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The American Economic Liberties Project has called for a congressional investigation after the Department of Justice approved Fox’s $22 billion acquisition of streaming company Roku.
The non-profit said the deal, which the DOJ cleared Friday, should “raise alarm bells” given the corporation donated $1 million to first lady Melania Trump’s “Fostering the Future” initiative in August.
The donation to the fund, makes higher education scholarships available to young people who have been in foster care, was made while the Roku deal was being reviewed, the AELP said.
“It should set off every alarm bell that the Fox Corporation is giving any money to the first lady’s foster care initiative during the Justice Department’s review of its Roku deal,” Lee Hepner, AELP’s senior legal counsel, said in a statement.
“This is part of a documented pattern, where big media corporations curry favor with the administration, via donations and promises of favorable coverage, and then deals get done. How can anyone credibly argue that this Justice Department is still committed to the rule of law?
“The next Congress has a responsibility to take these sorts of transactions seriously and root out the blatant corruption that has allowed America to turn into an oligarchy, where…
