Watchdog Files FOIA Over FTC’s Improper Intervention in ESG Suit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 28, 2025
Contact: Michael Clauw, mclauw@campaignforaccountability.org, 202.780.5750
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Campaign for Accountability (CfA) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking communications about the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) unprecedented decision to intervene in a matter championed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Texas v. BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard. The agency’s intervention in this case, in which Texas and twelve other states claim the three asset managers used their holdings in coal companies to pressure those companies to adopt environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals, appears motivated by a desire to enforce President Trump’s policy whims, not to exercise legitimate FTC oversight.
CfA Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith stated, “This case isn’t about antitrust law, but about conservative opposition to even recognizing the risks of climate change. Americans deserve to know who is influencing the FTC to use its antitrust authority to attack political opponents.”
ESG, like diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has been a major target of the Trump administration. Trump issued an executive order directing the Department of Justice to take action to stop enforcement of state laws and civil actions regarding ESG and climate change. States, led by Republican attorneys general, are playing a major role in attempting to prevent companies and asset firms from considering ESG in investing.
The FTC filed in the case at the behest of just two commissioners: Chair Andrew Ferguson and Mark Meador. The only other Trump-appointed commissioner, Melissa Holyoak, recused herself. Earlier this year, President Trump fired the commission’s two Democratic members, Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. Prior to their firings, any action requiring a commission vote, including filing in this case, would have required at least one of the Democratic commissioners for a majority. Slaughter and Bedoya have sued over their termination, arguing Trump violated the Administrative Procedure Act, the Constitution’s separation of powers clause, and their statutory rights under the FTC Act. Trump claims it is his prerogative to fire them.
CfA has requested communications between FTC commissioners and staff and Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office, representatives of top coal companies, including Peabody Energy and Core Natural Resources, and some of the coal companies’ counsel in the Texas case, Cooper & Kirk and Fusion Law.
Further underscoring the FTC’s role as a partisan attack vehicle, last week, the commission also followed up on another of Attorney General Paxton’s initiatives, opening an investigation into the progressive media watchdog, Media Matters, for publishing research on antisemitic content on Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter). The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is currently considering whether Paxton’s civil investigation demand violated Media Matter’s First Amendment rights.
Ms. Kuppersmith continued, “Instead of protecting the rights of American consumers and promoting competition – the purpose of the FTC – the commission is trying to prevent asset managers from recognizing the risks climate change poses to everyday investors.”
Campaign for Accountability is a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog organization that uses research, litigation, and aggressive communications to expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life and hold those who act at the expense of the public good accountable for their actions.