Attorney General William Barr, no stranger to courting both political momentum and an approving presidential back-slap, used the announcement of the Federal Trade Commission’s $5 billion fine against Facebook as an opportunity for both. As media outlets were digesting Facebook’s settlement, Barr announced the Department of Justice will also open an antitrust review of America’s biggest tech companies.
Meanwhile, other Trump administration officials are inserting themselves into the president’s ongoing, and seemingly one-sided, battle with Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos. In an interview with CNBC, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin praised the Justice Department’s antitrust investigation into the tech giants, including Amazon.
