The Department of Justice on Monday filed a lawsuit to block AT&T’s proposed $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner, reported Reuters on Monday.

“This merger would greatly harm American consumers. It would mean higher monthly television bills and fewer of the new, emerging innovative options that consumers are beginning to enjoy,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, who oversees the Justice Department’s antitrust division, in a statement.

Several outlets reported last week that the Justice Department told AT&T it would have to agree to divest either Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting, which owns 24-hour cable news network CNN, or satellite TV provider DirecTV to get the merger through regulatory review.

Should the government file the lawsuit as expected, AT&T intends to take the matter immediately to court.

On Monday, AT&T General Counsel David R. McAtee II said in a statement, “Today’s DOJ lawsuit is a radical and inexplicable departure from decades of antitrust precedent. Vertical mergers like this one are routinely approved because they benefit consumers without removing any competitor from the market. We see no legitimate reason for our merger to be treated differently.

“Fortunately, the Department of Justice doesn’t have the final say in this matter. Rather, it bears the burden of proving to the U.S. District Court that the transaction violates the law. We are confident that the Court will reject the Government’s claims and permit this merger under longstanding legal precedent.”

Since President Donald Trump was elected last November, he has consistently complained about CNN, routinely calling the network “fake news” and calling it out for reporting stories about him that he didn’t like.

While traveling in Asia, Trump tweeted: “While in the Philippines I was forced to watch @CNN, which I have not done in months, and again realized how bad, and FAKE, it is. Loser!”

Trump’s tweets could now be considered “presidential interference” by any intervening court, reported CNN’s Brian Stelter. Although the Department of Justice is part of the administration, it is supposed to operate independently from oversight by the executive branch.

Last Tuesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions was asked during a House oversight hearing whether any White House employees had contacted anyone at the Justice Department about details of the proposed AT&T-Time Warner deal. Sessions declined to comment, saying he could not discuss active negotiations.

That said, should the government file the lawsuit, AT&T plans to request communications between the White House and the Justice Department as part of the discovery process, reported Bloomberg last week.

READ MORE: Politico, The Hollywood Reporter

Tags:


  Save as PDF