Smack in the Middle of Nexstar-TEGNA, Antitrust Chief Gail Slater Shown the Door
'They’ve basically decided to decapitate the Antitrust Division. It’s not just Slater. Her top deputies are gone,' said Douglas Farrar, a senior policy advisor to Democratic FTC Chair Lina Khan.
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Nexstar: Smack in the middle of the Nexstar-TEGNA merger review, Justice Department antitrust chief Abigail Slater resigned Thursday after clashing with Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on policy and other matters, according to news accounts. “Trump officials believed Slater had undermined pending cases because of disagreements with leadership and had disobeyed requests, including to not embark on expensive travel to Europe and on other matters,” CBS News reported, citing unnamed sources. CBS News senior White House correspondent Jennifer Jacobs said Slater was replaced by Omeed Assefi, who serves as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement in the Antitrust Division. Douglas Farrar, a senior policy advisor to Democratic FTC Chair Lina Khan, told Bloomberg News, “I think what you are going to see is they are probably not going to block any mergers. They’ve basically decided to decapitate the Antitrust Division. It’s not just Slater. Her top deputies are gone.” Slater’s office was reviewing Nexstar Media Group’s $6.2 billion acquisition of 64 TEGNA TV stations, a deal President Trump strongly supports. Under FCC rules, Nexstar may own two TV stations in every market without restriction. After combining with TEGNA, Nexstar would own three or more full-power TV stations in 23 markets – a level of concentration that might have concerned Slater’s team. It’s not clear whether the FCC will require Nexstar station sales while also considering a waiver to its National Television Ownership Rule, which prohibits a single entity from owning television stations that, in the aggregate, reach more than 39% of the total TV households in the U.S. (More after paywall.)
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