Posted on 09/04/2020 12:06:38 PM PDT by Red Badger
Attorney General William Barr overruled career lawyers in the Department of Justice (DOJ), setting a deadline for federal prosecutors to file an antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet—the parent company of Google—by the end of the month, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
According to the report, the team of attorneys who have been working on the case for more than a year strongly oppose the deadline as being too soon to bring a strong case against the tech giant. They worry that Barr is more concerned about filing the high-profile lawsuit before November’s presidential election than allowing the department to complete its investigation.
After officials from the DOJ told attorneys in the department’s Antitrust Division about the filing deadline, many pushed back, penning a memo that “ran hundreds of pages” arguing that the case needed more time. Several of the attorneys also reportedly left the case in protest, with others saying they would refuse to sign the complaint.
The deadline also worried some Antitrust Division attorneys who told the Times they thought Barr wanted to announce the case in advance of the presidential election so that the Trump administration could “take credit” for the action instead of risking it being brought by a possible Biden administration.
“When Mr. Barr imposed a deadline on the investigation, some lawyers feared that the move was in keeping with his willingness to override the recommendations of career lawyers in cases that are of keen interest to President [Donald] Trump, who has accused Google of bias against him,” the report stated. “The Google case could also give Mr. Trump and Mr. Barr an election-season achievement on an issue that both Democrats and Republicans see as a major problem: the influence of the biggest tech companies over consumers and the possibility that their business practices have stifled new competitors and hobbled legacy industries like telecom and media.”
The president last week accused Google of having “rigged” the media landscape by pushing false news stories about him and his administration, though he did not point to anything specific. He generally asserted that Google was dangerously rigging the world of ideas by mostly showing negative “Trump news” penned by “National Left-Wing Media.”
“Google search results for ‘Trump News’ shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent,” Trump tweeted. “Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of results on “Trump News” are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!”
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Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump · Aug 28, 2018 Google search results for “Trump News” shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of....
....results on “Trump News” are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed! 10:02 AM · Aug 28, 2018
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The government’s probe into Google, which began in July of 2019, has been focused on how the company achieved its ubiquitous place as the top online search engine. The government wants to know if Google did so by engaging in practices that have reduced competition, stifled innovation, or otherwise harmed consumers. Three people with knowledge of the investigation reportedly said the DOJ had already uncovered “powerful evidence” corroborating Google’s anticompetitive practices, but progress in the case had stalled due to bureaucratic restraints and mismanagement.
The Times said Justice Department spokeswoman Brianna Herlihy declined to comment, while Jose Castaneda, a spokesman for Google, told said the company would “continue to engage with ongoing investigations.”
Castaneda argued that Google, contrary to the beliefs of Barr’s DOJ, has promoted “increased choice and competition.”
Rushing??? this should have been done years ago to all the social media companies. Hell, Barr should SIEZE their Domain TODAY!!!
Hmmm, so what happens when Google shows it was the NSA and CIA who put them there ?
Like he rushed prosecuting FBI traitors.
ANYBODY seen John Durham? Talk about missing in action.
Barr knows foot dragging when he sees it. He’s not going to stand for it and he doesn’t give a flying flip what a thousand career (swamp) DOJ lawyers think or say or write.
“Career Prosecutors” - Deep State minions.
The 100s pages memo. I am sure that impressed Barr no end. Like if you had time for that you had time to do your effin job.
“Carreer” prosecutors (wink wink)
When Clinton took office in 93 he fired ALL DOJ attorneys.
Even those in the middle of court cases.
The MSM courtesans said nothing.............
I’m not a lawyer and I don’t play one on TV-like most people, I’ve only retained one when legal documents/assistance was required-but I do know that even a DA out here in BFE wouldn’t bring a case or lawsuit to court before it was “ripe”-when they had sufficient evidence to make the charges stick-otherwise, it will be dismissed or they might lose in a jury trial. AG Barr apparently believes he has finally leaned on enough people, gathered/raked in enough evidence to bring the Google suit-so he isn’t part of the swamp-but the attorneys trying to stall him are-they don’t want the facts of Google bias all over the public domain right now-I don’t see getting my thong in a twist over it-just watch the legal live show...
Get google!
Someone wanting to do what he was hired for vs career federal employees protecting their retirement!!
But have you ever stayed at a Holiday Inn?
Only once a few years ago-I was in the elevator with some guys impersonating KISS-I was so creeped out-I haven’t stayed there since...
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