Warren, Blumenthal, Schatz Press FTC About New Consumer Protection Head, Call for Delay of Vote on Appointee
Warren, Blumenthal, Schatz Press FTC About New Consumer Protection Head, Call for Delay of Vote on Appointee
Washington, DC - In a letter to the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) today questioned the reported appointment of Andrew M. Smith to head the agency's Bureau of Consumer Protection. The senators called for a delay of the Commission's vote to approve Smith, which is set to be finalized by Tuesday, noting that he has represented companies that have been "accused of some of the worst abuses of consumers."
The senators' letter cites Smith's recent work defending Equifax before Congress in the wake of the company's massive data breach that exposed the personal information of more than 145 million Americans. Equifax is currently under investigation by the FTC.
"The FTC can choose among any number of qualified individuals to lead its Bureau of Consumer Protection, and it is impossible to believe that the best candidate is someone with a long record of representing companies that have been accused of hurting consumers," wrote the senators. They also note that ethics recusal standards would require Smith to recuse himself from multiple cases "based on his lengthy record of defending corporations accused of violating federal consumer protection laws," which raises "additional questions about whether he will be able to do the job."
Requesting a delay of the FTC vote until their questions are answered, the senators asked a series of questions seeking information about Smith's clients and financial disclosures, his recusal requirements, and how Smith's ties to industry and resulting recusals would impact the functioning of the FTC's Consumer Protection Bureau.
A PDF copy of the letter is available here.
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