National Journal Hires White House Official

Another official from the Obama administration has been hired by the media. The latest is White House lawyer Michael D. Gottlieb, who's been hired by the National Journal Group.

"National Journal Group CEO Tim Hartman announced today that Michael D. Gottlieb will join the company as Executive Director of the Policy Brands Roundtable, a division of Atlantic Media that helps companies understand and improve how their brands are perceived by policy makers in Washington, DC. Mr. Gottlieb joins National Journal Group from the White House, where he served for the last two years as Associate White House Counsel and Special Assistant to the President of the United States. Reporting to Mr. Hartman, Mr. Gottlieb will begin at National Journal Group in April," reads a company press release.

The press release goes on to tout his work for the Obama administration. "During his time at the White House, Mr. Gottlieb advised the President and his senior advisers on a broad range of issues affecting the Executive Branch. In addition to providing counsel to the President, he worked in some capacity with every federal agency either on specific questions of law and policy or in the implementation of government-wide Executive actions and directions. In the course of his career in law, policy, and academia, Mr. Gottlieb has advised all three branches of federal government and in the private and not-for-profit sectors."

Media critic Richard Grenell, a former government spokesman himself, suggests in an email that this looks bad for National Journal. "No one believes Michael Gottlieb will go from advocating for Obama’s liberal policies to playing an honest broker at National Journal.  Media outlets who take Obama administration officials one day and pretend to turn them into bipartisan employees the next are only fooling themselves. They are chipping away at their own credibility "

Grenell adds, "CNN did it with Jim Sciutto who went from being an Obama administration political appointee to covering Obama administration foreign policy for CNN."