The Hill

The Department of Justice and AT&T traded accusations Nov 8 over whether the company would have to sell off CNN, the cable network frequently feuding with President Trump, as a condition of its merger with Time Warner.  AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson flatly denied that his company had ever entertained the idea of selling CNN to win approval of the deal. “Until now, we’ve never commented on our discussions with the DOJ. But given DOJ’s statement this afternoon, it’s important to set the record straight,” said Stephenson.

[Commentary] While news reports overflow with examples of the Trump Administration pulling back on oversight of business, they’re missing the story in one key area: the administration’s aggressive move to restore Federal Trade Commission power to police the internet. While the Federal Communications Commission is charged with protecting the public interest, it ultimately lacks the staff, resources, and statutory authority needed for a true on-the-ground, national consumer protection effort.

The FBI has confiscated the phone of the gunman who opened fire at a Texas church Nov 5 but is unable to access it for the ongoing investigation.  FBI Special Agent Christopher Combs, who is leading the investigation, told reporters that the bureau had flown the device to Quantico (VA) Nov 6 and that agents have been reviewing the phone but have not been able to get into it.  “It actually highlights an issue that you’ve all heard about before with advance of the phones and the technology and the encryption, law enforcement, whether it’s at the state, local or the federal level, is increasin

[Commentary] Under the plain terms of the Communications Act, the Federal Communications Commission is obligated to review industry mergers and acquisitions to determine whether such transactions serve the public interest. Given that the FCC is “entrusted with the responsibility to determine when and to what extent the public interest would be served by competition in the industry," the commission’s merger review serves a useful and important function.

An early draft of former FBI Director James Comey’s statement closing out the Hillary Clinton e-mail case accused the former secretary of State of having been "grossly negligent” in handling classified information, newly reported memos to Congress show. The tough language was changed to the much softer accusation that Clinton had been “extremely careless” in her handling of classified information when Comey announced in July 2016 there would be no charges against her.

Fox News has canceled ads purchased by Democratic mega-donor Tom Steyer that call for President Donald Trump’s impeachment, CNN’s Brian Stelter confirmed. “Due to the strong negative reaction to their ad by our viewers, we could not in good conscience take their money,” Fox News told Stelter. Steyer said that Fox News informed him on Oct.