Revealed: how Google enlisted members of US Congress it bankrolled to fight $6bn EU antitrust case

US tech firm has stepped up lobbying efforts with $3.5m charm offensive to persuade EU to drop punitive action over alleged abuse of monopoly position

Google enlisted members of the US congress, whose election campaigns it had funded, to pressure the European Union to drop a a6bn antitrust case which threatens to decimate the US tech firm's business in Europe.

The coordinated effort by senators and members of the House of Representatives, as well as by a congressional committee, formed part of a sophisticated, multimillion-pound lobbying drive in Brussels, which Google has significantly ramped up as it fends off challenges to its dominance in Europe.