"Do you understand the optics? What does it look like? It looks like what's going on is that T-Mobile is trying to curry favor with the White House, "Rep. Hank Johnson, a Georgia Democrat. [1
But it did not satisfy all members of the Democrat-controlled house panel.
"I just travel this because we unfortunately have a situation where the president has not revealed his business interest, and it seems you might be trying to influence the president to get involved in something he should not really be involved with," said Rep Pramila Jayapal, and Washington State Democrat.
Chairman David Cicilline, an Rhode democracy, called the proposed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint a "critical test" for the anti-trust department of the Justice Department.
Is it "really dedicated to promoting competition, or is it just opposed to mergers when White Houses tell it to do so?" he asked during the opening statement.
The Justice Department did not attempt to block a similar merger between Disney and 21st Century Fox, which owns Fox News.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
Republicans at the jury criticized Democrats for asking Legere about his stay at the hotel.
"Where Mr. Legere stays on his way to Washington, there is really no relation to whether or not this proposed merger is in the public interest," said rep. Jim Sensen. from Wisconsin, the Republican ranking member.
But critics find these statements hard to believe, while Christopher Shelton, president of the communications union of America Union, said during his testimony on Tuesday that he expect the opposite – that the merger would kill jobs and lower wages.
Congress has no say in the approval of the merger, but some lawmakers concerned has urged the Federal Communications Commission and the Ministry of Justice to block the agreement.
