Report: Google CEO Tried to hide political donations by manipulating search results

Outgoing CEO Eric Schmidt reportedly asked Google employees to remove information about his political donations from the company's search results:

According to a new book about Google by Steven Levy, Schmidt's request was shot down by Google exec Sheryl Sandberg, who is now COO of Facebook. The book was reviewed this morning by the New York Times, which got an advance copy.

The fact he would make such a request at all is pretty amazing -- especially since Google's lawyers have said that the company never promotes or eliminates particular sites from search results, even when trying to fight spam. Earlier this month, Google engineer Matt Cutts contradicted this stance, basically admitting that Google can use "whitelists" to exclude certain sites from changes to the algorithm.

h/t Business Insider

Schmidt stepped down as CEO last week, but remains employed with the company as Google's executive chairman.  In this position, he will continue to oversee the company's relationships with partners, customers and government agencies.  In the past, his political donations have gone almost exclusively to Democrats.

With the Obama administration looking to put a more business-friendly face on its agenda, Schmidt's name has been circulated as a possible addition to the Obama team, reportedly being "wooed" by the White House to step in as Secretary of Commerce.