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 EPIC FOIA Notes

EPIC FOIA Notes #16
May 1, 2008

FTC Discloses Conflict of Interest Analysis Involving Jones Day Law Firm

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THE DISCLOSURE
EPIC obtained a partial conflict of interest analysis performed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission regarding Commissioner William E. Kovacic's participation in a 2006 FTC matter involving the Jones Day law firm. The document pre-dates the FTC's Google-Doubleclick merger review, which raised questions regarding an apparent conflict of interest concerning then-Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras.

THE ISSUE
Transparency of FTC's conflict of interest analysis.

THE BACKGROUND
EPIC filed Freedom of Information Act Requests seeking documents regarding Chairman Majoras’ apparent conflict of interest in the FTC's Google-DoubleClick merger review. Chairman Majoras’ spouse is a Jones Day partner, and Jones Day publicly stated that it represented Doubleclick during the review. Chairman Majoras voted to approve the merger without conditions.

THE SIGNIFICANCE
The document is an FTC conflict of interest analysis performed in circumstances similar to those surrounding the FTC's Google-Doubleclick review. EPIC's FOIA requests require the FTC to disclose its analysis of Chairman Majoras' apparent conflict. The FTC disclosed the 2006 Kovacic analysis, but failed to disclose any analyses involving Chairman Majoras.

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