TTP Report: Tim Cook’s Role as Apple Lobbyist-in-Chief
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 7, 2024
Contact: Michael Clauw, mclauw@campaignforaccountability.org, 202.780.5750
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Campaign for Accountability (CfA), a non-profit watchdog group that runs the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), published a report documenting how Apple CEO Tim Cook is ramping up his efforts as the company’s top lobbyist amid an unprecedented wave of legal and regulatory pressure. TTP’s review of White House visitor logs, corporate lobbying disclosures, European Union documents, and Chinese media reports illustrates the breadth of Cook’s interactions with U.S. and foreign officials—and the central role he plays in Apple’s influence operation.
CfA Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith said, “Direct outreach from a CEO can be flattering for government officials, but Apple has real questions to answer about its business model. No amount of high-level schmoozing should obscure that fact.”
TTP’s report examines Cook’s frequent presence at White House state dinners—having attended three of the six held by President Joe Biden so far. The leaders honored at these dinners—which have included French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi—often have a clear nexus with Apple’s business interests. In addition to attending these dinners, Cook was present at least 11 other events and meetings at White House since Biden took office.
Cook has also played a direct role in trying to persuade top EU regulators to spare Apple from regulation and enforcement actions. EU emails and documents obtained by TTP via public records requests shed light on how Cook met personally with many key figures behind the scenes in an attempt to prevent the adoption of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Ultimately, the EU adopted the DMA and has since opened an investigation of Apple’s compliance with the law.
The Apple CEO has also been scrambling to bolster the company’s reputation in China—both among consumers whose interest in its products may be waning, and among government officials who may see Apple’s expanded production in India as shift away from its reliance on Chinese labor. Cook showered China’s manufacturing sector with praise during a recent trip to the country, which included events with top Apple suppliers like touchscreen maker Lens Technology—a company that a 2021 TTP investigation found had used thousands of Uighur laborers from the Xinjiang region under China’s forced labor program.
Ms. Kuppersmith continued, “Tim Cook’s charm offensive in China shows the importance of that market for Apple even as it tries to expand its manufacturing to other countries. Unfortunately, evidence uncovered by TTP of forced labor in Apple’s Chinese supply chain appears to have gone unaddressed.”
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.