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Travis seems more than capable of destroying his company on his own without resorting to fantastical conspiracy theories.

I would say it's more likely if he had stayed the politics could have stopped it. Now that he quit, he doesn't have the boss's blessing so they are free to pursue.

This is exactly what K street is paid to stop.

No, despite most preconceptions about corporations and gov'ts you don't lobby your way out of criminal charges. The best defense to avoid this is don't do stupid things or break the law.

This is actually really important for this community to understand, because a nontrivial # of founders read this. Don't get politically involved to enable bad behaviour -- not only is it wrong, but it won't work. Listen to your lawyers and conscientious objectors, and build a company around good products that people love.

I don't think the council holds any real influence. Also that would be unethical for U.S. Attorneys to do that. I think it's unlikely they're related.