President Trump reportedly directed his former economic adviser, Gary Cohn, to pressure the Justice Department to block the AT&T-Time Warner merger, according to a report in The New Yorker.
In an explosive new investigation into the relationship between the Trump White House and Fox News, the magazine reported new details that contradict the administration’s assurances that Trump had no role in the Justice Department’s lawsuit trying to stop the merger.
Citing an unidentified “well-informed source,” The New Yorker reported that in summer 2017, months before the Justice Department filed its antitrust lawsuit, Trump called Cohn and then-chief of staff John Kelly into the Oval Office and told them that he wanted to “make sure” the Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking to block the merger was filed.
“I’ve been telling Cohn to get this lawsuit filed and nothing’s happened!” Trump told Kelly, according to the report. “I’ve mentioned it 50 times. And nothing’s happened. I want to make sure it’s filed. I want that deal blocked!”
Trump repeatedly criticized the $85 billion deal on the campaign trail and as president, vowing to block the merger and saying that it was “not good for the country.”
But, according to The New Yorker, many saw Trump’s opposition to the deal as motivated by his disdain for CNN, which is owned by Time Warner. But the Justice Department has insisted that the president’s unhappiness with CNN, which he often targets in tweets and at rallies as “fake news,” did not influence the case.
After Trump’s direction in the 2017 meeting, The New Yorker reported, Cohn refused to follow the instruction, knowing that it would be “highly improper” for Trump to involve himself in stopping the merger.
…….
The anecdote about Trump’s instruction to Cohn appears in The New Yorker’s report as an example of how the Trump administration’s actions have been “pro-Fox.”
The New Yorker reported that Trump’s effort to have Cohn push to block the AT&T-Time Warner merger, in addition to the administration’s approval of the Disney-Fox merger and opposition to the Sinclair-Tribune merger, would all have benefitted the Murdoch family and Fox News.
…….
- Discussion
-
DEVELOPING: Trump directed Gary Cohn to pressure DOJ to block AT&T-Time Warner deal: report https://t.co/wJqXT3vzEP pic.twitter.com/KK7qw3eQZR
— The Hill (@thehill) March 4, 2019
This is one of the worst scandals of this presidency. Trump directly intervened with the Justice Department to pursue his personal vendetta against CNN. He lied about it. DOJ officials likely lied too.
I wrote about it at the time. Column holds up well: https://t.co/JNWmtHqEmS https://t.co/5KYgSQeAHg— Bret Stephens (@BretStephensNYT) March 4, 2019
House Judiciary needs to put Delrahim under oath and ask him whether he was pressured by the WH to block the AT&T-TW deal. (Remember: before he became antitrust chief, Delrahim said he couldn’t see any problems with the deal.)
— Joe Nocera (@opinion_joe) March 4, 2019
If proven, such an attempt to use presidential authority to seek retribution for the exercise of First Amendment rights would unquestionably be grounds for impeachment. https://t.co/F1UANzeD2q
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) March 4, 2019
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.