Attorney General Holder: Comcast/NBCU Merger Review was "Appropriately Aggressive"

Attorney General Eric Holder told Rep Maxine Waters (D-CA), at a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing, that the Justice Department was not trying to regulate by consent decree in its merger review process, that its Comcast/NBCU merger review was "appropriately aggressive," and that the White House's courting of GE CEO Jeff Immelt did not and should not have played any part in that decision-making process.

Rep Waters complained that Justice was providing "rubber stamp" approvals of mergers, a complaint Democrats levied against Justice under the Bush Administration. rep Waters focused on Comcast/NBCU, a merger she had numerous concerns and complaints about. She said the antitrust division was becoming more regulator than legal enforcement agency. She pointed to the temporary conditions it has to enforce in Comcast/NBCU and other mergers, as opposed to simply blocking a deal or requiring divestiture when appropriate. AG Holder said Justice was not trying to regulate via condition.