FTC Commissioner Varney to Depart

Christine Varney, who provided a deciding vote on some of the Federal Trade Commission’s biggest cases of the last three years, will leave the agency in August. Varney, who has been on the five-member commission since October 1994, will develop an Internet-related law practice at the Washington firm of Hogan & Hartson. Varney, a former top White House official, is part of a three-person majority on the FTC that has regularly backed some of the commission’s biggest and most controversial moves. One of these was the 3-2 vote in May to pursue charges of unfair advertising against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.’s Joe Camel campaign. Varney’s term actually expired in September. She has stayed in office because federal law permits incumbent commissioners to remain, if they choose, until a successor is sworn in. President Clinton has yet to name a successor.