New data reveal extent of traffic between Google and the Obama administration

The Google Transparency Project has so fari identified 258 instances of “revolving door” activity (involving 251 individuals) between Googleii or related firms, and the federal government, national political campaigns and Congress during President Obama’s time in office.

That included:

53 revolving door moves between Google and the White House. Those involved 22 former White House officials who left the administration to work for Google, and 31 Google executives (or from Google’s main outside firms) who joined the White House, or were appointed to federal advisory boards.

28 revolving door moves between Google and government positions involving national security, intelligence or the Department of Defense. Seven former national security and intelligence officials and 18 Pentagon officials moved to Google; while three Google executives moved to DoD.

23 revolving door moves between Google and the State Department during the Obama administration. Eighteen former State Department officials joined Google, while five Google officials took up senior posts at the State Department.

9 moves between Google and its outside lobbying firms and the Federal Communications Commission, which handles a growing number of regulatory matters with a major impact on the company’s bottom line.

The analysis included Google affiliates such as YouTube, related firms like Civis Analytics (whose sole investor is Eric Schmidt), as well as key law firms and lobbyists representing Google. [Click here for a detailed description of how we conducted our analysis]

Google has hired from throughout the top echelons of the policymaking world in Washington, including high-level White House officials. It also enjoys the benefit of having former executives moving into top positions in the administration that set policy on issues crucial to the company. Those include the Chief Technology Officer, a former Google executive, and key slots at the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Former Googlers also occupy key positions at the National Economic Council and the U.S. Digital Service, a part of the Executive Office of the President.

The company has strategically hired from government agencies that have the greatest impact on its business, like the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission. Google, or its main law firms, have hired several people from the Federal Trade Commission, an agency that has conducted investigations into the company’s conduct on privacy and antitrust grounds.