Senate Democrats press Google, YouTube on Trump settlement
Several Senate Democrats are pressing Google and YouTube for answers about their decision to settle a lawsuit with President Trump over YouTube’s suspension of his account in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In a Wednesday letter to Google and YouTube executives, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) raised concerns about how the settlement came about amid ongoing antitrust litigation.
YouTube, which is owned by Google, agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle the lawsuit late last month, with $22 million going toward Trump. The president has directed the funds be used for the construction of the White House State Ballroom.
The senators underscored that the U.S. government has antitrust cases pending against Google.
Shortly after a federal judge declined to order a breakup of the search giant in early September, Google CEO Sundar Pichai joined Trump for a dinner at the White House with other tech leaders, where he touted “constructive dialogue” with the administration.
“The public deserves to know what ‘constructive dialogue’ the Trump administration and Google had, given that Google and the Trump administration are opposing parties in the antitrust case, and whether this dialogue was in any way connected to YouTube’s settlement with President Trump,” the senators wrote Wednesday.
“Specifically, the public deserves to know whether YouTube’s settlement will influence the Trump Justice Department’s decision regarding whether to appeal and seek the stricter remedies DOJ had originally sought against Google,” they continued.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta opted not to force Google to sell off its Chrome browser last month, rejecting the sweeping remedies sought by the Department of Justice (DOJ) after the tech giant was found to have an illegal monopoly over online search.
He instead imposed restrictions on Google’s ability to enter into exclusive agreements to prioritize its products and mandated that the company make certain data and syndication services available to rivals.
Following the ruling, the DOJ said it was considering its options and whether to “seek additional relief.”
The Senate Democrats asked Google for details about which officials were involved in settlement talks, whether pending actions from the DOJ were discussed, and if there was any agreement to settle the YouTube lawsuit in exchange for favorable treatment.
They are also seeking details about Pichai’s conversation with Trump at the White House dinner, as well as information about any conversations between the companies and the president or administration officials in the context of the settlement.
The YouTube lawsuit was the last of three similar cases to reach a settlement. Meta agreed to pay $25 million in January to settle a lawsuit over Trump’s Jan. 6 suspension, while X reached a settlement for $10 million in February.
The Hill has reached out to Google for comment.