Senate to Investigate White House Role in Google's Antitrust Victory

A Senate panel plans to investigate whether the White House inappropriately derailed a federal investigation into accusations that Google was stifling online competition. Senate Judiciary's Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Mike Lee (R-UT) plans to contact the Federal Trade Commission, Google, and other online companies to discuss the issue, said Emily Long, a spokeswoman for Chairman Lee. The subcommittee has no plans yet to hold a hearing on the issue, she said.

The Senate probe comes after it was reported that FTC staff had prepared a report in 2012 recommending that the agency take Google to court for abusing its market power in online search and advertising. In early 2013, the five FTC commissioners rejected the staff recommendation and voted not to pursue charges against Google. The FTC meant to keep that staff recommendation secret but accidentally disclosed portions of the report in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act. Documents that include sensitive business information or internal agency deliberations are usually exempt from public information requests.

Although Chairman Lee is a staunch conservative who is usually skeptical of government regulation, he has also been a fierce critic of Google. "In short, we are interested in how the FTC allowed a confidential report to be disclosed, and second, what conversations, if any, the FTC or Google had with the White House about the pending investigation," Long said. "We are not likely at this time to re-examine the underlying merits of the investigation, which was closed. Our interest is in oversight."