Dem senator asks DOJ to probe White House efforts on AT&T-Time Warner merger

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on Friday asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate possible attempts by the White House to block the recent $85 billion AT&T-Time Warner merger.

Van Hollen’s letter comes after The New Yorker this week reported that President Trump asked DOJ lawyers to sue to block the deal.

{mosads}Multiple lawmakers and Democratic figures have suggested that Trump sought to block the deal because of his longtime feud with CNN, a channel owned by Time Warner and acquired by AT&T during the merger.

“I request that you open an investigation into whether White House aides and officials have improperly tried to influence DOJ regulators in order to meet the objectives of President Trump,” Van Hollen wrote in his letter to Attorney General William Barr.

The New Yorker reported that Trump ordered Gary Cohn, then the director of the National Economic Council, to pressure the DOJ to intervene against the merger.

Trump reportedly told his former chief of staff John Kelly in 2017 that he had asked then-White House chief economic adviser Cohn to “get this lawsuit filed,” lamenting that “nothing” had happened.

“I’ve mentioned it fifty times,” Trump told Kelly, according to The New Yorker. “And nothing’s happened. I want to make sure it’s filed. I want that deal blocked!”

Van Hollen on Friday called on the DOJ to investigate whether Trump or other White House officials had encouraged the DOJ to oppose the merger. He also asked the DOJ to probe whether the White House had inquired about the Disney/FOX merger, which was approved last year, or any other mergers.

“The President of the United States should not use his office to direct the DOJ to punish those who he perceives to be his adversaries or to reward his friends,” Van Hollen wrote. “This investigation and subsequent report should be made public to the American people to reassure them of the executive branch’s integrity and your agency’s independence.”

The DOJ did sue to block the AT&T-Time Warner merger, but lost in court and on appeal earlier this year. The court’s decision to uphold the merger was seen as a significant loss for the DOJ’s antitrust division.  

Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) on Friday separately pressed the DOJ over the White House’s reported influence on the AT&T-Time Warner merger.

“The efforts of the Justice Department enforcers who brought a difficult but worthwhile case in the face of criticism are worthy of praise, but now many are wondering why they were allowed to bring the case in the first place,” the lawmakers wrote. “The notion that federal law enforcement is a tool to serve the political and personal interests of our leaders is corrosive to our society and system of government. The public should be able to trust that antitrust enforcement — in fact all federal law enforcement — is impartial and free of political influence.” 

Klobuchar and Blumenthal asked the DOJ to answer a range of questions about whether Trump or his associates attempted to exert influence over the merger, or if AT&T made any payments in an effort to sway the White House over the transaction.

Democratic lawmakers in the House have also weighed in following The New Yorker report, questioning whether Trump sought to intervene out of spite for CNN, which he has accused of being biased against his administration. 

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) this week requested documents regarding the AT&T-Time Warner merger. 

“Any effort to use the antitrust laws to censor, undermine or retaliate against the press is a threat to the First Amendment and a vibrant democracy,” Nadler and Cicilline wrote.

—Updated at 4:49 p.m.