JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump is considering tapping the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, Makan Delrahim, to become the next attorney general, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. Delrahim is one of several people under consideration for the job, and has close ties to the Trump White House. As a deputy to then-White House counsel Don McGahn, Delrahim helped shepherd the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, which Trump has touted as one of his signature accomplishments. Two months after joining the Justice Department in September 2017 as chief of the antitrust division, Delrahim led the government’s suit to block AT&T’s takeover of Time Warner Inc., a move that puzzled a number of legal experts and contradicted Delrahim’s own prior stance. CNN, which was part of Time Warner and is now owned by AT&T, is a frequent target of the President, who promised to block the deal during the campaign in 2016. Delrahim has denied he ever received direct orders from Trump to stop the acquisition. A district judge approved the deal in June. Delrahim’s anti-trust division has appealed.”
–Pamela Brown, Ariane de Vogue, Kevin Liptak and Laura Jarrett, “Former Trump White House lawyer emerges as a contender for attorney general,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, November 29, 2018 10:17 am