DAVID CICILLINE

As members of the Ukrainian parliament visited Capitol Hill, pleading for wartime aid, an air raid siren suddenly blared.

Investigators found that H. Russell Taub, a Republican candidate in RI, sought help from Russian intelligence in bid to unseat Rep. David Cicilline.

Proposals to update competition law, install online privacy rights and protect kids' from harm on the internet have bipartisan support.

Five lawmakers wrote a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy requesting "exculpatory evidence" of the company's private-label practices and seller data collection.

The American Innovation and Choice Online Act would prohibit dominant online platforms from engaging in discriminatory behavior.

President Joe Biden is acknowledging frustrations as Democrats strain to rescue a scaled-back version of his $3.5 trillion government-overhaul plan and salvage a related public works bill.

Cracking down on Big Tech is a rare bipartisan goal, but a lengthy debate in the House Wednesday showed there's vast disagreement over how that should happen.

Tim Cook reportedly called Pelosi to 'deliver a warning' about Congress' antitrust bills

A House panel is pushing ahead with ambitious legislation that could curb the market power of Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple and force them to sever their dominant platforms from their other lines of business.

Rep. Jim Jordan's letter gets at the still-elusive question of how much Microsoft would be affected by the new bills.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has taken a formal step toward sending a bill to President Joe Biden that designates the site of the deadliest attack on the LGBTQ community in American history as a national memorial.

The top Republican on the subcommittee, Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., shared why he came around to legal reform as the solution.

The bills target Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google and some of the anti-trust actions they stand accused of.

The bills target Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google and some of the anti-trust actions they stand accused of.

A group of House lawmakers is proposing legislation that could break up giant tech companies like Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple.

A group of House lawmakers put forward a sweeping legislative package Friday that could curb the market power of Big Tech companies and force Facebook, Google, Amazon or Apple to sever their dominant platforms from their other lines of business. The bipartisan proposals are the culmination of a 15-month investigation by the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee, led by Democratic Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island. It concluded that the four tech giants have abused their market power by charging excessive fees, imposing tough contract terms and extracting valuable data from individuals and businesses that rely on them.

Lawmakers on Friday debuted bipartisan bills that could fundamentally change how Big Tech does business in the U.S. Driving the news: If passed, the bills could force Apple to change how it runs its app store, break apart Amazon's control of its marketplace and halt Facebook and Google from buying smaller rivals in an effort to remake the online ecosystem.Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for freeWhy it matters: The legislation is the lat

The draft bills come after a more than year-long probe into Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google by a House panel.

Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline is circulating a proposal to censure colleagues who sought to downplay the severity of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline is circulating a proposal to censure colleagues who sought to downplay the severity of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

The legislation was first introduced in 1989. The committee's debate was long and often heated. And prospects for final passage remain poor.

The legislation was first introduced in 1989. The committee's debate was long and often heated. And prospects for final passage remain poor.

The Equality Act would extend protections to cover federally funded programs, employment, housing, loan applications, education and public accommodations. Opponents say the bill would harm businesses or organizations that wish to refuse service to LGBTQ Americans on religious grounds. In a speech on the House floor on Wednesday, Newman said that she was voting to approve the Equality Act in honor of her daughter. "Without the Equality Act, this nation will never live up to its principles of freedom and equality," Newman said. "I'm voting yes on the Equality Act for Evie Newman, my daughter and the strongest, bravest person I know."

The bill would ensure equal treatment for LGBTQ individuals in areas including employment, education, housing, credit, public accommodations and others. The Equality Act passed in the House in 2019, but stalled in the Republican-led Senate. LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD called the passage of the Equality Act in the House a "victory for all Americans who believe discrimination against LGBTQ people is wrong and the law should secure core values of equal treatment." Just six years ago, LGBTQ Americans like my daughter won the legal right to marry who they love," Schumer said. "The Equality Act would make sure she can continue living her life with her wife with the security and dignity of knowing she won't face basic discrimination because of who she is."

The Equality Act would extend protections to cover federally funded programs, employment, housing, loan applications, education and public accommodations. Opponents say the bill would harm businesses or organizations that wish to refuse service to LGBTQ Americans on religious grounds. In a speech on the House floor on Wednesday, Newman said that she was voting to approve the Equality Act in honor of her daughter. "Without the Equality Act, this nation will never live up to its principles of freedom and equality," Newman said. "I'm voting yes on the Equality Act for Evie Newman, my daughter and the strongest, bravest person I know."

The Equality Act amends existing civil rights law to explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identification as protected characteristics. The Supreme Court provided the LGBTQ community with a resounding victory last year in a 6-3 ruling that said the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applied to LGBTQ workers when it comes to barring discrimination on the basis of sex. Biden made clear his support for the Equality Act in the lead-up to last year's election, saying it would be one of his first priorities. Ad“Our neighbor, @RepMarieNewman, wants to pass the so-called “Equality” Act to destroy women’s rights and religious freedoms. Democrats likened the effort to past civil rights battles in the nation's history.

"No company should have this much influence over access to journalism.”Facebook's move means people in Australia can no longer post links to news stories on Facebook. Outside Australia, meanwhile, no one can post links to Aussie news sources such as the Sydney Morning Herald. Facebook’s news blackout swept up many of these, including humanitarian organizations like Foodbank Australia and Doctors without Borders in Australia, who found their pages temporarily disabled. Analytics firm Chartbeat said the Facebook ban resulted in a 24% drop in overall traffic to Australian publishers by late Friday morning local time compared to 48 hours earlier. Facebook would have been better off if it had given Australians a choice to opt out of news, he suggested.

Goodman, who has been lauded as a hero, warned Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, the rioters were headed his way. Goodman also directed the mob away from the Senate door and the Chamber, and toward other officers. In the footage, Romney is seen walking toward the rioters until an officer turns him around and he runs in the other direction. “I was very fortunate indeed that Officer Goodman was there to get me in the right direction,” Romney told reporters later. AdAsked about the video in which Goodman tells Romney to turn around, the senator said he didn’t know the identity of the officer before.

(Senate Television via AP)WASHINGTON – The Latest on former President Donald Trump's second Senate impeachment trial (all times local):8:20 p.m.House Democrats have wrapped up their first full day of arguments at the historic second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. The impeachment trial is set to resume at noon Thursday. Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney say they are deeply disturbed by the evidence shown by Democrats against former President Donald Trump at his second impeachment trial. Prosecutors at Trump’s impeachment trial on Wednesday played security footage from inside the Capitol on Jan. 6. ___2:20 p.m.Democrats are arguing that former President Donald Trump “built” the mob that attacked the Capitol.

While the Democrats have appealed to the senators’ emotions, Trump’s lawyers have tried to tap into raw partisan anger. REPUBLICANS TO WATCHSix Republican senators voted with Democrats on Tuesday not to dismiss the trial on constitutional grounds. AdCassidy was the only one who did not side with Democrats in a similar vote two weeks ago. He said after the vote Tuesday that he thought Democrats had a better argument and that Trump’s team had done a “terrible” job. He said he will watch the additional arguments as an impartial juror and then decide whether to convict.

These members, known as the impeachment managers, will prosecute the case against the former president in the Senate. In 1999, during former President Bill Clinton's impeachment, there were 13 impeachment managers, all of whom were male and white. Democrats will need all 50 of their senators and 17 Republican senators to cross the aisle to convict Mr. Trump. The impeachment managers will testify that Mr. Trump incited the riot on January 6 to block the certification of the Electoral College results. He was one of three impeachment managers who drafted the article of impeachment while a mob stormed the Capitol.

These members, known as the impeachment managers, will prosecute the case against the former president in the Senate. In 1999, during former President Bill Clinton's impeachment, there were 13 impeachment managers, all of whom were male and white. Democrats will need all 50 of their senators and 17 Republican senators to cross the aisle to convict Mr. Trump. The impeachment managers will testify that Mr. Trump incited the riot on January 6 to block the certification of the Electoral College results. He was one of three impeachment managers who drafted the article of impeachment while a mob stormed the Capitol.

What is certain for now is that the impeachment trial will be held after Trump has already left office. But it's still unclear exactly how the trial will proceed and if any Senate Republicans will vote to convict Trump. In the House, 10 Republicans joined Democrats in voting to impeach Trump, including Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican. Every single House Republican voted against Trump's first impeachment in 2019. DIFFERENT CHARGES, DIFFERENT IMPEACHMENTThis impeachment trial is likely to differ from the last one in many ways.

WASHINGTON – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tapped nine of her most trusted allies in the House to argue the case for President Donald Trump’s impeachment. Pelosi hasn’t yet said when she will send the article of impeachment to the Senate. Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette, another manager, says the nine prosecutors plan to present a serious case and “finish the job” that the House started. REP. TED LIEU, CALIFORNIALieu, who authored the article of impeachment with Cicilline and Raskin, is on the Judiciary and Foreign Affairs panels. She is also a member of the House Judiciary Committee, and is a former lawyer and member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

What is certain for now is that the impeachment trial will be held after Trump has already left office. But it's still unclear exactly how the trial will proceed and if any Senate Republicans will vote to convict Trump. In the House, 10 Republicans joined Democrats in voting to impeach Trump, including Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican. Every single House Republican voted against Trump's first impeachment in 2019. DIFFERENT CHARGES, DIFFERENT IMPEACHMENTThis impeachment trial is likely to differ from the last one in many ways.

Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has been impeached by the House days before leaving office, becoming the first American president to be impeached twice. The previous three impeachments — those of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and Trump — took months before a final vote, including investigations in the House and hearings. It's unclear, for now, exactly how that trial will proceed and if any Senate Republicans will vote to convict Trump. In the House, 10 Republicans joined Democrats in voting to impeach Trump, including Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican. DIFFERENT CHARGES, DIFFERENT IMPEACHMENTThis impeachment trial is likely to differ from the last one in many ways.

After the rioting at the Capitol, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said "we must take action,” and Democrats — and some Republicans — share her view. That’s what happened in 2019, when the House impeached Trump over his dealings with the president of Ukraine. No Republicans supported Trump's first impeachment in 2019. Some Democrats suggested Pelosi might wait to send the articles and allow Biden to begin his term without impeachment hanging over him. WHAT IMPEACHMENT WOULD MEANDemocrats say they have to move forward, even if the Senate doesn't convict.

Congressman Ted Lieu calls Trump a "clear and present danger" to the U.S. Congressman Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, started drafting the article of impeachment against President Trump with Congressman David Cicilline while the two were in lockdown during the assault on Capitol Hill. Lieu joins CBSN to explain why he believes Mr. Trump represents a "clear and present danger" to the democracy of the U.S. and should be removed from office immediately.

The House is trying to push the vice president and Cabinet to act even more quickly to remove President Donald Trump from office. Democrats are set to pass a resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke constitutional authority under the 25th Amendment to oust Trump. Trump, meanwhile, warned the lawmakers off impeachment and suggested it was the drive to oust him that was dividing the country. Trump faces a single charge — “incitement of insurrection” — in the impeachment resolution after the most serious and deadly domestic incursion at the Capitol in the nation’s history. Trump was impeached by the House in 2019 over dealings with Ukraine and acquitted in 2020 by the Senate.

Democrats introduced an article of impeachment Monday that charges Trump with high crimes and misdemeanors for whipping up an insurrection and disrupting the peaceful transfer of power. The chamber will take two separate steps to try to spur Trump's removal, according to the office of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., David Cicilline, D-R.I., and Ted Lieu, D-Calif., led the drafting of impeachment article, though it is unclear whether the House will ultimately consider that measure or a separate one. In a statement Monday, she said the House wants Pence to respond "within 24 hours after passage" of the resolution. The House will likely vote to impeach Trump only a few days before President-elect Joe Biden will take office one week from Wednesday.

Trump faces a single charge -- “incitement of insurrection” — after the deadly Capitol riot in an impeachment resolution that the House will begin debating Wednesday. “President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government,” reads the four-page impeachment bill. Pending impeachment, Democrats called on Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke their constitutional authority under the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office before Inauguration Day. Their Democrats' House resolution was blocked by Republicans. House Democrats have been considering a strategy to delay for 100 days sending articles of impeachment to the Senate for trial, to allow Biden to focus on other priorities.

Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday the House will proceed with legislation to impeach President Donald Trump as she pushes the vice president and the Cabinet to invoke constitutional authority force him out, warning that Trump is a threat to democracy after the deadly assault on the Capitol. The House action could start as soon as Monday as pressure increases on Trump to step aside. Trump, holed up at the White House, was increasingly isolated after a mob rioted in the Capitol in support of his false claims of election fraud. “We will act with urgency, because this President represents an imminent threat,” Pelosi said in a letter late Sunday to colleagues. After that, Pence and the Cabinet would have 24 hours to act before the House would move toward impeachment.

(AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)WASHINGTON – Democrats' momentum for a fresh drive to quickly impeach outgoing President Donald Trump gained support Saturday, and a top Republican said the president's role in the deadly riot at the Capitol by a violent mob of Trump supporters was worthy of rebuke. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said he believed Trump had committed “impeachable offenses.” But he did not explicitly say whether he would vote to remove the president from office at the conclusion of a Senate trial if the House sent over articles of impeachment. “I do think the president committed impeachable offenses, but I don’t know what is going to land on the Senate floor, if anything," Toomey said. Late Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to her Democratic colleagues reiterating that Trump must be held accountable — but stopped short of committing to an impeachment vote. Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I, a leader of the House effort to draft impeachment articles — or charges — accusing Trump of inciting insurrection, said his group had grown to include 185 co-sponsors.

Pelosi, addressing her hometown San Francisco constituents during an online video conference, shed no fresh light on Democrats' plans. Trump has not publicly made such threats, but officials warn of grave danger if the president is left unchecked. A person on the call said Pelosi also discussed other ways Trump might be forced to resign. ”Democratic leaders have called on Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to force Trump from office. The House impeached Trump in 2019, but the Republican-led Senate acquitted him in early 2020.

There's little chance that the Republican-led Senate would hold a trial and vote on convicting Trump in less than two weeks. Still, action by the House would still make Trump the first president in history to be impeached twice. That’s what happened in 2019, when the House impeached Trump over his dealings with the president of Ukraine. “In all of this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government,” the Democratic draft reads. WHAT IMPEACHMENT WOULD MEANRepublicans, even those who have criticized Trump, say impeachment would be unhelpful.

“We must take action,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared on a private conference call with Democrats. Trump has not publicly made such threats, but officials warn of grave danger if the president is left unchecked. Asked about impeachment, he said, “That’s a decision for the Congress to make.”The Democrats are considering lightning-quick action. Another leading Republican critic of Trump, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, said he would “definitely consider” impeachment. The House impeached Trump in 2019, but the Republican-led Senate acquitted him in early 2020.

WASHINGTON – Lawmakers of both parties raised the prospect Thursday of ousting President Donald Trump from office, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that if he wasn't removed, the House may move forward with a second impeachment. Senior Trump administration officials raised the long-shot possibility of invoking Section 4 of the 25th Amendment — the forceful removal of Trump from power by his own Cabinet. Pelosi told a news conference she is waiting for a decision from Vice President Mike Pence and other Cabinet officials. Under the 25th Amendment, Trump could dispute his Cabinet’s finding, but the Cabinet could quickly reaffirm its position, keeping Pence in power while the question fell to lawmakers. As lawmakers assessed damage in the ransacked Capitol, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer also called Thursday for the Cabinet to remove him.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Roger Mandle, an internationally renowned art scholar and the former longtime president of the Rhode Island School of Design, has died, RISD said Tuesday. Mandle died Saturday in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, after a long battle with cancer, the school said in a statement. A painter himself, Mandle served as president of RISD from 1993 to 2008. Bush, Mandle helped shape and guide U.S. art and design policy. He was a former director of the Toledo Museum of Art, a former associate director of the Minneapolis Institute of Art and a member of the Ohio Arts Council.

Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., vice chairman of the subcommittee, is calling for a hearing to probe federal enforcers' approach to evaluating pharmaceutical mergers. The agency has challenged 67 pharmaceutical mergers worth over $900 billion since 1994, according to data compiled by the American Antitrust Institute for a September report. "It would be one thing if the acquisitions resulted in deterring future anticompetitive conduct anddecreased drug prices for consumers. The Covid-19 pandemic has called attention to existing concerns of rising drug prices and reduced innovation, Neguse wrote the committee leaders. WATCH: Here's why some experts are calling for a breakup of Big Tech after the House antitrust report

(AP Photo/Susan E. Bouchard, File)Rhode Island will now be officially known as ... Rhode Island. Officially, Rhode Island was incorporated as The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations when it declared statehood in 1790. Although the word “Plantations” in Rhode Island’s name does not specifically refer to a place where slaves labored, the measure’s backers insisted it still offends, especially since Rhode Island’s ties to the slave trade are undeniably deep. The formal vote for House speaker, however, won’t happen until January, when the new legislature convenes. Mattiello rose to House speaker in 2014 after then-Speaker Gordon Fox resigned amid a public corruption investigation.

House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law Chair David Cicilline, D-RI, speaks during a hearing on "Online Platforms and Market Power" in the Rayburn House office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on July 29, 2020. On Thursday, the House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust held its seventh and final hearing in a series examining the health of competition in digital markets and the business practices of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. (He didn't expand on this point, but could have been talking about how companies promote and price their own products.) Subcommittee Ranking Member Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., who does not support updates to the antitrust laws, said in his opening testimony that enforcement of existing laws needs to step up. But he also noted reports that the Justice Department may soon bring an antitrust case against Google as evidence that change is already underway.

Two of Facebook's toughest critics on Capitol Hill, Jayapal and David Cicilline of Rhode Island, have urged the social media platform to get serious about misinformation, voter suppression and hate speech ahead of the 2020 election. Federal officials have largely let the companies set their own policies on hate speech and misinformation. Specifically, the lawmakers asked Facebook to remove any post, group or page that promotes racial violence, voter suppression or election-related misinformation. They also urged Facebook to hire more experts on racial hate groups and to improve enforcement of an existing ban on posts encouraging people to take weapons to polls or election offices. Facebook has announced several changes intended to curb voting misinformation, and has also removed hundreds of accounts tied to hate groups or individuals who encouraged followers to show up armed at protests against racist policing.

WASHINGTON – As the Trump administration moves toward antitrust action against search giant Google, it’s campaigning to enlist support from sympathetic state attorneys general across the country. Lawmakers and consumer advocates accuse Google of abusing its dominance in online search and advertising to stifle competition and boost its profits. Separately, the Justice Department's antitrust officials are expected to discuss their planned action on Google in Washington meetings and a conference call with the state attorneys general on Thursday. Some Republican attorneys general could be expected to join the federal case, while another group of states may opt to pursue their own actions. Antitrust regulators in Europe have cracked down on Google in recent years by imposing multibillion-dollar fines and ordering changes to its practices.

WARWICK, R.I. There goes Rhode Island again always finding a way to get its tiny tentacles onto the national stage. The 30-second spot, aired Tuesday night during the convention's roll call as Rhode Island's Democrats formally nominated Joe Biden for president, was an instant social media sensation. "Rhode Island trended for hours overnight on Twitter. The backstory: Joseph McNamara, who chairs the state Democratic Party and appeared in the video, lobbied successfully in 2014 to make calamari Rhode Island's official state appetizer. Rhode Island has been a punch line since the Cianci era.

(Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON The House Judiciary chairman was closing in on his Perry Mason moment with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Fortified with hot internal company documents, Rep. Jerrold Nadler was building his case at a hearing that seemed almost like a trial for Facebook and three other tech giants over alleged anti-competitive tactics. Looking ahead, the hot documents dont by themselves guarantee successful legal action by regulators, legal experts say. But it can be a violation of antitrust law for a company at the top of the heap to use its power to kick competitors off the hill. The head of the Federal Trade Commission has said that as a result of the review, the government may require tech giants to unwind earlier takeovers and divest assets if the agency finds violations of antitrust law.

(Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON Congressional lawmakers finally got a chance to grill the CEOs of Big Tech over their dominance and allegations of monopolistic practices that stifle competition. While the executives faced hostile questioning and frequent interruptions from lawmakers of both parties, little seemed to land more than glancing blows. But Stephen Beck, CEO of the management consulting firm cg42, said the tech companies and their brands emerged relatively unscathed. As Democrats largely focused on market competition, several Republicans aired longstanding grievances, claiming the tech companies are censoring conservative voices and questioning their business activities in China. While forced breakups may appear unlikely, the wide scrutiny of Big Tech points toward possible new restrictions on its power.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks via video conference during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on antitrust on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, July 29, 2020, in Washington. His comments came Wednesday during a congressional hearing into the market dominance of four tech giants Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple. Zuckerberg's comments came at hearing that also featured Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. The questioning came at a congressional hearing that also featured Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. He is Jeff Bezos.

A key question: Whether existing competition policies and century-old antitrust laws are adequate for overseeing the tech giants, or if new legislation and enforcement funding is needed. While forced breakups may appear unlikely, the wide scrutiny of Big Tech points toward possible new restrictions on its power. The companies face legal and political offensives on multiplying fronts, from Congress, the Trump administration, federal and state regulators and European watchdogs. I understand that people have concerns about the size and perceived power that tech companies have, Zuckerberg's statement says. He is making the case that the fees Apple charges apps to sell services and other goods are reasonable, especially compared with what other tech companies collect.

The House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust is capping its yearlong investigation of Big Techs market dominance with Wednesdays teleconferenced hearing spotlighting the four CEOs. The tech companies now face legal and political offensives on multiplying fronts, from Congress, the Trump administration, federal and state regulators and European watchdogs. Facebooks fiercest critics in Congress, including liberal Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren and conservative Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, have put breaking up Big Tech companies on the table. He also met privately with key lawmakers and with President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticized the tech companies and asserted without evidence that they are biased against him. Cook is expected to lay out the case that the fees Apple charges apps to sell services and other goods are reasonable, especially compared with what other tech companies collect.

Top Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee threatened to fracture a bipartisan investigation into Big Tech. Politico reported that Nadler did not call specifically to break up the tech companies, but instead was speaking broadly about changes necessary to tackle the issue of concentrated market power. "America's leaders should not punish tech companies simply because those companies have succeeded that will hurt consumers and stifle innovation. Our online ecosystem is thriving and breaking up large tech companies simply because of their size isn't the answer," they wrote. Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., chairman of the Antitrust Subcommittee, who is leading the investigation of Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple, has said he hopes the effort will remain bipartisan as it enters the legislative phase.