FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 22, 2016

Contact: Daniel Stevens, dstevens@campaignforaccountability.org, 202.780.5750

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, The Intercept’s David Dayen published The Android Administration, exploring Google’s influence on government. The story relies on data compiled by Campaign for Accountability (CfA) for a forthcoming project that will document how Google has enjoyed unrivaled access to White House officials and has hired hundreds of “revolving door” employees.

Read the article here.

CfA Executive Director Anne Weismann said: “Google has long been a strong advocate of transparency in government, business, and even users’ private lives. It has not, however, been transparent about its own dealings with the government. These datasets show how Google has enjoyed unparalleled access to the Obama Administration at a time when the company’s influence on government, public policies, and our lives is incomparable to any corporation in history.”

The data collected by CfA researchers reveals that Google officials have met with White House officials hundreds of times since President Obama took office. Specifically:

Between January 2009 and October 2015, Google staffers gathered at the White House on 427 separate occasions. All told, 182 White House employees and 169 Google employees attended the meetings, with participation from almost every domestic policy and national security player in the West Wing.

CfA’s data also shows how hundreds of people have worked for both Google and government, walking through the so-called “revolving door.” Dayen writes:

The “revolving door” data…reveals 55 cases of individuals moving from positions at Google into the federal government, and 197 individuals moving from positions inside the government to jobs at Google.

In the coming days, CfA will launch a project to help the public track Google’s influence on government and public policies. It will assemble comprehensive materials capturing Google’s influence in a single place and make it searchable by any user. The project is the latest initiative from CfA, a non-partisan, non-profit organization that works to expose undue corporate influence on government. To submit information for inclusion, please email us at info@campaignforaccountability.org.

Campaign for Accountability is a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog organization that uses research, litigation, and aggressive communications to expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life and hold those who act at the expense of the public good accountable for their actions.

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