In mid-February, the Justice Department lost its chief antitrust enforcer — just weeks before the court was scheduled to argue one of the biggest antitrust cases of the year.
Antitrust division chief Gail Slater suddenly announced her departure via a post on her personal X account. But to those who follow the agency closely, it was not a surprise. For months, leaks about the split had described tension between Slater and his team, with DOJ leadership, and President Donald Trump’s penchant for personal dealings had raised questions about who would actually call for antitrust.
Over the summer, two of Slater’s top representatives were fired by the DOJ for “insubordination.” One of them later described the pushback on a wireless networking deal between Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Juniper Networks, which was carried out by “MAGA-in-name-only” lobbyists and DOJ officials. A week before Slater announced his departure, a third deputy also left the agency.
The timing brought additional scrutiny because Mike Davis, one of the lobbyists close to Trump who worked on the HBO-Juniper deal, is also reportedly working for Live Nation. Live Nation did not comment on the reported connection. Speaking on background to discuss personnel matters, a former DOJ official said of Slater’s sudden departure, “What was happening implicitly before has now become explicit.” “A lot of powerful corporations have discovered that they can pursue imaginary deals and imaginary outcomes in ways that were previously impossible, and they just have to pay.” After Slater posted about his departure, Attorney General Pam Bondi in a statement thanked him for “his service in the Antitrust Division, which works to protect consumers, promote affordability, and expand economic opportunity.”
“Too many powerful corporations have realized that they can only pursue speculative deals.”
In May 2024, the DOJ and a group of 40 state attorneys general sued Live Nation-Ticketmaster, seeking to break up the company they accused of using anti-competitive practices to lock artists and venues into its orbit. By allegedly bundling together different parts of its business, using exclusionary contracts, and threatening “financial retaliation” to keep new players out of the market, the company succeeded in raising ticket prices for consumers, they argue. Live Nation said in a blog post at the time that the lawsuit “ignores all the things that are actually responsible for high ticket prices.”
With jury selection in the case set to begin on March 2, many are left wondering whether the DOJ will remain on the case. If the agency reaches a settlement and decides not to join the lawsuit, at least some of the 40 states that joined DOJ in the initial suit could — and likely will — continue to pursue litigation. “We look forward to the hearing against Live Nation on March 2,” said Paula Blizzard, California’s top antitrust enforcer, at an event on the day of Slater’s announcement. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Scrametti also plans to pursue the states’ lawsuit, Capital Forum Informed.
The DOJ may very well remain the lead plaintiff. Omed Assefy, who is taking over Slater’s role in the interim, promised to continue his agenda, mlex Informed. As of February 17, he has said that the case is strong and is in favor of a trial. Capital Forum. global competition review It was also reported last week that Assefy had encouraged staff to look to his work on criminal antitrust enforcement as a guide for how he would lead the division. He reportedly said, “Ask them how I feel about settling cases instead of going to trial.” “Ask them how I feel about accepting half-measures and mere financial punishment instead of seeking justice.”
But Slater was also known as a serious promoter of antitrust law – and reports suggest his agenda was rejected.
“States are no strangers real politics“
In general, states are always open to changes in their trial partners, says Gwendolyn Lindsey Cooley, former antitrust chief of Wisconsin and chair of the National Association of Attorneys General Multistate Antitrust Task Force. (Porter agreed to speak generally about the role of state enforcement, not specifically about the Live Nation case, which Wisconsin was a part of during his time there.) “States are no strangers to this. real politics,” says Cooley. State enforcers understand that priorities and personnel can change with administration, either in state offices or at DOJ. This may require changes, such as reassigning the most experienced lawyers to fill the gaps left by federal attorneys. But Cooley says there are plenty of experienced litigators in the states. “My sense from talking with states is generally that this is something they were prepared for, and so should be able to pick it up easily,” Cooley says.
The T-Mobile-Sprint merger lawsuit may serve as a guide. After Trump’s DOJ approved the merger, some states settled their cases, but others continued to fight to stop the merger. However, in the end, they were unsuccessful – a court blocked the merger anyway.
States could be more aggressive in pursuing Live Nation-Ticketmaster testing. The company has been widely criticized by musicians and composers, including the infamous glitch in Taylor Swift ticket presales in 2022. bloombergThe attorneys general of California and Connecticut said they would maintain a high standard for settlements. Connecticut AG William Tong said, “Any proposal that is politically motivated or influenced, or any compromise that comes from trying to please the President or meet his demands, is unlikely to fly with Connecticut or California.”
In fact, according to Cooley, citizen complaints about Ticketmaster are one of the top 10 things state AGs commonly hear about. “This is something the state AG will really look at.”
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