Whitaker fielded early fraud complaints from customers at patent company yet promoted it ...

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post



Whitaker fielded early fraud complaints from customers at patent company yet promoted it for years, records show

By Carol D. Leonnig, Rosalind S. Helderman and Tom Hamburger November 30 at 12:00 PM

Months after joining the advisory board of a Miami-based patent company in 2014, Matthew G. Whitaker began fielding angry complaints from customers that they were being defrauded, including from a client who showed up at his Iowa office to appeal to him personally for help, new records show.

Yet Whitaker, now the acting attorney general, remained an active champion of World Patent Marketing for three years — even expressing willingness to star in national television ads promoting the firm, the records show.

Internal Federal Trade Commission documents released Friday in response to a public records request reveal the extent of Whitaker’s support for World Patent Marketing, even amid a barrage of warnings about the company’s behavior.

The FTC eventually filed a complaint against World Patent Marketing, accusing it of cheating customers and falsely promising that it would help them patent and profit from their inventions, according to court filings. Some clients lost their life savings, the agency alleged.



Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/acting-attorney-general-whitaker-fielded-early-fraud-complaints-from-customers-at-patent-company-yet-promoted-it-for-years-records-show/2018/11/30/919b76bc-f4a2-11e8-80d0-f7e1948d55f4_story.html

[Apollyonus]

1. wow ... a fine addition to the swamp

[RockRaven]

2. For F*cks Sake WaPo, stop soft-peddling it. "fielded complaints" my ass, he threatened complainers!

He used his previous title of US Attorney to threaten and intimidate people complaining they had been defrauded. Don't give that story a headline which makes it seem like all he did was listen!

[mr_lebowski]

3. So freaking annoying, I couldn't agree more ... 'liberal media' my friggin' ass ... (nt)

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. "You're not going to believe this..."

The Washington Post Retweeted

"You're not going to believe this...
Matt Whitaker is now chief of staff to the Attorney General.
Of the United States. "
The FTC did a double take when they found out a paid adviser to a sham company who was ducking their subpoena had top DOJ job.
https://wapo.st/2FQU4HX?tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.143bf145810b …

Link to tweet