JUDGE REQUESTS MORE DOJ DOCUMENTS FOR TUNNEY ACT REVIEW

摘要

The federal judge reviewing the SBC-AT&T and Verizon-MCI mergers under Tunney Act guidelines declined Tues. to open an evidentiary hearing into DoJ handling of the mergers, as he had considered. He instead asked DoJ to provide more documents to support the consent decrees leading to the mergers but left open the door to a hearing if the documents aren抰 enough to satisfy his review. U.S. Dist. Judge Emmet Sullivan said at a status conference he thought it premature to hold an evidentiary hearing but wasn抰 totally shelving the idea. The Tunney Act requires judicial scrutiny of DoJ consent decrees to decide if they serve the public interest. DoJ has entered into about a dozen consent decrees since Congress in 2004 strengthened Tunney Act review, but this is the first in which a judge has brought parties into his court. The others stopped at judicial review of documents sent by DoJ. nnAs Sullivan had in earlier court sessions, he said his job isn抰 to 搈icromanage,?but to do his job he does have to scrutinize DoJ抯 actions. The documents he seeks will give DoJ -- supported by the merger partners -- a chance to 搈ake their case that the consent decree is in the public interest,?he said. Sullivan抯 comments drew praise for different reasons from the Bells and competitors participating as friends of the court. Bell representatives seemed to sigh in relief that the review might be veering away from a full-blown hearing with expert testimony. Competitors said they were pleased that the judge said he wasn抰 satisfied and wanted more documents from DoJ. Consumers Union said it抯 揺ncouraging?that the judge isn抰 taking a 搑ubber stamp?approach to Tunney Act review.