Report: Trump asked Cohn to block the AT & T / Time Warner merger
Ever since the Justice Department sued in 2017 to block AT & T's acquisition of Time Warner, theories and charges of political animus have been buzzing around the antitrust case.
At the heart of the theories, Trump's public aversion to CNN, which was a sharing of Time Warner, is. The company that has since been renamed WarnerMedia, which also includes networks such as TNT and HBO, as well as CNN.
According to Mayer's source, Trump Cohn and then Chief of Staff John Kelly called into his office and told Kelly: "I've told Cohn to file this lawsuit and nothing happened! I have mentioned fifty times and nothing has happened. I want to make sure it's filed. I want that deal blocked. "
After the two men left the Oval Office meeting, Cohn told Kelly not to follow through with the president's request. according to Mayer's report.
Cohn, the White House and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Ministry of Justice has long denied that politics played a role in their decision to bring the suit.
The chairman of the 21st century Fox is, of course, Rupert Murdoch, who has become the president's close confidant.
Mayer noted in his report that "under Trump, the government has consistently promoted Murdoch's business interests, to the detriment of his rivals", including the approval of Disesa's acquisition of Fox, an agreement where the Murdoch family will earn more than two billion dollars.
While Trump obviously criticized AT & T-Time The Warner Agreement publicly congratulates Murdoch for selling most of the 21st Century Fox to Disney even before the deal had received regulatory approval.
