Welcome to the swamp! The New York Times reports that lawyer Andrew M. Smith is expected to become the head of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) efforts to “police” companies violating consumer protections. The problem is that while a partner at Covington & Burling in Washington, Smith has represented seemingly all of the companies he would now be charged to hold accountable.
Joseph J. Simons, the F.T.C.’s chairman, has put Mr. Smith’s appointment up for a vote, causing debate among the five commissioners, one person close to the F.T.C. said. Such appointments are typically perfunctory votes. Four of the commissioners, including Mr. Simons, were sworn in this month. Mr. Simons and the two other Republican commissioners are expected to approve Mr. Smith’s appointment, the person said.
Richard Blumenthal, a Democratic senator from Connecticut and the ranking member of the Senate’s consumer protection subcommittee, said in an interview that regardless of his recusals, Mr. Smith had the wrong résumé to run the nation’s top consumer protection office.
“It isn’t the specific clients. It’s the culture and mind-set that’s important. He’s on the wrong side of these issues,” Mr. Blumenthal said. “I can imagine worse choices, but not many.”
Andrew Smith is probably hoping that telecom companies like AT&T continue their attacks on the potency of the FTC’s powers, as it will allow him and the other Republican-appointed “commissioners” the plausible deniability they so greedily desire.