Emails obtained by the Post reveal close ties between Federal Trade Commission candidate Melissa Holyoke and former colleagues at a Google-funded think tank, including one who said the FTC should be “burned down.'' One person also wrote, “It's a waste.''
Holyoake, Utah's Republican attorney general, previously served as an attorney for the Competitive Enterprise Association for five years.
According to public information, the think tank “advocates for the abolition of antitrust laws” and has attracted funding from Google, Meta, Amazon and others in recent years.
“She chose to work there for several years and maintained a warm relationship with them,” an industry source who requested anonymity to discuss the situation told the Post. “Why would you be in that position if you're not so hostile to the existence and role of the FTC?”
The newly revealed emails, dated from July 2021 to December 2022, show a friendly relationship between Holyoak and CEI head Kent Rathman and other executives at the think tank. .
Holyoak has exchanged legal advice on high-profile cases, including the Apple v. Epic Games antitrust case, and accepted requests to appear at CEI events.
As The Post reported, Holyoak's FTC bid comes after he recently played a key role in negotiating the terms of a $700 million settlement between Google and U.S. states over anti-competitive Android app store practices. The FTC's bid has come under scrutiny, with the agreement widely criticized as being too lenient on search giants.
In a Dec. 7, 2021, email thread, Mr. Rathman told CEI's top tech antitrust litigation expert, Jessica Melgin, that Holyoak would ” They want to know if you've approached them, so they told you to send them anything you wrote on Apple/Epic's Inbrorio. It's a question of market definition. ”
In the same email, Mr. Rathman attempted to enlist Mr. Holyoak's help in completely disbanding the FTC.
“Please let me know if you and the good people of Utah are ready to support me in calling for the overturning of the Humphreys death row and subsequent repeal of the Federal Trade Commission Act,” Russman wrote. “This place is terrible and it would be a shame to burn it down.”
Melugin responded by sending Holyoak a link to her piece disputing Epic's legal arguments. bloomberg column In it, she argued that Epic's lawsuit against Google and Apple “could harm consumers,” and in another CEI blog post she also argued: Defended Apple's app store practices.
Holyoak appreciated Melgin's insight. Her email does not indicate whether she responded to Mr. Rathman's “burn it down” joke.
In a statement to the Post, Holyoak defended his career, saying that as Utah's attorney general, he “held Big Tech accountable in lawsuits against Google, Facebook, and most recently TikTok, and led Utah's activities.” “I have been leading the way,” he said.
“Understanding the opposing views on these issues, including Google and Apple's app stores, served me well when opposing CEI in both the Epic v. Apple court case and the Google case,” Holyoake said. said in a statement. “I believe it is important to understand all sides of an issue to best represent the interests of Utah and its people.”
Asked about the email, CEI's Rathman said the think tank “frequently interacts with policymakers, both publicly and privately, in an effort to eliminate harmful bureaucratic controls.”
“General Holyoak's work history shows a wide range of experience. She always has an open mind for new questions and brings keen insight to the issues at hand,” Rathman added.
In May 2022, CEI officials invited Holyoake to be a keynote speaker at the think tank's policy summit in Santa Fe. Holyoak accepted the same day, and they exchanged a number of follow-up emails to plan her appearance.
In an email dated October 13, 2022, Mr. Rathman introduced Mr. Holyoak to Mr. Josh Wright. Wright, himself a former FTC commissioner and legal scholar, served on Google's legal team prior to the landmark antitrust case targeting the company's search business. Google cut ties with Wright after multiple sexual harassment allegations surfaced against him in August of last year.
“My purpose tonight is to ensure that the two of you can discuss these interesting legal and policy issues,” Rathman wrote.
When asked by a lawmaker about her dealings with Wright during a Senate committee hearing on her candidacy, she said: Mr. Holyoak confirmed the statement. She said she had not spoken to him since learning of the allegations, although she asked him about “his experience” with the FTC both before and after his nomination.
In an email exchange on December 7, 2022, CEI General Counsel Dan Greenberg emailed Holyoak to challenge the federal government's “mandatory repatriation tax” that went all the way to the Supreme Court. We sought advice on the company's response to the Moore v. United States case.
As the newspaper reported in June, insiders were concerned that Holyoak lacked the necessary antitrust integrity, and FTC Commissioner Lina Khan He was concerned about law enforcement going “in circles” around her.
Mr Holyoak's past work with CEI began last July when conservative groups including the Bull Moose Project appealed to Senate Republicans in an open letter It rejected her bid on the grounds that her ties to Big Tech made her “wholly unsuitable for the position.”
The group said that over the course of his career, Holyoak has “opposed dozens of class action settlements involving Google and other companies” and “blocked any attempts to limit market power.” He claimed that he has been actively working to achieve this goal.
Holyoak's candidacy also faced opposition from 17 progressive groups who highlighted concerns about her work with CEI. reported by bloomberg.
Meanwhile, Holyoak explained the Google settlement he helped negotiate. as a “huge win for consumers.”
In a statement filed ahead of a Senate hearing last September, Holyoak also noted that he oversaw Utah's participation in other antitrust cases involving Google and Meta. .
Despite lingering concerns, the Senate Commerce Committee voted unanimously last October to allow both Holyoak and fellow Republican candidate Andrew Ferguson to move forward.
Confirmation of the vacant FTC seat depends on a final vote by the full Senate, which has not yet taken place.
