Video game industry hires former Capitol Hill aides

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the lobbying group for the video game industry, has hired Ali Amirhooshmand and Danielle Rodman, longtime veterans of Capitol Hill.

Since the mass shooting in Newtown (CT), lawmakers have called for increased scrutiny of violent video games and their potential contribution to real world violence. Amirhooshmand and Rodman will serve as directors of federal government affairs for the lobbying organization. Amirhooshmand co-founded the Seward Square Group, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm where he worked on intellectual property, cybersecurity and other issues. Before that, he worked for then-House Majority Whip Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX). Rodman served as the primary Judiciary Committee adviser for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and served as a staff assistant on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.