Richard Leon Judge Richard Leon. Photo Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

A federal judge on Tuesday rejected AT&T Inc.'s quest for U.S. Department of Justice communications with the Trump White House over the company's proposed acquisition of Time Warner.

U.S. District Senior Judge Richard Leon of the District of Columbia said AT&T, represented by O'Melveny & Myers, and Time Warner had failed to meet the “rigorous standard” for compelling discovery based on their belief that they had been singled out by the Justice Department and that the antitrust challenge reflected selective enforcement.

Lawyers for AT&T have been exploring whether the government's lawsuit challenging the deal was rooted in President Donald Trump's personal opposition rather than antitrust laws.

“[AT&T and Time Warner] have fallen far short of establishing that this enforcement action was selective—that is, that there 'exist persons similarly situated who have not been prosecuted,'” Leon wrote.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has publicly questioned the Justice Department's motives for challenging the company's proposed $85 billion takeover of Time Warner. He has noted that the Justice Department does not typically challenge so-called vertical mergers, which combine companies at separate stages of the supply chain for a particular service.

As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump spoke in opposition to the deal and vowed to block it if elected. “It's too much power in the hands of too few,” he said. During that election and his presidency, he has repeatedly expressed his dismay with Time Warner-owned CNN, and in July, The New York Times reported that the administration discussed using the acquisition deal as possible leverage in its disputes with the news network.

In court last week, a Justice Department lawyer acknowledged the president's animus but said it would not help AT&T and Time Warner's defense. The Justice Department sued to block the proposed tie-up in November, alleging the deal would substantially hurt competition and drive up prices for millions of U.S. consumers.

“Look, the president is unhappy with CNN. We don't dispute that,” Justice Department attorney Craig Conrath said in court last week. “But AT&T wants to turn that into a 'get out of jail free' card.”

O'Melveny & Myers partner Dan Petrocelli pointed to remarks the head of the DOJ's Antitrust Division, Makan Delrahim, made before the election in which he said he saw no issues with the proposed deal. Petrocelli said a government report obtained in discovery showed prices for the company's services would go down after the merger.

“It just confirmed that there's no 'there' there,” Petrocelli said.

Leon's ruling is posted in full below:

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