The Justice Department announced on Feb. 17, that it is launching an initiative to investigate companies that are profiteering from supply chain disruptions in the United States in violation of federal antitrust laws. The initiative, which will be spearheaded by the Justice Department’s antitrust division and the FBI, comes amid public pressure on the Biden Administration to handle rising price inflation caused by shortages, among other factors. The White House is facing increased pressure to ease inflation as producer prices rose 9.7 percent in January, a near-record high. “The lingering challenge of supply chain disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic has created an opportunity for criminals to fix prices and overcharge customers,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to collaborate and investigate schemes that violate our antitrust laws and stifle our economic recovery,” he added. The economy has been plagued by …