The U.S. Justice Department's top antitrust official will be
recused from reviewing Comcast's $45 billion acquisition of Time
Warner Cable.
The Justice Department confirmed on Thursday that Assistant
Attorney General Bill Baer won't take part in reviewing the deal.
Mr. Baer represented General Electric and NBCUniversal as a lawyer
at Arnold & Porter LLP in 2011 when Comcast acquired a majority
stake in NBCUniversal.
"I just wanted to confirm that the antitrust division is looking
at the proposed acquisition involving Comcast and Time Warner.
Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer will be recused on the
matter," Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona said via
email.
Ms. Talamona said the review will be overseen by Principal
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Renata B. Hesse, who will be the
Acting Assistant Attorney General on the matter, and Deputy
Assistant Attorney General David Gelfand.
Ms. Hesse previously served as special counsel to former Federal
Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski in 2010-2011,
where she oversaw the FCC's review of AT&T's failed $39 billion
bid for T-Mobile. Regulators ultimately blocked that deal over
concerns about competition in the wireless market.
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