A top staffer for Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) announced she will join Apple as a lobbyist hours after the senator criticized big tech companies for hiring political staffers to push their agendas.
April Jones, Klobuchar's deputy legislative director and counsel for technology and telecommunications, will join Apple as a senior government affairs policy counsel, Politico's Emily Birnbaum reported Tuesday. In a hearing earlier that day, Klobuchar slammed tech companies that "have literally hired so many people in this town" to further their lobbying efforts.
Jones previously served as an adviser to Federal Communications Commission commissioner Mignon Clyburn and worked on Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. Her departure highlights a challenge for Democrats such as Klobuchar, who has positioned herself as a critic of big tech companies. President Joe Biden has nominated multiple big tech critics to key positions in his administration, but multiple former Facebook executives serve in the White House.
Neither Klobuchar's office nor Jones responded to requests for comment.