AG Nominee Barr Questions at Hearing Why DOJ Sued to Block AT&T/TW

It’s unclear why DOJ sued to block AT&T’s buy of Time Warner, Attorney General nominee William Barr told Congress Tuesday. He had concerns the Antitrust Division wasn't engaging with some TW arguments. In Tuesday's Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Barr again committed to recusing himself from lawsuit proceedings (see 1901110028) because he was on TW's board during the deal.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., cited Barr's affidavit questioning whether DOJ’s lawsuit was politically motivated, given President Donald Trump’s “prior public animus” toward the deal. Klobuchar asked what prior public animus meant. “I was concerned the Antitrust Division was not engaging with some of our arguments, and I got concerned they weren’t taking the merits as seriously as I would hope they would,” Barr said. “I’m not sure why they acted the way they did.” DOJ declined comment.

Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Judiciary newcomers Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., asked Barr about growing concerns over Silicon Valley’s concentration of ownership. “There’s going to have to be some discussion before we draw any conclusions,” ex-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman and current Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told us when asked whether to expect committee hearings on the topic. “We haven’t thought through that enough to make a judgment” on whether it’s a major concern.

Judiciary should work with the Senate Commerce Committee to see if “we can find some way to tame the wild west,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in opening remarks, referring to Silicon Valley. The committee agenda for 2019 will include social media attention from Blackburn, Graham said. Blackburn declined comment afterward.

Graham cited the Honest Ads Act from Klobuchar, intellectual property efforts from Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C. and attention on cybersecurity from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. “We’re all worried about social media platforms being hijacked by terrorists and bad actors throughout the international world,” Graham said. “We’re worried about privacy. Do you really know what you’re signing up for when you get on these platforms?”

The FTC too often has allowed companies like Facebook and Google to violate privacy and possibly antitrust laws without “meaningful consequences,” Hawley said. Competition, privacy and the “free flow of ideas” are all Silicon Valley issues, he said. “There’s growing evidence these companies have leveraged their considerable market power, if not monopoly status, to disfavor ideological viewpoints, particularly conservative and libertarian viewpoints.” Blackburn argued platforms are more involved in content moderation and creation, saying “their tentacles are spreading.”

Antitrust laws generally are for protecting competition, Barr said, noting he would have to think “long and hard” before identifying political bias as an antitrust matter. Competition is a central concern to the Antitrust Division, and it should fully vet the situation, he said. Barr is interested in privacy and data ownership. “I don’t think big is necessarily bad, but I think a lot of people wonder how such behemoths that exist in Silicon Valley have taken shape under the nose of antitrust enforcers. … You can win that place in the marketplace without violating the antitrust laws, but I want to find out more about that dynamic."