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Letter | June 30, 2023

RDP Asks FTC IG To Investigate Ethics Officer Who Pushed Khan To Recuse While Owning Meta Stock

Anti-MonopolyEthics in GovernmentFTC
RDP Asks FTC IG To Investigate Ethics Officer Who  Pushed Khan To Recuse While Owning Meta Stock

On Thursday, June 29th, the Revolving Door Project sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission Inspector General Andrew Katsaros calling on his office to investigate Designated Agency Ethics Officer Lorielle Pankey.

A recent Bloomberg article reported that Pankey issued a memo recommending Chair Lina Khan recuse herself from participating in the FTC’s review of Meta’s proposed merger with Within Unlimited. Yet, the Revolving Door Project found through public records requests that Pankey owns between $15,001 and $50,000 in Meta stock.

As we wrote, “the public can and should rightfully question her impartiality on this matter considering her direct financial stake in Meta. Was Pankey’s subjective judgment influenced by the fact that the company in which she owns stock has put significant resources into calling for Chair Khan’s recusal?”

On June 30th, the Wall Street Journal reported on Pankey’s Meta assets and our letter to IG Katsaros.

Full text of Revolving Door Project’s letter to IG Katsaros is below.

Letter-To-IG-Katsaros-on-DAEO-Pankey

Anti-MonopolyEthics in GovernmentFTC

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