Grassley Lowers The Boom On Zuckerberg After Meta Engineers Shocking Child-Sexting Sting Video

Grassley, the veteran Iowa Republican who serves as the Senates president pro tempore, fired off a blistering letter to the Facebook founder following the disturbing on-camera confession by 44-year-old engineering manager Josh Felker, who was ensnared in an undercover sting by the Predator Poachers Long Island. According to The New York Post, Felker, who has been placed on leave from Meta, was arrested on July 15 after acknowledging to the group in a now-viral video that he had been grooming and sexting someone he believed was a teenage girl a decoy who did not actually exist.

The Meta engineer made a series of deeply troubling remarks in the footage, including a claim that he wanted to be the father of the girl he was attempting to groom. These allegations raise significant questions regarding Metas internal governance, employee screening, trust and safety culture, and controls for employees who work on products and experiences designed for children, Grassley wrote in his letter to Zuckerberg on Wednesday, citing The Posts exclusive reporting on the sting.

July 30, 2026

They also raise questions about Metas processes for identifying, investigating, and responding to employee misconduct, the letter continued, underscoring the senators concern that the companys internal safeguards may be dangerously inadequate. Grassley pressed Meta on its vetting procedures and oversight mechanisms for staff working on childrens products, and specifically asked whether the company has ever knowingly retained registered sex offenders on its payroll.

The 92-year-old Republican, who also chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and ranks just behind the vice president in Senate hierarchy, gave Meta until Aug. 12 to respond to eight detailed questions tied to The Posts reporting and the Predator Poachers sting operation. Those questions include a demand that Zuckerberg address each allegation leveled against Felker, clarify whether the engineer had access to non-public user data or internal systems connected to minors accounts, and disclose whether any internal complaints had previously been filed against him.

Grassley further insisted that Meta provide a comprehensive accounting of every internal complaint, arrest, and allegation of sexual misconduct toward minors involving its employees over the past decade. He also ordered the company to describe, in detail, the background checks and vetting procedures used when hiring staff tasked with building digital experiences for children.

The foxes must not be allowed to guard the hen house, Grassley wrote, encapsulating a broader conservative concern that Big Tech cannot be trusted to police itself when childrens safety is at stake. Wednesdays letter marks the fourth time in just over a year that Grassley has formally pressed Zuckerberg over Metas child-safety failures, and the senator made clear his patience with corporate stonewalling has worn thin.

To date, Meta has failed to fully and completely respond to my questions and document requests, Grassley wrote, signaling that further congressional action may follow if the company continues to dodge accountability. He noted that his first letter to Meta came in April 2025, after whistleblowers alleged the company targeted advertisements at teens based on their emotional states, a practice critics say exploits vulnerable minors for profit.

Grassley wrote again in September 2025 over reports of bullying and sexual harassment on Metas Horizon Worlds virtual-reality platform, and sent a third letter later that month over allegations that the company misrepresented the mental-health risks and sexual exploitation he said are rampant across its services. A Meta spokesperson declined to directly address Grassleys latest demands, but told The Post, This employee is no longer with the company and we are cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation.

For Grassley and many conservatives, the Felker case is not an isolated scandal but part of a pattern in which Silicon Valley giants profit from youth engagement while failing to enforce basic safeguards against predators and abuse. With a senior senator now openly questioning whether Meta has allowed foxes inside its own henhouse, the pressure is mounting on Zuckerberg to prove his company can protect children without waiting for Congress or law enforcement to force its hand.