On Tuesday, @JusticeATR filed an antitrust suit against Visa, whose private taxes on debit transactions cost Americans billions every year.
Here's what officeholders, consumer advocates, legal/economic scholars, and small business groups said of the suit.👇🧵 pic.twitter.com/08vkWlOYAA
— American Economic Liberties Project (@econliberties) September 27, 2024
Former US President Donald Trump has called for an investigation into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul Pelosi after they sold approximately $500,000 worth of Visa stock. The sale occurred on July 1, just one day before the Department of Justice filed a significant lawsuit against the company. Speaking at a campaign stop in Michigan on September 27, Trump, 78, raised suspicions about the timing of the sale.
“I’m not much into this stuff, but [the company] crashed because the government went after them. The government filed a big suit against [the company],” Trump told his supporters.
Visa lawsuit ignites Pelosi investigation
"To head off possible reform to break its dominance, Visa and its allies have spent at least $80 million lobbying against a single bill, according to @accountable_us."@TheProspect on Visa, the Credit Card Competition Act, and @JusticeATR's debit suit.👇https://t.co/P4pHzOPSBR
— American Economic Liberties Project (@econliberties) September 26, 2024
He suggested that the Pelosis might have had prior knowledge of the impending legal action. “Why don’t we get some AG [attorney general] somewhere, like in a Republican territory, to investigate this?” Trump asked.
Visa is once again in the firing line of the Justice Department as the US administrator files a civil antitrust lawsuit against the payments processor. https://t.co/6rBNGb3z5K pic.twitter.com/suYH9i1Ppj
— The Fintech Times (@thefintechtimes) September 27, 2024
The Department of Justice’s civil lawsuit, filed in late September, accuses Visa of “illegally maintaining a monopoly over debit network markets.” Attorney General Merrick B.
Garland stated earlier this month, “We allege that [the company] has unlawfully amassed the power to extract fees that far exceed what it could charge in a competitive market. Merchants and banks pass along those costs to consumers, either by raising prices or reducing quality or service.”
Nancy Pelosi, a vocal critic of Donald Trump throughout his 2024 presidential campaign, took a jab at his debate performance on September 10, likening him to “someone greatly diminished.”
Trump’s call for an investigation into the Pelosis’ stock transactions adds another controversial layer to the ongoing tensions between him and the former Speaker of the House. It remains uncertain whether Paul Pelosi, 84, made a profit from the sale of the Visa shares.