T AT&T Inc

By Brent Kendall 

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department on Friday asked a federal judge not to allow AT&T Inc.'s defense of its proposed acquisition of Time Warner Inc. to include a claim that the Trump administration improperly challenged the deal for political reasons.

In a dramatic 90-minute hearing, lawyers for the department and the companies clashed over whether there is a basis for the companies' claim that the government's challenge to the merger was illegitimate.

The two sides also voiced deep disagreement over whether there was any relevance to past statements by President Donald Trump criticizing Time Warner's CNN and his pledging during the presidential campaign to block the merger if elected.

Mr. Trump doesn't like CNN "and we don't dispute that," Justice Department lawyer Craig Conrath said, but he added that "AT&T wants to turn that into a get-out-of-jail card for their illegal merger."

Mr. Conrath said there was no political motivation behind the Justice Department lawsuit, filed in November, seeking to block the deal. He called AT&T Inc.'s efforts to raise the issue "an unnecessary distraction, a sideshow."

Mr. Conrath also presented to U.S. District Judge Richard Leon an affidavit from Justice Department antitrust chief Makan Delrahim in which the top antitrust official said he hadn't received instructions or directions from Mr. Trump or anyone else outside the department's antitrust division on whether to challenge the merger.

Daniel Petrocelli, the lead trial counsel for AT&T and Time Warner, said the issue was "an uncomfortable subject. This is not something we relish getting into."

Mr. Petrocelli said the companies have ample reason for exploring questions about whether they were sued improperly, and he asked Judge Leon to require the government to provide logs of certain communications at the Justice Department and the White House that may shed light on that question.

What's at stake is "the public's trust and confidence in the integrity of their enforcement decisions," Mr. Petrocelli said.

The affidavit from Mr. Delrahim didn't settle the matter, said Mr. Petrocelli, who noted that the antitrust chief previously served as a deputy counsel in the White House. "What about conversations when Mr. Delrahim was in the White House?" he asked.

Judge Leon said he would rule by Tuesday on whether AT&T can seek more materials from the Justice Department on the issue.

The trial is scheduled to begin March 19.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that AT&T had placed Mr. Delrahim on its list of possible witnesses for the trial. It's highly unusual for defendant companies to seek testimony from the official who sued them.

Mr. Petrocelli confirmed that he placed Mr. Delrahim on the list, "just in case" his testimony might be needed. He agreed to strike the antitrust chief from the list for now, so long as he could add him later if there were good cause for doing so.

Write to Brent Kendall at brent.kendall@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 16, 2018 19:17 ET (00:17 GMT)

Grafico Azioni AT&T (NYSE:T)
Storico
Da Mar 2024 a Apr 2024

Grafico Azioni AT&T (NYSE:T)
Storico
Da Apr 2023 a Apr 2024