AG Barr recuses himself from Sprint/T-Mobile merger decision
U.S. Attorney General William Barr has recused himself from weighing in on Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc.'s proposed $26.5 billion merger because of potential conflicts of interests, giving Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim the final say, according to the New York Post.
Delrahim, who leads the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust division, told CNBC's David Faber on Monday that he has "not made up my mind" on the deal and that the DOJ expects more information from the wireless carriers as the inquiry continues.
Barr disclosed in a financial form signed Dec. 24 that he had AT&T vested stock options valued between $250,000 and $500,000 and AT&T dividends valued between $500,000 and $1 million, according to the Post.
A competitor of T-Mobile and Sprint, AT&T holds about 33 percent of the nation's wireless market share; Verizon holds 34.4 percent. The merger would give "New T-Mobile" equal footing, with about 31.5 percent of the market.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2019/05/01/barr-recuses-sprint-t-mobile-merger-justice.html?ana=e_n_set1&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWlRZM056TTFNR0UzWXpjNSIsInQiOiI0QkZRR05LbVRlWVlQZHVtNktKOWFqSHBzNmVtUDdYNmlVR01ycVBKbDErcWxwWWI2c0RiZ0loanRDdkQwVXY2VndpT012XC9PeHhRVmplWEFEQ3JJcWxCYTFvbHRSS3FmNEJhaTZLb2hDRVQ0Qm1Zbm4xazl3cnhzUWE2ZlVWdEYifQ%3D%3D
He needs to recuse himself from a whole lot more.