Lobbyists work on behalf of all sorts of nasty causes – some people might not approve of oil companies and tobacco corporations, for example. But lobbyists also work on behalf of charitable organizations and the like. And now one more lobbyist works for Google.
You may be able to judge how “good” or “bad” a thing this is based on your feelings about Google’s deal with DoubleClick; the Wall Street Journal reports that Makan Delrahim was hired specifically for that case.
The WSJ actually acknowledges that Delrahim “is one of four lawyers registered to lobby on behalf of Google,” yet Delrahim, “a former deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s antitrust division,” is the big name among the bunch.
So . . . what does Delrahim have to say about his new employer and its arrangement with DoubleClick? “The combination of the two companies will only help create a more efficient system for the online advertising world,” he stated, according to Bloomberg News’s Jonathan Thaw.
As for those antitrust concerns, well, there’s nothing to ‘em. “Ultimately this is a very robust, dynamic industry,” Delrahim said.
Whether you trust Delrahim (or lobbyists in general, or Google itself) or not, he is, at least, playing by the rules. The WSJ reports that, “[u]nder a federal law enacted in 1995, lobbyists are required to disclose activities that could influence members of the executive and legislative branches.” It was in the act of obeying this law that Delrahim made his presence known.
