Baer Recused from Justice's Comcast/TWC Review

By John Eggerton
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

William J. Baer, assistant attorney general in charge of the antitrust division and former head of the antitrust Practice Group at Arnold & Porter, has recused himself from the review of the proposed Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger, which Justice confirms it has begun reviewing.

Arnold & Porter did legal work for NBCU in the Comcast/NBCU transaction.

A Justice source confirmed that his recusal was "due to work on a previous matter in private practice."

The Comcast/TWC deal review will be overseen by principal deputy assistant attorney general Renata B. Hesse, who will be the acting assistant attorney general on the matter. Also on the review will be deputy assistant attorney general David Gelfand.

The FCC has not yet started the clock on its merger review, which is an informal 180 days. Comcast has said it has until the end of the month to file with the commission.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.