The Times reports on Facebook’s attempts to build up its lobbying/PR team in Washington.

“One of the big points is to show lawmakers that Facebook is important to [Congressional] campaigns,” Mr. Hoofnagle said. “Once that fact is established, Congress will not touch Facebook.”

Scary, right?

But the article will have special resonance for Harvardians.

It notes correctly that Facebook has hired Sheryl Sandberg, Larry Summers’ former chief of staff at Treasury and the woman who, while at Google, got Summers to sign Harvard on to Google’s book project without even a whisper of public discussion. (I like her new ‘do, by the way—tech casual suits her much better than that Washington bob.)

The Times also notes that Facebook hired another Washingtonian, Marne Levine. But the article doesn’t point out that Levine was also Larry Summers’ chief of staff—this time at Harvard.

It’s worth asking, I think, whether Levine’s job was a payback for any help she might have given Sandberg on the Google project. I have absolutely no proof of this, and I’m sure that Levine has many professional talents. But…this is a cozy group, and Facebook, which has never internalized the more thoughtful ethics of Google (“do no evil”) is getting more and more powerful. An enterprising Crimson reporter might want to look into these relationships.

I also think it’s worth asking whether these ties might have something to do with Larry Summers’ unusually genial response when he was recently asked whether his portrayal in the Facebook movie is accurate.

How long will it be before the relationship between Summers and Facebook becomes monetarized? And what will Facebook get in return?