How Trump’s Pick for Top Antitrust Cop, Makan Delrahim, May Shape Competition

Makan Delrahim, the nominee for chief antitrust cop at the Justice Department, will have his confirmation hearing April 26.

If he is confirmed — and he is expected to be — his philosophies will help shape the corporate competition landscape for the next few years, at a time when mega-mergers like AT&T’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner. In an interview, Delrahim declined to address AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner, which is now undergoing regulatory review, or other large deals, saying he would “examine any matter according to evidence and economic analysis.” But he gave other hints of how he might act as the department’s top antitrust official. Specifically, Delrahim, a former lobbyist, said he would not go after a company just because it was big, and would do so only if there were violations of antitrust law. “Just like any other industry, if there is wrongdoing, we would investigate,” Delrahim said. But “federal laws should not be used as a fishing expedition by government.” He also intimated that he was skeptical of antitrust action against intellectual property rights holders. In a 2007 statement, he had warned that cases that blended intellectual property rights with antitrust enforcement could hamper innovation.