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Judge Rules AT&T Can't See Trump White House Communications About Time Warner Merger
The judge presiding over the Justice Department's attempt to block the AT&T-Time Warner merger has ruled that the White House's private communications on the merger will not be released. The Verge reports: When the department said in November that it would sue to block the mega-merger, thoughts immediately turned to the White House. President Trump has made no secret of his disdain for CNN, and some watchers questioned whether the White House's hand was present, guiding the Justice Department as a way to exact revenge on the Time Warner-owned property. The Justice Department has denied any wrongdoing, and said it is only looking to block the merger on the grounds that it is anti-competitive. But to prove the theory, AT&T and Time Warner requested communications between the Justice Department and White House that could have shown the department was engaging in "selective enforcement." In today's decision, the judge on the case said the companies had fallen "far short" of the legal bar required to receive the documents.
This seems very close to a blank check to the White House to engage in selective enforcement of anti-trust rules whenever they please. This ruling says that it is close to impossible to establish a clear line of political influence even when the circumstantial evidence for political retribution influencing it is pretty heavy. I'm in general in favor of stronger enforcement of anti-trust laws, but not if it is going to be done in a capricious fashion for political and personal goals.
The merger between AT&T and Time-Warner should be blocked. This is a case of the president doing the right thing for corrupt reasons, which I suppose we should take as a win.
But ultimately, I suspect the merger will go forward. AT&T and Time-Warner simply have better lawyers than the Trump administration.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Huge companies merging is bad for America. Does no one realize that? Who fucking cares about the presidents motivations. Hyper-consolidation and the resulting lack of competition exacerbates every problem with our countries "free market" (LOL, free market)
The AT&T merger is being blocked on the grounds it is bad for the consumer and AT&T and Time Warner are already on record stating it will allow them to raise prices.
Just because "Trump" does not excuse you for your poor logic on how bad this merger would be for consumers.
AT&T and Time Warner simply should not be merging.
And you thinking the merger would be good just because of "Trump" does not speak well of your ability to think.
More courts need to step in line or get out of the way via impeachment if necessary.
The one best reason not to impeach Trump is named Mike Pence. Last person you want as president is a right-wing fundamentalist fascist Christian controlling all of the nukes.
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
Trump! Golden Sinks! Golden Toilets! Golden Showers!
The one best reason not to impeach Trump is named Mike Pence. Last person you want as president is a right-wing fundamentalist fascist Christian controlling all of the nukes.
Look, I'm no fan at all of Mike Pence (or anyone else in the Trump administration.) However, I'm not sure on all of your claims.
Right wing? Check. Fundamentalist Christian? Most definitely. But fascist? Citation please.
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
Just because you can imagine that a crime has occurred, doesn't mean you get to breech Executive Privlege and are owed transcripts of communications you only imagine exists.
If the lawyers demanding transcripts of any/all communication between the White House and DOJ had anything stronger than a 'belief' that something illegal 'may' have happened, they might get what they are asking for.
I seem to recall the previous administration refused to share communications between the White House and DOJ regarding the "Fast 'n Furious" gun-running fiasco when Congress asked for it - remember, Eric Holder was found in contempt of Congress in that case? I'm sure your outrage then, when people's actual lives were lost, not the prospect of possibly higher cable bills...
Ken
And have the distinction of being the most-over turned courts in the country!
Ken
Should I be mad dumbass Trump potentially did something good for a bad reason?
FTFY - there's no evidence of any wrong-doing, just a fantasy some lawyers dreamed up when the merger they wanted to happen didn't...
Ken
But fascist? Citation please.
IMHO
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
Very interesting. Thanks for that.
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
Translation: We know we're breaking the law, but want proof that we're being singled out for enforcement due to political reasons.
I frown on selective enforcement in general, but in this case it's a law that shouldn't be violated by anyone.
Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
Very interesting. Thanks for that.
You're welcome.
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
The one best reason not to impeach Trump is named Mike Pence. Last person you want as president is a right-wing fundamentalist fascist Christian controlling all of the nukes.
Look, I'm no fan at all of Mike Pence (or anyone else in the Trump administration.) However, I'm not sure on all of your claims.
Right wing? Check. Fundamentalist Christian? Most definitely. But fascist? Citation please.
I'm not a fan of Pence either and I disagree with the GP too. I see the difference between Pence and Trump mostly as being that while Pence is a stuffy conservative Bible thumper at least he is a rational, intelligent and an experienced politician whereas Trump really is just a couple of steps down the skill ladder from an organ grinder's monkey. Pence could, for example, be trusted **not to start a nuclear exchange** with North Korea with a stream of late night rage tweets while sitting on the toilet bowel-moving three Big Macs, he could be trusted to stop the systematic disassembly of the state department since even the Pentagon is on record calling the ongoing state department massacre a huge mistake and he would probably go on a world tour repairing the damage Trump has done to America's network of allies which is pretty much the basis of America's power. For the Chinese the Trump administration is a godsend, I just heard an Asian diplomat describe the situation at various important political and economic events over there. What he said was that while the US downsizes its diplomatic corps and shows up with two guys at various international events in Asia, the Chinese show up with several dozen. Now who do you think is having more influence there? The two guys Rex Tillerson deemed it worth while to send (Starve the beast!! Starve the beast!!!) or the four dozen guys that Beijing sent? The difference between the Pence administration and the Trump administration would be minimal in terms of the odiousness of their policies, the big differences/improvements of a Pence admin. would be that (a) the US would have a stable force governing it, a group of people with something resembling a plan, that commands some kind of respect abroad (b) the systematic disassembly of the US's power base would stop and (c) the USA would cease being the biggest laughing stock on this planet.
Very weak. That just shows Pence being loyal to his boss, which is literally the absolute minimum required of his job.
Like all politicians he is talking like a politician. What he is actually saying is "See what President Crazy Town did? I'm the sane candidate, you can feel confident in my presidency."
There's not the slightest suggestion of him taking the initiative, nor even of condoning Trump's attacks on the press or the courts.
What do you think Trump would do to Pence if he *ever* took the initiative?
If that's the best citation you can come up with for "Pence is a fascist", I for one will find for the defendant.
There are plenty of articles on Pence's relationship with Blackwater. I think if you are comfortable with the Vice President having access to a private militia whilst he can approve government spending then you are probably one of his supporters. Maybe you have time to find a better article you could post?
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
The one best reason not to impeach Trump is named Mike Pence. Last person you want as president is a right-wing fundamentalist fascist Christian controlling all of the nukes.
Look, I'm no fan at all of Mike Pence (or anyone else in the Trump administration.) However, I'm not sure on all of your claims.
Right wing? Check. Fundamentalist Christian? Most definitely. But fascist? Citation please.
Things that Fascists believe in:
1. Nationalism.
2. Totalitarianism (police enforced single party state).
3. Enforcement of political doctrines (violence is acceptable).
4. Age and gender roles (also enforced).
Just by being a hard right christian fundamentalist, he's ticked most of the boxes.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
The gamification of propaganda took longer than expected to arrive. Folks have been hinting around this for a while, notably FB and Twitter, but an actual game developed expressly for this is new. Orwell would be impressed.
Organization? You must be joking..
Things that Fascists believe in:
1. Nationalism.
2. Totalitarianism (police enforced single party state).
3. Enforcement of political doctrines (violence is acceptable).
4. Age and gender roles (also enforced).
Just by being a hard right christian fundamentalist, he's ticked most of the boxes.
Please provide citations for each of your assertions that Christians believe in the following:
1. Nationalism.
2. Totalitarianism (police enforced single party state).
3. Enforcement of political doctrines (violence is acceptable).
4. Age and gender roles (also enforced).
The contents of this message have been doubly encrypted by ROT13
Please provide citations for each of your assertions that Christians believe in the following:
The Christians are the ones with the horrified look on their faces that their entire cultural doctrine has be subverted by the "hard right christian fundamentalist". One way to tell the difference is the Christians forgive you for trespassing and the hard right christian fundamentalist's shoot at you.
But those fun fun fundamentalist sure know how to party!!! :)
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
An opinion piece by Slate? I read it... He doesn't like what Trump says and Pence is quiet about what his boss says... FACISM!!!!
Give me a break.
Can't talk about safety or security because "Elevate fear and bury other considerations!!!". Does that mean the pro-gun control parroting safety and security are creating a fascistic state? After all, they are elevating fear with abused statistics while appealing to emotion and burying other considerations #DoSomething. Also, they are disarming the public and taking away their ability to defend against The Final Solution. Dun dun dunnnn...
The entire article screams confirmation bias. If you already believed what was written you'll probably nod away. "See! Trump is creating Fascist USA. I know because I read about online." Meanwhile in the real world, journalists are being killed and jailed. Let me guess, that is the same as being banned by Trumps twitter because you can't reply with #resist to gain followers? Talk about a bad joke. Fascism my ass.
What do you think Trump would do to Pence if he *ever* took the initiative?
Pout about it on Twitter?