By Jody Godoy
(Reuters) -Attorneys general from Colorado and 19 other states on Friday called for a court to consider rejecting a U.S. Department of Justice’s settlement allowing Hewlett-Packard Enterprise to acquire Juniper Networks for $14 billion.
The letter from the Democratic attorneys general is the latest development over the DOJ’s decision to drop its attempt to block the merger, which a former DOJ official has said was influenced by politically connected lobbyists.
“If, upon exposing the settlement to sunlight, the evidence establishes that it was the product of undue influence, then the court should reject it as against the public interest,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser wrote.
Shortly after Trump took office in January, the Justice Department sued to block the deal, alleging it would stifle competition and lead to only two companies – Cisco Systems and HP Enterprise – controlling more than 70% of the U.S. market for networking equipment.
Ahead of a scheduled trial in San Jose, California, the DOJ agreed to drop its claims in June, in exchange for HP Enterprise agreeing to license some of Juniper’s AI technology to competitors and sell off a unit that caters to small and mid-sized businesses.
A month later, two of the DOJ antitrust division officials who signed off on the deal were fired. Sources described the move as retaliation against Gail Slater, head of the antitrust division, for pushing back on orders from DOJ leadership to settle the case.
Roger Alford, one of the fired officials, said afterwards in a speech that two of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s deputies perverted justice and acted inconsistently with the rule of law in connection with the settlement.
The court should hear testimony from Alford along with DOJ officials and consultants who represented HP Enterprise, the states said.
(Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
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