Concerned that the White House may have influenced the Justice Department’s decision to try to block the AT&T-Time Warner merger, Hill Democrats asked for any correspondence between the White House and Justice Department relating to merger. But the White House counsel declined, citing executive privilege.
The combination of one of the country’s largest wireless carriers and TV providers with a major TV and movie company has already reshaped the media landscape. Here’s a look back at the deal, the pushback from the government and its future implications.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is allowing the huge merger between AT&T and Time Warner to stand. On Tuesday, the appellate court ruled that the government had failed to prove that the transaction valued between $85 to $105 billion that would give the nation’s largest telecom control over CNN, TBS, and TNT amounted to enhanced leverage that would harm the marketplace.
The three-judge panel that will hear arguments Dec. 6 in the federal appeal of AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner has been selected. Judges Judith W. Rogers, Robert L. Wilkins and David B. Sentelle will be on the bench in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to weigh in on the Department of Justice effort to undo the $85 billion deal.
In the opening round of the Justice Department’s suit to block AT&T’s merger with Time Warner, the parties disagree over when the trail should start and how long it should last. AT&T wants to get things going on Feb. 20 and wrap it up in 10 days. The DOJ argued for a May 7 start and 15 days.
