| Christine A. Varney | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 17, 1955 Washington, D.C. |
| Nationality | United States |
| Education | B.A. (1977), M.P.A. (1978), J.D. (1986) |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Dublin State University of New York at Albany Syracuse University Georgetown University Law Center |
| Occupation | lawyer, lobbyist, public official |
| Employer | Hogan and Hartson United States Department of Justice |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Board member of | Ryder System |
| Spouse | Thomas J. Graham |
| Children | John Walsh Graham (~1987) Michael Graham (~1990) |
| Parents | John Varney of Skaneateles, New York |
| Notes | |
Christine A. Varney is an American lawyer lobbyist, and internet policy expert who served as personnel counsel for the Obama-Biden Transition Project. She is also a former Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust at the United States Department of Justice.[5] In July 2011 it was reported that Varney will step down from her role as an antitrust official to join the New York law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore.[6]
Contents |
Varney was nominated for the position of Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice on February 23, 2009,[7] and confirmed by the Senate on April 20, 2009.[8]
Before her appointment, Varney had experience working in both the private and public sectors. After the election of President Barack Obama, Varney served as Personnel Counsel on the Obama-Biden Transition Project.[9] Before joining the Obama campaign, Varney was a fundraiser for the Hillary Clinton campaign during the 2008 United States Presidential Election.[3]
Until her appointment as an Assistant Attorney General, Varney was a partner at the Washington, D.C. law firm Hogan and Hartson, where she led the internet practice group.[1][10] As a lawyer and lobbyist, Varney represented and advised companies on matters such as antitrust, privacy, business planning and corporate governance, intellectual property, and general liability issues. Notably, she represented Netscape during U.S. v. Microsoft and its merger with AOL.[11] Other clients included eBay, DoubleClick, The Washington Post Company's Washingtonpost and Newsweek interactive businesses, Dow Jones & Company, AOL, Synopsys, Compaq, Gateway, the Liberty Alliance, and Real Networks.[12] According to the Center for Responsive Politics, as a lobbyist Varney represented mostly computer and internet firms, but also oil & gas interests.[13]
On August 4, 2011, Varney resigned her position at the Justice Department, and Attorney General Eric Holder temporarily designated her chief of staff, Sharis Pozen as Acting Assistant Attorney General; until President Obama nominates a permanent replacement.
In addition, Varney was instrumental in establishing several industry associations, including the Online Privacy Alliance, which helped promote self-regulation and identify Internet best practices in the field of online privacy.[14] She also was on the board of directors of TRUSTe, a privacy certification and seal program.[15]
Varney served in the Clinton Administration as a Federal Trade Commissioner from October 17, 1994 to August 5, 1997. [16] As a Commissioner, Varney voted to bring actions against Toys 'R' Us for pressuring manufacturers to keep popular toys out of discount stores, to pursue charges of unfair advertising against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco for its "Joe Camel" advertising campaign, and to impose conditions on the mega-merger between Time Warner and Turner Broadcasting System.[17] In her individual capacity, Varney became known for speaheading the FTC's examination of privacy and commerce[18] , and promoting market theory analysis in the fields of information technology and biotechnology.[19]
Before her career as a Commissioner, Varney worked as an associate at the firm of Pierson, Semmes & Finley (1986–1989), general counsel to the Democratic National Committee (1989 to 1992), chief counsel to the Clinton/Gore Campaign (1991), general counsel to the 1992 Presidential Inaugural Committee (1992), associate at the firm of Hogan & Hartson (1991–1993), and Assistant to the President and Secretary to the Cabinet (1993–1994).[17] In her latter role, she acted as a liaison between the White House and cabinet departments. She stated the Clinton Administration's philosophy of cabinet management this way: "if you don’t surprise us, we won't micromanage you!"[20]
She earned a degree at Trinity College, Dublin (1975), a B.A. at the State University of New York at Albany (1977), an M.P.A. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University (magna cum laude 1978), and a J.D. at Georgetown Law School (1986).[1][10]
She is also an invitee of the Bilderberg Group and attended the Swiss 2011 Bilderberg conference at the Suvretta House in St. Moritz, Switzerland.[21]
While at the FTC, Varney predicted that online privacy would “become a critical aspect of [the FTC's] consumer protection responsibilities."[22] Former FTC Chairman Robert Pitofsky has credited Varney as "the leading force in getting the agency active on the online privacy front."[23]
In advocating adoption of the FTC's privacy guidelines, Varney identified a major goal of the FTC's Privacy Initiative as "avoid[ing] cumbersome regulation by facilitating the development of a set of voluntary guidelines."[24] Varney's promotion of voluntary privacy guidelines was criticized by consumer privacy advocates as insufficient to provide adequate consumer protection.[25][26] Others, however, lauded Ms. Varney's approach, believing that tight government regulations would stifle innovation.[25]
As legal counsel and spokesperson for the Online Privacy Alliance, Ms. Varney championed self-regulation as the basis for encouraging compliance with Internet privacy standards.[27] Over time, however, her position changed. According to an article from November 2000, Varney said: "You could characterize the OPA as having a mantra of 'self-regulation, self-regulation, self-regulation’ . . . Next year, the mantra will be 'industry best practices as part of a comprehensive solution, and there may be legislation that would help.’"[23]
As an FTC Commissioner, Varney voiced concerns about legislation that would grant certain antitrust immunities to doctors,[28] as well as potential competitive problems caused by vertical integration of drug companies into the pharmacy benefits management market.[29]
As Assistant Attorney General, Varney has suggested that there may be a lack of competition in the health insurance market, and has endorsed a measure that would revoke the federal antitrust exemption for health insurers.[30] Ms. Varney has also been critical of "reverse payment" or "pay-for-delay" agreements, in which a potential generic competitor delays entry of a generic drug in exchange for a payment from a branded drug manufacturer with market power. A brief signed by Ms. Varney argues that such agreements are "presumptively unlawful."[31] This position signifies a departure from the previous view held by the DOJ, and aligns the DOJ's position on "pay-for-delay" agreements with that of the FTC.[32]
As a Commissioner at the FTC, Varney was outspoken about monopolies in innovation markets and about the possibility that vertical mergers create unfair barriers to entry.[33]
Upon her nomination as Assistant Attorney General, Varney was predicted to be a more aggressive enforcer of antitrust laws than her predecessors in the Bush administration.[34] Consistent with this prediction, one of Varney's first acts as Assistant Attorney General was to withdraw the DOJ's guidelines for enforcement of Section 2 of the Sherman Act. In her first public comments as Assistant Attorney General, Varney criticized the guidelines for "effectively straightjacket[ing] antitrust enforcers and courts from redressing monopolistic abuses, thereby allowing all but the most bold and predatory conduct to go unpunished and undeterred."[35]
Since Varney joined the DOJ's Antitrust Division, it has opposed an antitrust immunity request involving Continental Airlines’ move to join a global alliance of nine airlines, opened inquiries into the financial services and wireless phone industries, and begun probing the settlement between Google and the Association of American Publishers.[36][37] In the past two years, the Antitrust Division’s criminal enforcement work has resulted in the assessment of over $1.5 billion in fines against criminal conspirators. Meet the Attorney General, http://www.justice.gov/atr/about/cvarneybio.html
As both a Commissioner of the FTC and Assistant Attorney General, Varney has called for more cooperation in international antitrust enforcement. As an FTC Commissioner, Varney stated, "there is much more to be done by way of fostering communication and cooperation between enforcement authorities," and promoted adherence to international antitrust guidelines.[38] Similarly, in her first public remarks as Assistant Attorney General, Varney stated, "I believe that as targets of antitrust enforcement have expanded their efforts worldwide, there is a greater need for U.S. authorities to reach out to other antitrust agencies."[35] Since then, Varney has called for greater convergence, cooperation, and transparency between international antitrust enforcement agencies.[39]