[DANNY WOOL, SV411]
Andrew McLaughlin was a leading Google lobbyist before he became the White House CTO. Even then, Consumer Watchdog, a non-partisan group that monitors the influence of the special interests on politicians in Washington, expressed concern about McLaughlin’s new position. It is now calling for his resignation, after McLaughlin used a private email account to conduct government business, and after he discussed government policy with his Google staff on issues including net neutrality.
A memo released by John Holdren, who directs the Science and Technology Policy team at the White House, says that an “unnamed staff member” was “reprimanded on these issues and received additional individual training on his obligations.” This, however, is not enough for the staff at Consumer Watchdog, which has called for his resignation.
Photo by Joi Ito.