Business and Economy Government

Fishy: Longtime Antitrust Official Joins Facebook Policy Board

The Grind:
A former Department of Justice (DOJ) official tasked with handling antitrust matters at the Washington D.C. bureaucracy has joined Facebook shortly after leaving his federal post.

Douglas Rathbun was previously an attorney with the Competition Policy and Advocacy Section of the DOJ. He is now doing public policy work for the Big Tech monolith who he was previously tasked with regulating, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The Revolving Door Project noted how this is just the latest instance of a rigged system rewarding its corrupt actors with money and prestige.

“At Facebook, Rathbun’s public policy work will no doubt entail rubbing elbows with his former colleagues. His task, presumably, will be to attempt to sway their decisions in favor of his new employer as it faces increased regulatory scrutiny from the DOJ and an ongoing FTC lawsuit. But DOJ officials should see Rathbun for what he is: a turncoat looking to undermine the mission of the Antitrust Division to the advantage of Big Tech,” they wrote.

The Details:
The advocacy group explained how the rules are written to allow individuals like Rathbun to be able to cash out on their influence. He is far from the only recent former federal bureaucrat who is making bank after betraying the American people.

“Rathbun is following the path of Trump-era leaders like Alex Okuliar (who joined Morrison & Foerster this month) and Julia Schiller (who rejoined O’Melveny & Myers), as well as ostensibly career officials like former Bureau of Competition Director Ian Conner, who recently joined Latham & Watkins,” they wrote.

“At Facebook, Rathbun joins fellow revolver Barbara Blank, who left the FTC for Facebook last year. Politico recently revealed that Blank was the lead antitrust staffer when the FTC failed to sue Google in 2012 for illegally monopolizing mobile internet searches, ignoring the recommendation of staff investigators,” the Revolving Door Project added. Read more…

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