Andrew Bailey, the Attorney General for Missouri, has initiated legal action against Media Matters for America. Bailey alleges that the media outfit was involved in “fraudulent business practices” in a press release issued Monday.
This follows the organization’s failure to heed an investigation initiated by Bailey in December. The indictments leveled by the Republican Attorney General suggest that this media group, through its fraudulent practices, solicited funds from Missourians.
Bailey, in the official papers filed at the state court, elaborates on the methods applied by Media Matters to secure funds. He reasserts that the group took advantage of fraud to persuade donors from Missouri. The intention behind such solicitation was to pressure advertisers into withdrawing their advertisements from X, previously known as Twitter. According to Bailey, X is one of the few remaining platforms that uphold the principle of free speech in the country.
We obtained a copy of the filing for you here.
“Investigative Demand CID No. 24-10 requests information relevant to whether Media Matters has engaged in or is engaging in any merchandising practices declared to be unlawful by section 407.020 with regard to Media Matters’ fraudulent manipulation of data on X.com (formerly known as Twitter),” the filing said.
Bailey further expands on this in a tweet: “We launched our investigation in November after evidence came to light that Media Matters solicited donations from Missourians under false pretenses to target X, which would constitute a direct violation of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.”
“Media Matters has expressed its intent not to comply with CIDs like this one,” the filing added. “For example, the State of Texas served on Media Matters a virtually identical civil investigative demand in December of 2023, which Media Matters refused to comply with and instead filed a lawsuit to block compliance and disclosure of information and materials.”
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