Justice Department's Antitrust Chief Recuses Himself From Google Probe -- 2nd Update
February 04 2020 - 1:15PM
Dow Jones News
By Brent Kendall and Sadie Gurman
WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department's chief antitrust
enforcement official has recused himself from the department's
investigation into whether Alphabet Inc.'s Google is unlawfully
suppressing competition.
The department said that as the probe progressed, Assistant
Attorney General Makan Delrahim came to realize that he needed to
recuse himself because of his past work in private practice.
Google was a one-time client. In 2007, Mr. Delrahim advised the
search giant as it sought approval from the Federal Trade
Commission to buy internet ad firm DoubleClick, an acquisition that
helped make Google a dominant force in the digital-advertising
ecosystem.
The recusal is the latest sign that the department regards
Google's ad business as a top issue of concern. The company's
digital-advertising practices have become an increasingly prominent
focus of the investigation, and Mr. Delrahim and the department
wanted to remove any appearance of a conflict of interest as the
probe progresses further, people familiar with the matter said.
In addition to digital advertising, the department is continuing
to examine Google's search and Android businesses as part of the
probe, the people said.
Mr. Delrahim previously received ethics clearance to work on the
Google probe, but the reversal came last week, after he and ethics
officials took stock of recent advances in the Justice Department's
investigation, the people said.
Mr. Delrahim "revisited potential conflicts with previous work
with the Department of Justice's ethics office. He and the ethics
office have decided that he should now recuse himself from a matter
within the tech review in an abundance of caution," a department
spokesman said.
The New York Times first reported Mr. Delrahim's recusal.
The department for months has been investigating Google, as well
as conducting a broader probe into whether other tech giants,
including Facebook Inc., are using their dominance in ways that
violate U.S. antitrust law. The reviews are expected to last for
much of 2020.
Mr. Delrahim isn't sidelined on all Big Tech matters, but his
Google recusal will bring immediate changes, including on Tuesday,
when Mr. Delrahim won't participate in a scheduled meeting between
department officials and state attorneys general about their
respective Google investigations.
Even before the recusal, Mr. Delrahim already had been ceding
turf within the Justice Department on Big Tech, as top leadership
has taken an unusually strong interest in antitrust enforcement
against online platforms. Both Attorney General William Barr and
Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen are playing an active role in
the probes, and each has added antitrust lawyers to their
offices.
The internal shifts could make life more difficult -- and less
predictable -- for Google as it may have to deal directly with
offices within the Justice Department that don't usually
participate in antitrust matters.
Making the situation more complicated, Mr. Delrahim's principal
deputy within the Justice Department's antitrust division, Barry
Nigro, also recently recused himself in the Google probe, at least
for now, according to one of the people familiar with the matter.
The reasons for his recusal couldn't immediately be learned.
Antitrust lawyer Ryan Shores, who works in Mr. Rosen's office,
is overseeing the department's tech reviews, including the Google
probe. The department hired him last fall from Shearman &
Sterling LLP, part of its effort to add legal firepower as it
considers whether to bring a groundbreaking case against Google or
other tech companies.
Mr. Delrahim's recusal had been sought for months by some
critics of Google and other Big Tech companies, including
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a Democratic
presidential candidate.
Write to Brent Kendall at brent.kendall@wsj.com and Sadie Gurman
at sadie.gurman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 04, 2020 13:00 ET (18:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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