AT&T Judge Quotes Bob Dylan, Slams Government in 172-Page Ruling

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington said he and his team "worked mightily" to pen a 172-page opinion on the Justice Department’s challenge to AT&T Inc.’s takeover of Time Warner Inc. before the deal’s June 21 deadline. Quoting Bob Dylan at times and warning that “perfect is the enemy of the good" (in reference to his own ruling) he left no doubt that the government utterly failed to make its case.

Leon, whose skepticism about the government’s case was clear during the trial, didn’t buy any aspect of the the government’s theory that a combined company would give AT&T too much leverage in programming talks with competitors of Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting.