FTC Commissioner and onetime Hollywood lobbyist Jon Leibowitz is a top contender to lead the agency charged with consumer protection and preventing unfair business practices, sources told CongressDaily Monday. Leibowitz, who served as vice president for congressional affairs at the Motion Picture Association of America and worked as Democratic counsel for the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee, was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2004. He serves alongside Republicans J. Thomas Rosch and William Kovacic, the acting chairman, and Pamela Jones Harbour, an independent. Christine Varney, a former FTC commissioner and a partner at Hogan & Hartson, was in the mix to lead FTC but was nominated last month by President Barack Obama to head the Justice Department's antitrust division. Another former FTC commissioner whose name is being floated is Mozelle Thompson, a policy adviser to social-networking site Facebook.
Read the full story here.