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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUnder Siege From Trump and Musk, a Top Liberal Group(Media Matters)Falls Into Crisis, dials back criticism of Trump/Musk
Under Siege From Trump and Musk, a Top Liberal Group Falls Into Crisis - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/25/us/politics/media-matters-musk-crisis.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ZE8.RasW.2PVsKFJLuRPX&smid=url-share
Scrambling to pay legal fees, Media Matters has dialed back its criticism, trimmed its staff and contemplated closing entirely.
Media Matters, a nonprofit group that has played a key role in liberal politics, is struggling to withstand months of legal assaults by President Trumps allies, offering a glimpse of what might be in store for even well-funded targets of his retribution campaigns.
The organization, which is funded by some of the Democratic Partys biggest donors, has racked up about $15 million in legal fees over the past 20 months to defend itself against lawsuits by Elon Musk, in addition to investigations by Mr. Trumps Federal Trade Commission and Republican state attorneys general.
The group has slashed the size of its staff and scrambled to raise more cash from skittish donors, according to documents and interviews with 11 people familiar with the organizations fight to survive.
That might not be enough. Media Matters tried to settle with Mr. Musk by offering concessions, but the sides were far apart and talks fizzled. Even when the group has triumphed in court, Mr. Musk has appealed or filed new cases elsewhere. As a last resort, it has considered shuttering, according to interviews and an internal document.
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Even as the battle continues, Media Matters stands as an example of how legal warfare waged by powerful ideological opponents can squelch influential voices and stifle political dissent. The group says it has dialed back its criticism of Mr. Musk and the Trump F.T.C. Media Matters has also been frozen out by some allies. And it has faced plummeting staff morale, rising infighting and security concerns.

Jilly_in_VA
(12,534 posts)FOR SHAME!
She could put more into those two words....
edhopper
(36,409 posts)the ones doing Pro Bono work for him?
AZJonnie
(1,108 posts)They've been on my monthly recurring donation list for many years. I really hope they can hang on. Such an important outfit.
Meanwhile Faux Nooz is #1 in ratings.
FUCK YOU TRUSK!!!
yourout
(8,512 posts)Someone like Obama was doing what Trump's doing.
Stargleamer
(2,474 posts)and they have the power to inflict their will on us. It's Orwellian--they want to keep us ignorant, and control our minds through propaganda, which Media Matters went up against.
58Sunliner
(5,904 posts)pecosbob
(8,043 posts)Wounded Bear
(62,584 posts)Demovictory9
(36,871 posts)The Overton window is the range of subjects and arguments politically acceptable to the mainstream population at a given time. It is also known as the window of discourse
UTUSN
(74,959 posts)
Prairie_Seagull
(4,288 posts)
Wiz Imp
(6,277 posts)Deminpenn
(16,933 posts)He never discloses the lawsuits his organization is fighting.
unblock
(55,443 posts)i'm wondering why media matters doesn't just concede, using a bankruptcy strategy.
hear me out.
once upon a time, i was in a pretty severe car accident. passenger in a cab (so clearly 0% my fault), stalled out on a freeway at night, not lighting, rear-ended at highway speed (minus a small but critical amount of braking).
after years of stalling, i got the insurance maximum from both the car behind and the cab company's insurance policies, both of which were the legal minimum. after repaying my own insurance and the lawyers, i wasn't left with much.
i asked the lawyers couldn't we go after the cab company for more? there was clearly much pain and suffering (i couldn't eat solid food for a year, among other issues, some of which i still have 30 years later).
their advice (confirmed by several other lawyers) is to take the insurance settlements and be done with it. the explanation was that if i won a major award from the cab company, they would simply stall on paying, and grind down the business. minimal repairs on cabs, never invest in anything new.
meanwhile, the same owners would start up a new cab company and invest everything in that. their business would transition to a clean business, and i'd be left with just the salvage value of some old cars with a ton of mileage on them.
stinks of fraudulent transfer, but there are legal ways to do it, especially if you avoid doing anything overt during the 90 days just prior to filing bankruptcy.
this strategy wouldn't work for the wall street journal or columbia university as they have huge assets, but i would think it would work for a group like media matters.
yes? no?