Gene Kimmelman

Eugene I. Kimmelman is an American attorney and consumer protection advocate who specializes in antitrust law. Since January 2021, Kimmelman has served as a senior advisor in the Department of Justice (DOJ).[1] During the Obama administration, Kimmelman served within the DOJ as chief counsel of the Antitrust Division.[2]

Gene Kimmelman
Personal details
Born
Eugene I. Kimmelman

1954 or 1955 (age 68–69)
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseCaroline Chambers
EducationBrown University (BA)
University of Virginia (JD)

Kimmelman was formerly the president and chief executive officer of Public Knowledge, a public advocacy group. Prior to this, Kimmelman worked at a variety of organizations, including the Consumers Union, the Consumer Federation of America, and Public Citizen.

Early life and education

Eugene I. Kimmelman was born to Max Kimmelman, a department head for Burlington Industries in Rockwood, Tennessee, and Mira Kimmelman a religious studies teacher at the Beth El Center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.[3] Kimmelman's brother, Louis "Benno" Kimmelman, was an attorney at Sidley Austin.[4]

Kimmelman attended Oak Ridge High School[5] and in 1977 received his bachelor's degree (A.B.) from Brown University.[6] In 1981, he graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree.[7][6] Kimmelman participated in the Fulbright Program and attended the University of Copenhagen.[7][8]

Consumer advocacy

Kimmelman began his public advocacy career at Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog group founded by Ralph Nader. Kimmelman was an attorney at Public Citizen's Congress Watch[9] before joining the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), where he was an attorney for ten years. As CFA's legislative director, Kimmelman worked alongside Representative Ed Markey and Senator Billy Tauzin to help craft the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992.[10]

Kimmelman served as vice president for federal and international affairs at Consumers Union, staying with the organization for 14 years. While at Consumers Union, Kimmelman was the lead consumer advocate for the Telecommunications Act of 1996.[11] From 2012 to 2014, Kimmelman worked at the New America Foundation.[10]

On January 15, 2014, Public Knowledge announced that Kimmelman was appointed as their President and Chief Executive Officer.[12] Kimmelman left the organization in 2021 to join the Department of Justice as a senior advisor.[1] In this role, Kimmelman worked with FCC Chair Tom Wheeler on a proposal for a digital platform agency that would be responsible for tech industry regulation.[13][14] Kimmelman has argued that Facebook has harmed consumers by facilitating the dissemination of digital misinformation.[15]

Policy views

Throughout his career, Kimmelman has been noted for his pragmatic approach to politics and ability to build working relationships with Republican politicians such as John McCain and Mike DeWine.[16][17] According to The New York Times, this approach has led to critics on the left to accuse him of being "too willing to team up with moneyed interests". Kimmelman's approach was criticized by Nader, described as a former mentor, who said he became a "hybrid" consumer advocate.[18]

Tech regulation and antitrust

Kimmelman has argued that requiring interoperability from Big Tech companies would be a better approach than breaking up the companies, stating that some "more severe remedies can be justified but they cause trade-offs that cause some consumer benefits being given up".[19] In a 2019 collaborative op-ed for Fortune, Kimmelman argued that antitrust enforcement alone is insufficient for spurring competition in the tech industry, arguing that antitrust "cannot overcome or eliminate the natural economic characteristics of these markets that make competition so difficult."[20]

Kimmelman has argued that Facebook has harmed consumers by facilitating the dissemination of digital misinformation.[15] Alongside former FCC Chair Tom Wheeler, Kimmelman has proposed the creation of a digital platform agency that would be responsible for tech industry regulation.[13][14] The proposal was criticized by some antitrust advocates affiliated with the New Brandeis movement such as Zephyr Teachout, who advocate for "breaking up" Big Tech companies through antitrust enforcement.[21]

Telecommunications policy

In 2002, Kimmelman supported the ultimately abandoned merger of EchoStar Communications with DirecTV,[22] a position that attracted press attention due to reports that Kimmelman's was a high school friend of EchoStar executive Charles Ergen.[23] Kimmelman criticized Assistant Attorney General for the Antirust Division Joel Klein for failing to stop the BellAtlantic-NYNEX merger.[24]

As chief counsel of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Kimmelman helped lead the approval of Comcast’s merger with NBC Universal.[2] Kimmelman was a critic of the AT&T-TimeWarner merger, arguing that the acquisition would harm consumers and hinder competition.[25]

Government career

Kimmelman began his career in government at the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, where he was chief counsel for two years.[7]

Obama Administration

In 2009, he joined the Department of Justice Antitrust Division when Christine Varney chose Kimmelman to serve as chief counsel for competition policy and intergovernmental relations.[26] In this role, Kimmelman oversaw the merger of Ticketmaster and Livenation, a deal which "generated protests from lawmakers and consumer groups" according to The Washington Post.[2][27][28] While at the Antitrust Division, Kimmelman helped lead the approval of the Comcast-NBC merger.[2]

During this period, Kimmelman supported bringing Apple Inc. to court over price-fixing of ebooks and opposed the attempted purchase of T-Mobile USA by AT&T. Kimmelman advocated that cell phone users should proportionally subsidize government communications infrastructure to non-cellphone users, so that services to low-income regions could be improved.[29][2][30][31] In 2010, Kimmelman was considered for the position of Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.[32]

Biden Administration

In November 2020, Kimmelman was named a volunteer member of the Joe Biden presidential transition's Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the United States Department of Justice.[33] Kimmelman was reportedly considered for a deputy position within the Antitrust Division.[34] In January 2021, resigned from his role at Public Knowledge to become a senior advisor in the Department of Justice.[1]

Personal life

In 1991, at the age of 36, Kimmelman married Caroline Chambers, a political staffer.[3] Kimmelman is a senior fellow at the University of Colorado Law School.[7] Kimmelman was a contributor at the Federalist Society, having participated in events at the organization in both 2014 and 2019.[35]

Selected works
  • Kimmelman, Gene (June 21, 2012), Antitrust Enforcement and Media Industries: Competition and Beyond (PDF), Washington D.C.: United States Department of Justice

References
  1. "Senior Advisor Gene Kimmelman Resigns from Public Knowledge to Join Justice Department". Public Knowledge. 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  2. Kang, Cecilia (9 July 2012). "Obama's 'secret weapon' on antitrust leaves Justice - Washington Post". articles.washingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  3. "Caroline Moore Chambers Is Wed". The New York Times. 1991-09-23. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  4. "Services today for Holocaust survivor, Kimmelman". Knox TN Today. 2019-04-19. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  5. "Good News - September 27, 2021" (PDF). Oakridge Schools. September 27, 2021.
  6. "BULLETIN 1 7 - GW Law - The George Washington University" (PDF). George Washington University. August 2017.
  7. "Gene Kimmelman". New America Foundation. Archived from the original on September 11, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  8. "Antitrust Division Senior Leadership Named". www.justice.gov. 2009-04-22. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  9. "Prof. Gene Kimmelman". fedsoc.org. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  10. "Public Knowledge Vet Rejoining DOJ Temporarily - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2022-02-22. He left in 2012 to join the think-tank New America Foundation before becoming the president and CEO of Public Knowledge and eventually moving to the role of senior adviser at the latter group.
  11. "OUTFOXED: Featured Interviewees". Wayback Machine. 2008-07-08. Archived from the original on July 8, 2008. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  12. "Public Knowledge Appoints Gene Kimmelman as New President and CEO". Public Knowledge. Archived from the original on 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  13. Dayen, David (2020-10-26). "Google's Guardians". The American Prospect. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  14. "New Digital Realities; New Oversight Solutions". Shorenstein Center. 2020-08-20. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  15. "Unfriending Facebook: What we can do about the social media giant's dominance". The Seattle Times. 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  16. Andrews, Edmund L. (1992-09-28). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Cable Bill Advocate Divides and Conquers". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  17. "Who Are These Guys? | Archives". Cablefax. 2003-05-05. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  18. Andrews, Edmund L. (1992-09-28). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Cable Bill Advocate Divides and Conquers". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  19. "Washington's One-Two Antitrust Punch Is About to Smack Big Tech". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  20. "Commentary: Only Regulation Can Jump-start Competition in Big Tech". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  21. "The Biden Adviser Who Brawls With Big Tech". The Information. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  22. "Who Are These Guys? | Archives". Cablefax. 2003-05-05. Retrieved 2022-02-14. The permanent dealer, Kimmelman shocked everyone last year when he came to the aid of former high school classmate Charlie Ergen and pushed hard to support the EchoStar-DirecTV merger. DeWine even noted at a hearing that in all the times he'd had Kimmelman testify, he'd never heard him support a merger before.
  23. GLADSTONE), Laura M. Holson (COMPILED BY RICK (2002-02-03). "Private Sector; A Merger Tale That's All in the Family". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  24. "Kimmelman's departure another blow to Justice Department". FTCWatch. July 16, 2012.
  25. Glaser, April; Oremus, Will (May 22, 2018). "The Case for Fearing the AT&T–Time Warner Merger". Slate.
  26. "Antitrust Enforcement And Media Industries: Competition And Beyond". www.justice.gov. 2015-06-25. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
  27. Buskirk, Eliot Van (25 January 2010). "DOJ Approves Modified Ticketmaster, Live Nation Merger | Wired Business". wired.com. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  28. Chmielewski, Dawn C; Fritz, Ben; Lewis, Randy (2013). "Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger gets Justice Department's approval - Los Angeles Times". articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  29. Ho, David (Dec 14, 2002). "Cell phone users will pay a bit more". Sunday Free Lance-Star.
  30. "USDOJ: Antitrust Division U.S. v. Apple, Inc., Hachette Book Group, Inc., et al". justice.gov. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  31. Kaiser, Tiffany (10 July 2013). "DailyTech - Judge Finds Apple Guilty of E-Book Price Fixing". DailyTech. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  32. Chan, Sewell (2010-07-17). "Short List Emerges for Consumer Guardian". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  33. "Agency Review Teams". President-Elect Joe Biden. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  34. Dayen, David; Grim, Ryan (2021-01-18). "Big Tech Critics Alarmed at Direction of Biden Antitrust Personnel". The Intercept. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  35. "Prof. Gene Kimmelman". fedsoc.org. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
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