AT&T May Challenge Antitrust Lawsuit’s Legitimacy

AT&T Inc. is considering an unusual bid to seek testimony from the Justice Department’s antitrust chief in the coming trial over its $85 billion purchase of Time Warner Inc., part of the companies’ effort to challenge the legitimacy of the government’s lawsuit, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In the months since the Justice Department sued to block the deal last November, AT&T has publicly questioned the department’s motives in light of President Donald Trump’s campaign pledge to disallow the deal and his repeated disparagement of CNN, a unit of Time Warner.

AT&T and Time Warner have drafted a list of people they may put on the witness stand at trial, and, according to people familiar with the matter, the roster includes Justice Department antitrust chief Makan Delrahim, a Trump nominee who made the decision to challenge the deal in court.

AT&T could choose not to call Mr. Delrahim at trial. But if he is called, it could escalate tensions in a dispute that already has seen its share of tense moments and is shaping up as a pitched legal battle between a corporate giant and an unorthodox administration whose president is given to off-the-cuff comments.

The trial is scheduled to begin March 19, representing one of the biggest antitrust cases in a generation.