Uncle Sam Should Put Consumers First in Its AT&T Appeal

Antitrust officials from the U.S. Justice Department say the judge that ruled in favor of AT&T Inc.’s takeover of Time Warner ignored economic theory and common sense. But what the judge needed from them was something more concrete.

On Monday, the government’s attorneys filed their opening brief to appeal U.S District Judge Richard Leon’s June decision, a last-ditch attempt to stop—or, rather, now undo—the $102 billion transaction that has transformed AT&T into a powerful media conglomerate and inspired other corporate giants to test the bounds of antitrust law.1 While the odds of overturning the ruling are widely considered slim, it’s interesting, if not disappointing, to see where Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim is taking the case.