Dems open probe into FCC chairman over attacks on the free press

Happy Tuesday! Here’s your Tuesday Tech Drop, a collection of the past week’s top stories from the intersection of tech and politics.

Dems push back on Trump’s FCC chairman

Democrats on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce have opened an investigation into Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr (also a co-author of the far-right playbook Project 2025), citing his “attacks on the First Amendment and his weaponization” of the agency. Since Trump tapped him for the FCC’s top position, Carr has targeted NPR and PBS over “underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements,” threatened to kill mergers involving companies with DEI policies, and opened an investigation into a San Francisco radio station that reported on a local ICE raid. Carr has also revived complaints, filed by conservative groups, accusing media organizations of bias in favor of Democrats — complaints that were dismissed by former FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel and, in one case, were opposed by multiple conservative organizations.

Democrats sent Carr a letter demanding answers and documents and asking the FCC’s inspector general to open an investigation as well: 

Far-right militants defend the technocracy

Wired reports that members of various extremist groups, referring to themselves as “Tesla Shield,” formed counterprotests in Elon Musk’s defense over the weekend, as protesters demonstrated against Musk for his role in gutting the federal government. Among these counterdemonstrators were groups such as the Proud Boys, Wired reports. It certainly suggests some of the worst nightmares of the technocracy have been realized when right-wing militias are showing up to protests on behalf of the world’s most prominent Big Tech oligarch. 

Read more on Wired.

Tracking the impact of Trump’s tariff war

The United Parcel Service launched an online tool to help shoppers calculate the import costs of items they purchase amid Trump’s haphazard and potentially destructive tariff war. While some Trump loyalists continue to push the lie that tariffs don’t result in higher prices for consumers, Trump told NBC News over the weekend that he “couldn’t care less” if foreign car companies raise their prices amid his tariff war because he believes consumers will buy American-made products instead. Tools like the one UPS launched could keep the tariff war front of mind for shoppers as they peruse the internet for products.

Read more at The Hill.

Hide and Sick

A report from ProPublica last week found that leaders at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered staff not to release an expert assessment that the risk of catching measles — which is currently spreading in several states — is highest in areas with lagging vaccination rates. It’s just one example of how anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is distorting the important work of U.S. health agencies.

Read more at ProPublica.

Trump pardons Arizona EV fraudster

In 2023, Trevor Milton, the founder of the electric vehicle company Nikola, was sentenced to four years in prison on fraud charges stemming from falsehoods about the technological capabilities of his product. And last week Milton was pardoned by Donald Trump. The Associated Press reports the decision “could wipe out hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution that prosecutors were seeking for defrauded investors.” As the Washington Post’s Aaron Blake noted, Trump’s pardons have resulted in lost restitution for victims exceeding $1 billion.

Milton donated more than $1.8 million to Trump’s presidential campaign in 2024.

Read more at The Associated Press.

Lake runs dry (for now)

Kari Lake, the far-right influencer Trump tapped to lead the Voice of America news organization, appears to have abandoned her attempt to silence Radio Free Europe. I blogged about a court filing from Lake last week that asked a judge to toss out a lawsuit that would prevent her from terminating grants to the outlet, saying she’s withdrawn the cuts for now. However, Lake claimed that the U.S. Agency for Global Media reserves the authority to cut funds later if the agency determines “such a termination was appropriate under the applicable law.” 

Read my blog on MSNBC.

Musk’s $1 million giveaway winner locks account

One of the recipients of Elon Musk’s $1 million “giveaway” this weekend was Nicholas Jacobs, who happens to be the president of the Wisconsin College Republicans. On Sunday the Wisconsin Supreme Court chose not to stop the payouts after the state attorney general filed a lawsuit arguing such payments violated state law. Musk had initially suggested that the two million-dollar checks would go to “voters” before he “clarified” they would be to “spokesmen.” Jacobs reportedly set his social media account to private amid backlash over the news that he was a recipient of Musk’s giveaway.

Read more at MeidasTouch.

Costly blessings

Paula White, who leads Trump’s White House Faith Office, came in for widespread criticism last week over her promotion of seven “supernatural blessings” her followers could purchase from her company’s website for $1,000. Seems like even religious freedom isn’t always free these days.

Watch video of White’s sales pitch here:

Read more about it on Baptist News Global.

Musk’s AI machinations

Over at Forbes, cybersecurity journalist Kate O’Flaherty published a solid explainer on Musk’s AI company, xAI, purchasing his social media company, X. O’Flaherty spoke with experts who highlighted the potential security concerns related to scraping X’s user data — potentially, even their locations — to train his AI models.

Read more at Forbes.