Makan Delrahim, assistant attorney general, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ ALM)

Lawyers for the U.S. Justice Department and AT&T Inc. on Friday gave a lively preview of their upcoming antitrust trial as they battled over the company's push to uncover whether the Trump White House exerted any influence to block AT&T's $85 billion merger with Time Warner.

O'Melveny & Myers partner Dan Petrocelli, who represents AT&T, said at a hearing that he added DOJ antitrust chief Makan Delrahim as a witness “just in case” discovery requests showed the White House played any role in the decision to take AT&T to court. He said the government has rebuffed the company's attempts to gather information about any communications between Main Justice and the White House about the merger.

Dan Petrocelli

Petrocelli said AT&T's requests included privilege logs for written communications between U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the White House, and between the antitrust division and Sessions.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, who is overseeing the case, said the government submitted a letter requesting he strike AT&T's defense theory and discovery requests. Craig Conrath, representing the government, argued that, in order for AT&T to get discovery related to their theory, the company's lawyers had to show a high standard of proof.