Several Senate Democrats are pressing Google and YouTube for answers about their decision to settle a lawsuit with President Trump over YouTube’s suspension of his account in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In a letter to Google and YouTube executives on Wednesday, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Richard Blumental (D-Conn.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) raised concerns about how the settlement came about amid ongoing antitrust litigation.
YouTube, which is owned by Google, agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle the lawsuit late last month, with $22 million going toward Trump. The president has directed that the funds be used for the construction of the White House State Ballroom.
The senators underscored that the U.S. go