Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) asked U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a letter Friday whether any White House employee or adviser to the president had contacted the Department of Justice regarding the proposed merger of AT&T and Time Warner. Klobuchar’s request follows reports this week that administration officials have considered interfering in the $85 billion merger over President Donald Trump’s frustration with CNN, a Time Warner subsidiary, and the news network’s president, Jeff Zucker. The New York Times reported Wednesday night that White House officials viewed the AT&T-Time Warner deal as “a potential point of leverage” over CNN. The Daily Caller reported Thursday the White House wouldn’t support the deal unless Zucker was let go in the process. Regardless of whether Trump officials follow through with any plans to disrupt the deal, the notion they’ve discussed punishing companies over critical coverage, or see the proposed deal as leverage in battling a news organization, is alarming.

Source: Huffington Post July 07, 2017 18:15 UTC