Episode Details
Back to Episodes
Trump DOJ Kills Criminal Probe Of Meta After Meta Pays Trump $31 Million
Description
Trump's Justice Department just shut down a criminal investigation into whether Meta helped kids buy fentanyl pills on its apps, right after Meta's lawyers, including Trump's own personal law firm, went to DOJ's political bosses and asked nicely.
Since the pandemic, federal prosecutors in Virginia had a criminal grand jury investigating whether Meta helped create a market for young people to buy fentanyl pills and other addictive drugs, let prescription drugs get promoted to children, and made money off it. Meta executives had been subpoenaed to testify, the one notification you can't swipe away.
Last year, Meta's lawyers went to DOJ's political leadership to get the case dropped, and it kept going. They went back, and this time, Bloomberg Law reports, senior leaders at DOJ headquarters told the career prosecutors to stop. The department is weighing a fine or a deal where Meta doesn't get charged at all. Which is a great deal if you can get it. Just ask anybody doing time for selling one pill.
Meta's legal team includes a former Republican deputy attorney general and Sullivan and Cromwell, a law firm that also represents Donald Trump personally. So Trump's own law firm is lobbying Trump's Justice Department for a company that's been paying Trump. I'm sure those meetings are tense and adversarial. Nobody even gets a mint.
Meta has sent $31 million Trump's way. In 2024, Trump warned Mark Zuckerberg he could spend "life in prison" if he did anything illegal during the election. Then Zuckerberg had dinner at Mar-a-Lago. Then Meta gave $1 million to Trump's inauguration. Then Meta paid $25 million to settle Trump's lawsuit over getting suspended from Facebook after January 6th. They paid him for the ban. That's a bouncer tipping the drunk guy he threw out. Then $5 million for the White House ballroom.
Turns out life in prison comes with a cash option.
DOJ's explanation? The department "has ended the Biden-era days of aggressively and indiscriminately targeting corporations and businesses."
Indiscriminately. The case was about fentanyl and children. How were prosecutors supposed to go easier on that? Investigate it casually? Swing by on a Friday?
In 2024, a watchdog group found more than 450 ads on Meta's platforms selling drugs. One fake pharmacy listed Xanax, Percocet, OxyContin and fentanyl, like a drive-thru menu for overdoses. Meta says its ads get reviewed by "automated technology."
Meta's automated systems did manage to take down the No Kings Instagram account on the day of the protests. Meta called it an error. So the robot can't spot a fentanyl menu, but it found the protest account in record time.
Here's why every parent should care. If your kid buys a pill on Instagram, it could kill them. If they survive and get caught, they get a record. If the company accused of helping put those pills in front of your kid gets investigated, it gets a meeting with the president's lawyers.
This administration loves to talk about fentanyl. They've blown up boats over it. They say it's a war. Turns out the war has a VIP entrance, and the cover charge is $31 million.
Trump told Zuckerberg he could spend his life in prison. Instead, Zuckerberg helped pay for the ballroom.
Sources:
Love PodBriefly?
If you like Podbriefly.com, please consider donating to support the ongoing development.
Support Us