FOR ACCQUJEWTFABILITY Paul Hammersbaugh Chief Counsel National Highway Traf?c Safety Administration 1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20590 Dear Mr. Hammersbaugh: Campaign for Accountability an organization dedicated to holding public of?cials and public institutions accountable, is concerned that the National Highway Traf?c Safety Administration ethics enforcement program is not as robust as required to guard against undue in?uence by those the agency regulates. In particular, contacts and communications with Google executives involved in the company?s self-driving car initiative have raised questions about whether the agency?s regulation of this industry has been compromised. This perception was brought into stark relief when Ron Medford, former deputy director for NHTSA and then-Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood?s ?right-hand man,?1 left the agency in January 2013 to become Google?s Director of Safety for Self-Driving Cars. This move was viewed as giving Google ?a bureaucrat intimately familiar with the inner- workings of the transportation administration.n2 In addition to Mr. Medford, at least three other senior NHTSA of?cials including Administrator David Strickland, Senior Associate Administrator Danny Smith, and Government Affairs Director Chan Lieu left the agency between 2012 and 2015 to aid Google?s self-driving car push. Mr. Strickland and Mr. Lieu joined Venable LLP, a law ?rm that counts Google as a client, and Mr. Smith apparently serves as a Google consultant.3 Prior to joining Google, Mr. Medford along with a host of other top of?cials at the Transportation Department -- communicated regularly by email with high-level Google of?cials.4 Transportation of?cials, including Mr. Medford, had ?regular con?dential meetings" that included a demonstration by Google of its self-driving cars.5 Recently 1 Damon Lavrinc, Google Poaches Deputy Director of National Highway Traf?c Safety Administration, Wired. com, November 19, 2012, available at 3 Id. 3 Google Transparency Project, Google?s Revolving Door Raises New Ethical Concerns. September 13, 2016, available at 4 Adrienne LaFrance, Google?s ?Cozv? Relationship With Driverless?Car Regulators, The Atlantic, September 13, 2016, available at driverless?499649l. 5 1d. 1201 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. - Suite 300 0 Washington, D.C. 20036 0 (202) 780-5750 Mr. Paul Hammersbaugh September 30, 2016 Page 2 disclosed emails reveal that at the same time, NHTSA was working closely with Google on federal guidelines for self-driving cars.6 Further, emails reveal numerous contacts between Mr. Medford and Google in the months before he joined the company. On September 17, 2012, Mr. Medford sent an email to Google self-driving car project co-founder Sebastian Thrun requesting a ?brief visit? regarding autonomous driving during a planned California trip. Mr. Medford also asked Mr. Thrun for ?a separate discussion while I am there.?7 Three weeks later, Mr. Medford planned a dinner with Chris Urmson, then Google?s lead engineer for self-driving cars.8 About a month later, Mr. Medford announced he was leaving the government to join Google.9 One week before his departure and after his new job had already been announced an agency of?cial reminded Google executives to drop Mr. Medford from future email to his NHTSA email address to avoid possible ethical problems. 10 Notwithstanding that warning, Mr. Medford continued to email Google executives from his government account in his ?nal days in the post. 1' Then, in September 2013 eight months after taking the Google job Mr. Medford arranged a meeting at Google's headquarters with his successor at NHTSA, David Friedman.l2 Against this backdrop, Mr. Medford?s departure for Google raises questions about whether the ethical boundaries the Department of Transportation has imposed were crossed. According to website, the agency is ?dedicated to achieving the highest standards of excellence in motor vehicle and highway-safety?? The agency?s critical public safety mission underscores the need to ensure important regulatory and policy decisions are not tainted by undue industry in?uence. But the seemingly porous barrier between the regulatory work of the agency and those it regulates raises serious ethical questions about the extent to which Google has in?uenced decision-making process. At a minimum, the ties between Google and NHTSA of?cials current and former present the appearance of impropriety, thereby undermining the agency?s regulatory work. Employees of NHTSA, like those of all other federal agencies, are subject to Of?ce of Government Ethics regulations. As you know, the Department of Transportation has issued guidance on negotiating future employment, and post government employment restrictions 6 1d. 7 Email from Ronald Medford to Sebastian Thrun, September 17, 2012. 3 Email from Ronald Medford to Chris Urmson, October 21, 102. 9 Lavrinc, Wired, November 19, 2012. ?0 Email from Daniel Smith to Anthony Levandowski, et a1., November 21, 2012. '1 Email from Ronald Medford to Sebastian Thrun, November 25, 2012. '2 Email Exchange between Ron Medford and Kristin Kingsley, September 3, 2013. ?3 Mr. Paul Hammersbaugh September 3 0, 2016 Page 3 including limits on former agency of?cials? lobbying of their former agency colleagues?. Yet even with these safeguards in place, suggestions of con?icts of interest have raised questions about critical agency decisions. The interactions between Mr. Medford and Google suggest Mr. Medford may not have observed all applicable ethics guidelines, laws and regulations when he moved to Google and after he started work at the company. Questions about his actions include when Mr. Medford began discussing with Google the possibility of employment; whether there was a time after which Mr. Medford recused himself from issues related to Google or autonomous vehicles; whether he spoke with the agency?s designated ethics of?cer about any necessary recusal; what Mr. Medford discussed with David Friedman during their September 2013 meeting and whether it complied with ethics laws and regulations. The issues raised by Mr. Medford?s actions suggest that NHTSA should develop a more robust con?icts process aimed at avoiding not only actual con?icts, but also those situations that present the appearance of a con?ict or impropriety. At a time when companies wield enormous in?uence over agency decisions that directly and dramatically impact the public, it is imperative that all Americans have con?dence in the impartiality of decisions. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, L. Weismann Executive Director l4 Memorandum ?'om Rosalind A. Knapp, Deputy General Counsel and Designated Agency Ethics Of?cial, Department of Transportation to Departmental Employees, ?Guidance on Post Employment Matters and Negotiating for Future Employment,? May 31, 2011, available at .0.pdf.