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mahatmakanejeeves

(56,886 posts)
Fri Nov 9, 2018, 01:23 PM Nov 2018

Before he led the Justice Department, Matt Whitaker promoted company accused of deceiving clients

David Fahrenthold Retweeted:

“Many people ended up in debt or lost their life savings, according to the FTC.”



Politics

Before he led the Justice Department, Matthew G. Whitaker promoted company accused of deceiving clients

By Carol D. Leonnig, Rosalind S. Helderman and Robert O'Harrow Jr.
November 8 at 9:32 PM

When federal investigators were digging into an invention-promotion company accused of fraud by customers, they sought information in 2017 from a prominent member of the company’s advisory board, according to two people familiar with the probe: Matthew G. Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney in Iowa.

It is unclear how Whitaker — who was appointed acting attorney general by President Trump on Wednesday — responded to a Federal Trade Commission subpoena to his law firm.

In the end, the FTC filed a complaint against Miami-based World Patent Marketing, accusing it of misleading investors and falsely promising that it would help them patent and profit from their inventions, according to court filings. ... In May of this year, a federal court in Florida ordered the company to pay a settlement of more than $25 million and close up shop, records show. The company did not admit or deny wrongdoing.

Whitaker’s sudden elevation this week to replace fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions has put new scrutiny on his involvement with the shuttered company, whose advisory board he joined in 2014, shortly after making a failed run for U.S. Senate in Iowa. ... At the time, he was also running a conservative watchdog group with ties to other powerful nonprofits on the right and was beginning to develop a career as a Trump-friendly cable television commentator.
....

Carol Leonnig is an investigative reporter at The Washington Post, where she has worked since 2000. She won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for her work on security failures and misconduct inside the Secret Service. Follow https://twitter.com/CarolLeonnig

Rosalind Helderman is a political enterprise and investigations reporter for The Washington Post. She joined The Post in 2001. Follow https://twitter.com/PostRoz

Robert O’Harrow Jr. is an investigative and accountability reporter at the The Washington Post. Follow https://twitter.com/robertoharrow
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Before he led the Justice Department, Matt Whitaker promoted company accused of deceiving clients (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Nov 2018 OP
So he fits right in to TrumpWorld. SharonAnn Nov 2018 #1
Thinking this story has legs and will surely be scrutinized to the hilt..from March 2017.. asiliveandbreathe Nov 2018 #2

asiliveandbreathe

(8,203 posts)
2. Thinking this story has legs and will surely be scrutinized to the hilt..from March 2017..
Fri Nov 9, 2018, 01:49 PM
Nov 2018

Freshman Rep. Brian Mast is linked to a Florida marketing company under investigation by federal regulators for allegedly pocketing millions of dollars in a patent scam.

World Patent Marketing and its owner, Scott J. Cooper, are accused by the Federal Trade Commission of defrauding thousands of clients in the last few years to the tune of millions of dollars, and then harassing customers who threatened to report the scam.

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/florida-mast-marketing-scandal-236103

Mast was just reelected FL18....

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