The place’s the lacking Trump cellphone? Lawmakers demand solutions

My colleague C. Scott Brown ordered the T1 Cellphone again in June. Seven months later, he nonetheless doesn’t have the Trump cellphone, a transport date, or a lot readability on what he really paid a $100 deposit for. Now, that long-running mess could also be about to attract federal scrutiny, after Democratic lawmakers requested the Federal Commerce Fee to analyze Trump Cell over alleged false promoting and misleading practices.

The request comes in a letter (h/t The Verge) from 11 Democratic lawmakers, led by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Robert Garcia. It focuses on Trump Cell’s still-unreleased T1 Cellphone, introduced greater than six months in the past and nonetheless accepting deposits regardless of not but transport something to prospects.

The letter additionally presses the FTC on course of, asking whether or not any inquiry into Trump Cell is already underway. If not, the lawmakers ask why the company has but to behave, and request assurance that Trump Cell will likely be handled no otherwise from every other firm dealing with comparable allegations.

Of their phrases, the end result issues past this one product. “The American individuals need to know that client safety legal guidelines apply equally to all companies,” the letter states, framing the FTC’s response as a check of whether or not these guidelines are enforced persistently, no matter political associations.

The lawmakers additionally notice this isn’t their first try and get solutions. They are saying a separate letter despatched final summer season that requested how regulators would keep away from political strain when coping with Trump Cell went unanswered. With prospects like my colleague nonetheless ready for telephones promised months in the past, this saga seems to be set to rumble on.