Deputy White House CTO rapped for personal e-mails

McLaughlin reportedly used personal e-mail for White House business

  • By Michael Hardy
  • May 19, 2010
Andrew McLaughlin, deputy chief technology officer in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, has reportedly been reprimanded for using his personal e-mail account to discuss official business with former colleagues at Google, according to an article in Fierce Government.

Using his personal account instead of his White House account for official business would violate provisions of the Federal Records Act, while involvement with issues concerning a former employer runs afoul of a provsion of the President's Ethics Pledge.

However, the memo from OSTP Director John Holdren that detailed the issues did not name McLaughlin. It referred to "an employee" who had lapsed. The unnamed employee had been reprimanded and given additional training on his responsibilities under the rules, according to Holdren's memo.

The connection to McLaughlin came after a Freedom of Information Act request by a California group called Consumer Watchdog revealed some of his personal e-mails.

Consumer Watchdog opposed McLaighlin's appointment originally because of his work as a lobbyist for Google, and called for his firing over the e-mails.

About the Author

Technology journalist Michael Hardy is a former FCW editor.

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