Facebook grows its lobbying army as it faces Russia probes

Facebook hired the former top aide to a lawmaker investigating how Russians may have used its platform to subvert the 2016 election to lobby on its behalf in Oct. Facebook is bolstering its forces in Washington amid unprecedented investigations into the power of its platform and a new bill that would create new disclosure requirements for online political ads. Facebook hired Luke Albee to lobby on, among other issues, "election integrity," per the form. Albee served as chief of staff to Sen Mark Warner (D-VA), now the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee and an outspoken critic of Facebook's role in the 2016 election, from 2008 until 2015. The form says he was brought on just days before Sen Warner grilled Facebook's top lawyer at his panel's hearing on the Russia issue. Sen Warner is also a primary sponsor of the online ad disclosure bill. It has also hired David Wade, a former top staffer for John Kerry, to work on a "congressional investigation."