Conway’s husband: ‘Grounds for impeachment’ if Trump directed Cohn to block AT&T-Time Warner merger

George Conway, the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, said Monday that it would “unquestionably be grounds for impeachment” if President Trump ordered former White House economic adviser Gary Cohn to pressure the Department of Justice to block the AT&T-Time Warner merger.

“If proven, such an attempt to use presidential authority to seek retribution for the exercise of First Amendment rights would unquestionably be grounds for impeachment,” Conway tweeted.

If proven, such an attempt to use presidential authority to seek retribution for the exercise of First Amendment rights would unquestionably be grounds for impeachment. https://t.co/F1UANzeD2q

— George Conway (@gtconway3d) March 4, 2019

Conway’s remark comes after The New Yorker reported that Trump gave that directive to Cohn in the summer of 2017. 

{mosads}Trump is thought to be opposed to the merger because Time Warner owns CNN, a news network Trump regularly derides and refers to as “fake news.”

The New Yorker reported that Trump complained during a 2017 Oval Office meeting with then-chief of staff John Kelly and Cohn that no action had been taken on Trump’s request to have the merger blocked.

“I’ve been telling Cohn to get this lawsuit filed and nothing’s happened! I’ve mentioned it fifty times,” Trump reportedly said. “And nothing’s happened. I want to make sure it’s filed. I want that deal blocked!”

The Justice Department ultimately brought a lawsuit that year seeking to block the merger on antitrust grounds, but U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled last year that the merger could proceed. Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld that ruling, rejecting the Justice Department’s effort to have Leon’s ruling reversed.