a wide range of other current topics, including weight loss drugs, prescription drug prices, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump.
Overall, FOIA requests from the news media comprised almost 40 percent of all requests for which an organization could be identified.
The FTC received 897 requests during the first six months of 2024. We were able to identify organizations for 431 (or 48 percent) of the 897 requests. Of those 431 requests, FOIAengine’s sector breakdown of FOIA requests is as follows: news media (167), non-profit organizations (89), law firms (60), commercial organizations (58), educational institutions (27), and the federal government (19).
The FTC does not require a requester to identify its organization. FOIAengine adds to its database the identity of requesting organizations in cases where a requester’s name clearly aligns with a specific organization.
The prevalence of news media requests is notable because, while news media access to government information is one of the objectives of the FOIA program, in many agencies journalists are not the most significant source of requests.
Over 40 different media outlets of all types accounted for the 167 news media requests. Following is a list of notable requesters, along with the number of requests each filed: Capitol Forum (59), Bloomberg (15), ProPublica (9), MuckRock (6), NBC (6), NYCity News Service (6), BBC (4), CBS (4), CNN (4), the Information (4), CNBC (3), WHDH TV (3), ABC News (2), Fortune, (2), Las Vegas Review-Journal, (2), WBBM TV (2), WPR (2), and WRTV (2). News media filing one request included Atlantic, E&E News, ESPN, Financial Times, Forbes, Higher Education Inquirer, Law360, the New York Times, News Corp Australia, Organized Crime & Corruption Reporting Project, Politico, Punchbowl News, Texas Monthly, the Wall Street Journal, Week TV, and Wired.
One noteworthy request was submitted by Sara Morrison of the Capitol Forum on March 6 for “emails sent to: hagostinho@ftc.gov from any of the following domains: @microsoft.com @openai.com @google.com @abc.xyz @amazon.com @anthropic.com.” The FTC email address mentioned in the request is that of Helder Agostinho, a Deputy Assistant Director in the FTC’s Technology Enforcement Division, which “investigates and litigates claims of anticompetitive conduct – including related to consummated acquisitions – in markets in which digital technology is an important dimension of competition, including online platforms, digital advertising, social networking, software, operating systems, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence.”
Agostinho has served as FTC counsel in at least three antitrust cases filed in federal court for the District of Columbia dating back to 2015 against CoStar Group, Staples, and Edgewell Personal Care Company. Helder also was involved in the huge merger review and settlement consent order concerning Intercontinental Exchange’s $13.1 billion acquisition of Black Knight. Atlanta-based Intercontinental (NYSE:ICE) owns the New York Stock Exchange and 12 other regulated exchanges, including futures and over-the-counter exchanges in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Singapore. (For further context, see this related Law Street Media story by Logan Beirne.)
Agostinho also was mentioned in a March 22 Capitol Forum FOIA request seeking calendars of several FTC officials.
Capitol Forum evidently sees Agostinho as a key player in the FTC’s current inquiry into generative AI investments and partnerships. The Commission announced on January 25 that it had issued orders to Alphabet, Amazon, Anthropic, Microsoft, and OpenAI requiring them to provide information about their recent investments and partnerships involving generative AI companies and major cloud service providers. “History shows that new technologies can create new markets and healthy competition. As companies race to develop and monetize AI, we must guard against tactics that foreclose this opportunity, “said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. “Our study will shed light on whether investments and partnerships pursued by dominant companies risk distorting innovation and undermining fair competition.” The targeted companies are involved in separate multi-billion-dollar AI investments: Microsoft in OpenAI, and Amazon and Alphabet in Anthropic.
In addition to the Capitol Forum request, artificial intelligence was the subject of four other FTC FOIA requests:
- Bloomberg filed on March 7 a FOIA request asking “has the FTC received an increase in complaints about advertisements that use AI-generated imagery?”
- The BBC filed two requests on May 14 asking for all consumer complaints regarding Google and its Gemini service, as well as OpenAI and its service ChatGPT. The BBC also sought “all consumer complaints that include the words ‘artificial intelligence’ and/or the acronym ‘AI.’”
- Law360 filed a request on February 23 for “documents in the possession of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection’s Division of Enforcement, containing the keywords of ‘artificial intelligence’ … and containing the term ‘Complaint and Request for Investigation, Injunction and Other Relief.’”
Weight-loss drugs and their manufacturers were mentioned in three requests:
- Capitol Forum submitted two requests on February 14 seeking information about Eli Lilly, Sanofi, and Novo Nordisk. The first request sought “full copies of all Civil Investigative Demand (CID) letters sent by the Federal Trade Commission … from June 1, 2022, to February 14, 2024,” and “full copies of correspondences between Federal Trade Commission staff and legal counsel from the same.” A second request asked for “full copies of correspondences between FTC staff and legal counsel” from the three companies.
- The BBC requested on May 14 “all consumer complaints that mention the medications Ozempic, Wegovy, or Mounjaro.”
Amazon was mentioned in two FOIA requests:
- Atlantic filed a request on April 2 “seeking consumer complaints submitted to the FTC related to accusations of fraud, duplicity, or malfeasance in retail returns at Amazon.com. I can specify a few keywords or constraints in the data I would like to seek: 1) A list, record, or count of FTC complaints filed that relate to Amazon.com and include the keyword ‘return’; 2) Any specific records of complaints that relate to Amazon.com and include the key phrase ‘You have been charged.’”
- Capitol Forum submitted a request on April 24 seeking “complaints related to Amazon, or that contain the words “Amazon” and “seller” or “fee.”
Trump Bucks, which are bogus currency items unaffiliated with the former president or his campaign, were mentioned in two requests:
- Bloomberg requested on March 13 “all consumer complaints filed with the FTC referencing ‘Trump Bucks,’ which are emblazoned with photographs of former President Donald Trump and have been advertised online as a way to propel Trump’s 2024 presidential bid. Purchasers of ‘Trump Bucks’ were led to believe they could purchase Trump Bucks and exchange it for cash,” and “final enforcement actions and final reports referencing ‘Trump Bucks.’’
- NBC submitted a request on February 20 for “copies of any and all consumer complaints made to the FTC since Jan. 1, 2023, about ‘Trump Bucks,’ Trump Gold Coins and/or other commemorative items brandishing the name and/or image of former President Donald Trump that manufacturers have falsely purported to consumers can be used as legal tender.”
Elon Musk and his companies were mentioned in a February 5 request from Bloomberg asking for “Records from senior leader in the Chair’s office, Commissioners’ offices, OPA, and OS, specifically: 1. Emails (including attachments), text messages, memos, letters, talking points and final reports referencing two Wall Street Journal news reports dated January 6, 2024, and February 3, 2024, referencing Elon Musk and his use of illegal drugs and Tesla and SpaceX and board members; and 2. The same types of records that FTC sent to or received from other executive branch agencies, such as Main Justice, NASA, DCSA, FCC, DOT, NTSB, DHS, SEC, and DEA referencing Elon Musk and his use of illegal drugs and Tesla and SpaceX and the Wall Street Journal.”
Additional requests were submitted by news media relating to specific companies, including genetic testing company Natera, telehealth company Hims & Hers Health, gaming platform Roblox, genetic testing company 23andMe, video game company Epic Games, food delivery company DoorDash, eBay, Facebook/Meta, MGM Resorts, Mattress Firm, TikTok, PayPal, the University of Phoenix, and insurance companies Allstate, Nationwide and State Farm.
Other topics mentioned in requests submitted by the news media included “grandparent scam,” “Bitcoin,” “crypto,” “complaints related to political organizations,” “scams targeting immigrants,” and “stolen, harmful or counterfeit good being sold on online marketplaces.”
Update: We’ve been following for more than a year the FOIA back-and-forth between the New York Times and the FDA over potential conflicts involving Jeffrey Shuren, until recently FDA’s director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health. The agency previously told us, in response to our questions, that the FDA takes all potential conflicts seriously; provides “robust” resources to its employees to ensure the highest possible ethical standards; and “finds its employees consistently comply.” (See our earlier stories here and here.) This week, the Times published its Page One investigative story, titled “He Regulated Medical Devices. His Wife Represented Their Makers.” The newspaper’s reporting involved “a review of thousands of pages of court documents and FDA records,” and resulted, among other things, in the FDA’s acknowledging “certain instances” in which Shuren “should have either recused himself or sought ethics authorization to participate” in matters involving law firm clients of his wife, Arnold & Porter partner Allison Shuren. Late last month, Jeffrey Shuren resigned from his role and announced his retirement from the FDA, and a new acting director was appointed. The FDA said that although Shuren will be helping with the transition, he “will be provided additional administrative support to better ensure future compliance.”
FOIAengine access now is available for all professional members of Investigative Reporters and Editors, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of journalism. IRE is the world’s oldest and largest association of investigative journalists. Following the federal government’s shutdown of FOIAonline.gov last year, FOIAengine is the only source for the most comprehensive, fully searchable archive of FOIA requests across dozens of federal departments and agencies. FOIAengine has more robust functionality and searching capabilities, and standardizes data from different agencies to make it easier to work with. PoliScio Analytics is proud to be partnering with IRE to provide this valuable content to investigative reporters worldwide.
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Next from FOIAengine: The latest FOIA requests to the FTC, SEC, and FDA.
Randy E. Miller, co-creator of FOIAengine, is a Washington lawyer, publisher, and former government official. He has developed several online information products and was a partner at Hogan Lovells, where he founded the firm’s Brussels office and represented clients on international regulatory matters. Miller also has served as a White House trade lawyer, Senior Legal Adviser to the U.S. Mission to the World Trade Organization, policy director to Senator Bob Dole, and adjunct professor at Georgetown University. He is a graduate of Yale and Georgetown Law. FOIAengine is a product of PoliScio Analytics (PoliScio.com), a venture specializing in U.S. political and governmental research, co-founded by Miller and Washington journalist John A. Jenkins. Learn more about FOIAengine here. Sign up here to become a trial user of FOIAengine.
Write to Randy E. Miller at randy@poliscio.com.