Intel taps Sen. Feinstein's chief of staff

Corrected at 8:11 p.m. PDT: See below for details.

Intel has tapped Senator Dianne Feinstein's chief of staff to head its Washington office.

Intel said Wednesday that Peter Cleveland, chief of staff to Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) since 2006, will join the company as its new vice president for global public policy and head of the chipmaker's Washington, D.C., office. Cleveland will join Intel immediately after the November 4 presidential election.

"We're spending more energy telling our story," said Tom Waldrop, an Intel spokesperson. Waldrop said that Cleveland is "extremely well connected in Washington."

Prior to his role overseeing Feinstein's office, Cleveland was the senator's legislative director from 2004 to 2006. He has also served as staff to both the Senate Finance and Foreign Relations committees and as a corporate and government relations attorney for a "leading" international law firm, according to Intel. Cleveland holds a law degree from Georgetown University and an undergraduate degree from Columbia University. He is a member of the bar in New York and the District of Columbia.

"Peter Cleveland brings two decades of policy, legislative, regulatory, and legal experience to our Washington office," said Bruce Sewell, Intel senior vice president and general counsel, in a statement.

Intel has a long list of policies that it promotes including communications and broadband, intellectual property and patent reform, and education reform. Intel also has an ongoing challenge to educate Washington about its role in the U.S. economy. Intel has a number of multibillion-dollar chip manufacturing plants in the U.S. that help to keep the country competitive by maintaining a high-tech domestic manufacturing base, Waldrop said.

Cleveland is the latest of a number of additions to Intel's government affairs staff in recent weeks. Brian Huseman, who was chief of staff to former FTC Chairman Deborah Majoras, joined Intel's Washington office last month from the FTC to work on issues of trade and competition policy globally. Audrey Plonk joined Intel's global public policy staff last month at company headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., where she will work on security assurance and critical infrastructure protection policy. Plonk previously worked in the National Cyber Security Division of the Department of Homeland Security, where her focuses included international security policy issues.

Intel has had a Washington office since 1986 but is now "beefing up operations," according to Waldrop.

Correction: This story initially gave the wrong day of the announcement. It was made Wednesday.