Deposition: AT&T CEO raised idea of selling CNN to head off antitrust challenge

AT&T chief executive officer Randall Stephenson floated the idea of selling CNN when he met with Justice Department antitrust chief Marakan Delrahim in Nov 2017 in an attempt to head off a government lawsuit challenging the company's proposed takeover of Time Warner, according to a deposition. The conversation revealed in the filing clashes with Stephenson's public statements at the time that he wasn't willing to sell the news network to resolve US concerns over the Time Warner deal. Stephenson recounted the exchange during a deposition before the government's lawsuit seeking to block the deal went to trial early in 2018. Stephenson has disputed that he ever offered to sell CNN to resolve the government's concerns about the proposed merger.