DOJ Rejects Meeting With Congress - 9/21/11

limitgov — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 14:34:48 GMT

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/63965.html

That's pretty handy. I bet alot of people wish that had that kind of power when they were summoned by state officials.

House Republicans should not expect a briefing soon from the Department of Justice on AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile, now that the agency is proceeding with a lawsuit to block the deal on antitrust grounds.

The agency on Monday declined a request made earlier this month by Reps. Fred Upton of Michigan, Greg Walden of Oregon and Joe Barton of Texas, key Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee. The lawmakers asked both DOJ and the FCC in a letter for a meeting so members could learn more about their proceedings. The lawmakers also said they had “specific concerns” at the DOJ about the deal, “and how these concerns relate to the impact on jobs and economic growth.”

But responding Monday, a top official at Justice said the agency cannot provide such a briefing now because “the matter is in active litigation.”

“While we have long recognized the legitimate congressional interest in information about how the department enforces the law,” wrote Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich, “our disclosure of nonpublic information about matters in litigation outside of the judiciary process complicates and may jeopardize our law enforcement efforts, as well inescapably creating risk that the public and the courts will perceive undue political and congressional influence over litigation decisions.”