FTC responds to Google lobbying scandal

Luke Stangel

Mar 1, 2013, 12:57pm PST

The chairman of the FTC today responded to reports that Google partially paid for a banquet where he received an award, saying he didn’t know who the banquet’s sponsors were.

Bloomberg reports Google donated $25,000 to Common Sense Media, an advocacy group, which used the money to throw a party in April 2012 honoring FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz.

At the time, the FTC was investigating Google for alleged antitrust violations. The government settled their investigation in January

In funding the party, Common Sense Media also took donations from Comcast, AOL and a charitable arm of Goldman Sachs.

Google is the tech industry’s largest lobbyist. In 2012, Google spent $18.2 million on Washington D.C. lobbyists, nearly twice the amount it spent in 2011.