Justice Department's Antitrust Chief Recuses Himself From Google Probe -- Update
February 04 2020 - 10:28AM
Dow Jones News
By Brent Kendall and Sadie Gurman
WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department's chief antitrust
enforcement official has recused himself from the department's
investigation into whether Alphabet Inc.'s Google is unlawfully
suppressing competition.
The department said that as the probe progressed, Assistant
Attorney General Makan Delrahim came to realize that he needed to
recuse himself because of his past work in private practice.
Google was a one-time client. In 2007, Mr. Delrahim advised the
search giant as it sought approval from the Federal Trade
Commission to buy internet ad firm DoubleClick.
Some people who have been critical of Google and other Big Tech
companies, such as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a
Democratic presidential candidate, called for Mr. Delrahim's
recusal months ago.
Mr. Delrahim "revisited potential conflicts with previous work
with the Department of Justice's ethics office. He and the ethics
office have decided that he should now recuse himself from a matter
within the tech review in an abundance of caution," a department
spokesman said.
The New York Times first reported Mr. Delrahim's recusal.
The department for months has been investigating Google, as well
as conducting a broader probe into whether other tech giants,
including Facebook Inc., are using their dominance in ways that
violate U.S. antitrust law. The reviews are expected to last for
much of 2020.
Mr. Delrahim already had been ceding turf within the Justice
Department on Big Tech, as top leadership has taken an unusually
active interest in antitrust enforcement against online platforms.
Both Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General
Jeffrey Rosen are playing an active role in the probes, and each
has added antitrust counsel to their offices.
Antitrust lawyer Ryan Shores, who works in Mr. Rosen's office,
is overseeing the tech reviews. The department hired him last fall
from Shearman & Sterling LLP, part of its effort to add legal
firepower as it considers whether to bring a groundbreaking case
against Google or other tech companies.
The internal shifts could make life more difficult -- and less
predictable -- for Google as it may have to deal directly with
offices within the Justice Department that don't usually
participate in antitrust matters.
Mr. Delrahim's recusal came last week, according to people
familiar with the matter, after he and ethics officials took stock
of recent advances in the Justice Department's investigation.
Google's ad business, including DoubleClick, has become an
increasingly prominent focus of the investigation, and Mr. Delrahim
and the department wanted to remove any appearance of a conflict of
interest as the probe progresses further, the people said.
His recusal will have immediate ramifications, including on
Tuesday, when Mr. Delrahim won't participate in a scheduled meeting
between department officials and state attorneys general about
their respective Google investigations.
Write to Brent Kendall at brent.kendall@wsj.com and Sadie Gurman
at sadie.gurman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 04, 2020 10:13 ET (15:13 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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