Exclusive: DOJ antitrust head says Paramount-Warner Bros deal review is not political
Source: Reuters
March 18, 2026 3:41 PM EDT Updated 5 hours ago
WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - Paramount Skydance's (PSKY.O), proposed acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O), will "absolutely not" have a fast track to approval because of political factors, the head of the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust division told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.
"The idea that somehow enforcement has been politicized is ludicrous," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi, who declined to comment on ongoing probes.
Warner Bros shares closed down around 1%, while Paramount closed down around 2.5% on Wednesday.
Assefi recently resumed his prior post as acting head of the antitrust division after the departure of Gail Slater. He previously served as a special counsel to the White House during Trump's first administration, and has served in the DOJ for more than eight years, including as a criminal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia."There'll be more to come on both the mergers and conduct side. We're aggressive," he said.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/doj-antitrust-head-says-paramountwarner-bros-deal-review-is-not-political-2026-03-18/
TRANSLATION - "We are in charge and anti-trust will not be enforced because we say so, and this is a done deal".
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