"Mark Zuckerberg’s foundation played a huge role in the 2020 election.
Now, we find another Big Tech CEO used his foundation to influence Biden’s White House.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s charity foundation indirectly paid the salaries of two White House employees – this included the current chief of staff Marc Aidinoff, who is one of the most powerful officials in the office.
In total, at least a dozen employees of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy are former associates of Schmidt.
NEW: the charity arm of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt indirectly paid the salaries of two WH science office employees including the now-chief of staff, sparking “significant” internal ethical concerns & battles
From Politico:
As President Joe Biden granted his science office unprecedented access and power, one outside adviser to that office has attained what staffers describe as an unusual level of influence.
A foundation controlled by Eric Schmidt, the multi-billionaire former CEO of Google, has played an extraordinary, albeit private, role in shaping the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy over the past year.
More than a dozen officials in the 140-person White House office have been associates of Schmidt’s, including some current and former Schmidt employees, according to interviews with current and former staff members and internal emails obtained by POLITICO.
Schmidt maintained a close relationship with the president’s former science adviser, Eric Lander, and other Biden appointees.
And his charity arm, Schmidt Futures, indirectly paid the salaries of two science-office employees, including, for six weeks, that of the current chief of staff, Marc Aidinoff, who is now one of the most senior officials in the office following Lander’s resignation in February.
The chief innovation officer at Schmidt Futures, OSTP alum Tom Kalil, also remained on Schmidt’s payroll while working as an unpaid consultant at the science office for four months last year until he left the post following ethics complaints.
When will the GOP stand up to Big Tech oligarchs?"
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
Former Google CEO Indirectly Paid Salaries In White House Office -- Played "Extraordinary" Role
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