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Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) calls on Department of Justice antitrust director to dismiss Google and Apple investigations, saying the lobbying work he has done for businesses raises concerns ethical.
In a letter to Division Chief, Deputy Attorney General Makan Delrahim, as well as Justice Department ethics officials, Warren said Google had paid Delrahim about $ 100,000 in 2007 to put pressure on in favor of the company's acquisition of the DoubleClick digital advertising service. He also lobbied the federal government over patent issues on behalf of Apple in 2006 and 2007, he wrote.
"Your work as a lobbyist for two of the world's largest and most investigated technology companies creates the appearance of a conflict of interest," writes Warren in his letter. "As the head of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, you should not oversee investigations of past clients who have paid you tens of thousands of dollars to pressure the federal government."
Warren requests a response from Delrahim to his letter by June 14th.
The news follows reports that the Ministry of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have divided anti-trust investigations in the technology sector. The Ministry of Justice would investigate Google and Apple, the FTC having jurisdiction over Amazon and Facebook.
In the 2020 presidential race, Warren is positioned as an antitrust hawk. In March, she announced a proposal to dismantle large technology companies, claiming that they "were using their resources and controlling how we use the Internet to crush small businesses and innovation, and substitute their own financial interests to the broader interests of the United States. people."
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