Guthrie Introduces Bill to Increase Transparency into Investigations on Scams

Press Release

Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02) introduced a bill to increase transparency into the unfair and deceptive acts against consumers that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigates.

The CLEAR Act would require the FTC to publish online information related to investigations they have opened into unfair and deceptive practices. Guthrie serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee's Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee, which has congressional oversight over the FTC.

"Unfortunately, even during a global pandemic, bad actors have been trying to scam and steal from Americans," said Guthrie. "Stimulus checks to help Americans during these unprecedented times have been a target of bad actors. I introduced the CLEAR Act to give Americans access to information on the Federal Trade Commission's investigations into unfair and deceptive practices. By increasing transparency, Americans would have more information to protect themselves from being scammed by similar practices."

The CLEAR Act also requires the FTC to submit an annual report to Congress on investigations relating to unfair and deceptive acts or practices impacting commerce. The FTC would have to include the following information in the report to Congress:

Number of investigations started
Number of investigations closed without official action from the FTC
Disposition of such closed investigations
Description and legal analysis to support the FTC's decision to close an investigation with privacy limitations for the entities investigated

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