White House warned to get distance from Google

By KIM HART | 6/24/11 8:06 AM EDT

 

Consumer Watchdog is telling the White House that its cozy relationship with Google is inappropriate, given ongoing reviews by both the FTC and the Department of Justice.

 

The group, a vocal critic of Google, is asking White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, who is responsible for overseeing ethics policy, “to rule that the president and other members of the administration must distance themselves from Google until the investigations are concluded,” according to a letter delivered to the White House on Friday.

 

Google is reportedly the subject of an antitrust investigation by the FTC, and Justice is reviewing its $400 million purchase of online advertising firm Admeld. In addition, Justice, the FDA and the Rhode Island U.S. attorney are reportedly looking into allegations that Google profited from selling online ads to illegal online pharmacies.

 

Despite those ongoing reviews, Google’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and Vice President Marissa Mayer were guests at last month’s State Dinner to honor German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

 

“Allowing such executives to hobnob at a gala White House event inevitably sends a message that the administration supports them and undercuts the ability of federal investigators to proceed with their case in a fair and unbiased way,” reads the letter, signed by Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court and Privacy Project Director John Simpson.

 

Schmidt has been friendly with President Barack Obama for several years, having advised his presidential campaign and transition team and now serving on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The warm relationship between Schmidt and Obama has been called into question before by Google critics who worried the search giant was getting special treatment in certain areas, such as broadband policy.

 

“Nonetheless, given the current circumstances, the president and top administration officials must distance themselves from Google until the serious allegations against the company are resolved,” the letter said.

Complicating the situation is Google’s refusal to send Schmidt or CEO Larry Page to testify at an upcoming hearing on competition. Sens. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), chairman and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, said they may pursue a subpoena to force one of the Google executives to appear.

 

Google is in touch with the subcommittee and will “send them the executive who can best answer their questions,” spokeswoman Mistique Cano said Thursday.

 

Google did not respond to a request for comment on the Consumer Watchdog letter.

 

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 5:38 a.m. on June 24, 2011.

Views: 50

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Doc Vega posted blog posts
7 hours ago
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

Lost History

"The Tartar wall - aka The Great Wall of China is hundreds of years old and was up and running in…"
7 hours ago
cheeki kea posted a photo
8 hours ago
tjdavis posted a blog post
21 hours ago
tjdavis posted a photo
22 hours ago
Doc Vega posted blog posts
yesterday
Doc Vega posted a photo
Wednesday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

No Place to Hide

Stumbling through this confusing lifeLike a blunt and rusty knifeSo why is there all this…See More
Wednesday
Burbia posted a blog post
Wednesday
cheeki kea posted a photo
Wednesday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's blog post Vaccines Cause Autism: The Burden of Proof has been met.
Wednesday
cheeki kea posted a blog post
Wednesday
tjdavis posted a video
Wednesday
cheeki kea commented on Burbia's video
Thumbnail

Soros Will Never Recover..Elon AIR The whole Thing

"Good find Burbia. It can only get worse. Is Soros too big to fail for he has his thumb in every pie…"
Monday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Monday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post What's Meant to Be?
"tjdavis Thanks for your support Dude! "
Monday
tjdavis posted photos
Monday
tjdavis favorited Doc Vega's blog post What's Meant to Be?
Monday
tjdavis posted a video

PORCUPINE TREE - BUYING NEW SOUL (HD)

Filmed at the Park West, Chicago, USA, 11-12 Oktober 2005
Monday
Burbia commented on Burbia's video
Thumbnail

Meet GibberLink, Conversational AI's secret language

"One agent's audio range has a lower frequency than the other. Another example of different…"
Sunday

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted