As Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg faced the Senate Intelligence Committee today, Google was noticeably absent, following a heated back-and-forth between the company and committee leadership in the days leading up to the hearing. The result was an empty chair for Google and a number of complaints from the committee leadership.

“Sheryl and Jack, I’m glad you’re here,” said Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) in his opening remarks. “I’m disappointed that Google decided against sending the right senior-level executive to what I truly expect to be a productive discussion.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) put the absence in even harsher terms. “There’s an empty chair next to you from Google, they’re not here,” said Rubio. “Maybe it’s…

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