House Judiciary probes merger of two advertising giants over ties to anti-Republican cartel

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan on Wednesday opened a probe into the merger of two advertising powerhouses because of both companies' alleged ties to an anti-conservative cartel that attempted to defund news outlets.

Jordan sent letters to the CEOs of Omnicom and the Interpublic Group, who were founding members of the left-leaning World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), and ordered them to preserve documents and all contact with the WFA and its Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) initiative.

The GARM initiative allegedly claimed that right-wing publications spread “so-called harmful content” about them and deprived them of advertising revenue by criticizing the group to more than 40 major companies including Adidas, American Express, and General Motors, according to the New York Post.

The initiative also orchestrated a large boycott of X in 2022, attacked Joe Rogan's Spotify podcast, and attempted to direct ad dollars away from right-leaning news outlets such as Fox News and the New York Post.

WFA said it was "discontinuing" activities at the GARM initiative in August, just days after X sued the organization for antitrust violations.

The House Judiciary Committee asked the companies how they plan to avoid repeating GARM’s anticompetitive history, and ordered them to disclose any politically partisan “brand safety” initiatives that their companies are involved in by January 7. 

The probe comes after Omnicom announced it was buying Interpublic, which would create the largest ad agency in the world with over 100,000 employees and billions in revenue. The deal has prompted concerns that it could violate antitrust laws.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.