There are worries about possible conflicts of interest and political bias because a top lawyer for Google is also a key adviser to the Kamala Harris presidential campaign. This lawyer is currently representing Google in a landmark antitrust trial.
According to the New York Post, Karen Dunn is one of Google’s top lawyers in its high-stakes trade fight with the U.S. government. She is also giving key advice to Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign. As a result of this dual role, tech trade watchdogs are raising concerns about the morality of a big tech company having such a close relationship with a presidential candidate.
In Virginia federal court last Tuesday, Dunn gave Google’s opening statement in its defense against a case from the Justice Department over its digital ad business. Strangely, Dunn allegedly rushed out of court that same day to help Harris finish getting ready for her final presidential debate against Trump in Philadelphia.
According to Jeff Hauser, executive head of the Revolving Door Project, the situation was so unbelievable that “you couldn’t have written this any better if you were writing a TV movie.” Dunn’s popularity among Democrats seems to be at an all-time high, which could be good for Google as it deals with multiple antitrust lawsuits.
Experts who fight monopolies are worried that Dunn and other tech-friendly advisors in Harris’s close group might want a soft settlement instead of a tougher approach, like breaking up Google’s big monopolies. Dunn is a well-known and respectable lawyer who has defended high-profile tech clients in the past. However, some experts think that Google’s choice to have her give the opening statement was an attempt to show how close she is to the White House.
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