Warren, Jayapal urge Google to drop efforts to ‘bully’ DOJ antitrust chief into recusal

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) urged Google to drop its efforts seeking the recusal of Department of Justice (DOJ) antitrust chief Jonathan Kanter from cases involving the company.

In a letter sent Wednesday, the two Democrats slammed Google’s efforts to push Kanter off cases involving Google as “misguided” and a reflection of “what appears to be a willful misunderstanding and misrepresentation of federal ethics mandates.” 

“These efforts to bully regulators and avoid accountability—which are similar to those of Facebook and Amazon earlier this year—are untethered to federal ethics law and regulations, and we urge you to cease them immediately,” the Democrats wrote. 

Facebook and Amazon sought to have Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan recuse herself from cases involving their companies based on her past critical comments about the tech giants before she was confirmed to the FTC. 

An attorney for Google sent a letter to the DOJ in November, shortly after Kanter was confirmed by the Senate, asking the department to examine whether Kanter should be recused from the DOJ’s investigations and litigation against Google. 

Google’s attorney questioned if Kanter is “impartial” based on his prior work representing companies, including Yelp, in lawsuits against Google. 

Warren and Jayapal said Kanter meets none of the required reasons for a recusal. They dismissed Google’s attempt to question Kanter’s impartiality given that his “prior work has aligned with the federal government’s interest in robust enforcement of antitrust law.”

“Google’s logic would neuter federal enforcement activity,” the Democrats said. 

A Google spokesperson sent a statement released at the time the initial letter was sent, but did not directly respond to the Democrat’s request to drop the effort. 

“Mr. Kanter’s past statements and work representing competitors who have advocated for the cases brought by the Department raise serious concerns about his ability to be impartial,” the spokesperson said in the statement. 

Google’s push to seek Kanter’s recusal comes amid a DOJ lawsuit against the company, launched under the Trump administration. The department charged Google with illegally maintaining a monopoly on search and search advertising. Google has denied the allegations. 

— Updated at 1:55 p.m.