In a setback for AT&T, a federal judge ruled the company won’t get access to information related to the Trump administration’s internal discussions about its proposed acquisition of Time Warner, the WSJ reports.
In a pre-trial hearing last Friday, AT&T attorney Daniel Petrocelli cited then-candidate Donald Trump‘s opposition to the deal when it was announced three weeks before the election, as well as Pres. Trump’s comments since. Trump has made no secret of his disdain for CNN, which is a part of Time Warner.
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has said he has no plans to sell CNN as a condition of getting the $85 billion deal done.
The Justice Department sued to block the deal in November. The trial is scheduled to begin March 19.
In his seven-page opinion released today, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon wrote that AT&T and Time Warner “have not made a credible showing that they have been especially singled out” by the DOJ lawsuit.