By Sarah Maugaotega 11/22/17
The U.S. Justice Department plans to sue AT&T to block the company’s purchase of Time Warner Cable. Earlier this month, the Justice Department demanded that AT&T divest its ownership of DirecTV, in order to win antitrust approval, which is needed for the purchase to be made. Smaller companies also oppose the deal, claiming it will give AT&T too much power over content distributed to wireless subscribers.
There is a political risk for the Justice Department, as some Democrats have suggested that antitrust officials are suing because President Trump so openly denounces CNN, which is owned by Time Warner. Apart from his criticisms of CNN, during his campaign last year, Trump said that the merger limit the control of media to the hands of a few companies.
AT&T said Monday that it’s prepared to go to court, and that it does not plan to make any divestments.