Last month, we discussed Makan Delrahim’s background, including his experience litigating antitrust and intellectual property matters at the Department of Justice during the George W. Bush administration and his extensive lobbying work at Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schreck. On May 10, senators from the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing and asked Delrahim about several matters that pose potential challenges should he be confirmed as Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division of the DOJ. For the most part, Delrahim provided candid answers, at one point even offering, “I’m an open book on this issue.” Three discussions were particularly insightful.
PLEDGED TO RECUSE HIMSELF FROM PAST MATTERS
As we noted in last month’s article, Delrahim faces a number of potential conflicts if confirmed to the Antitrust Division. From August 2005 to January 2017, Delrahim lobbied on behalf of a number of large corporate clients facing controversial merger review such as health insurer Anthem in its proposed (and now defunct) combination with rival Cigna. Delrahim also represented clients in other high-profile transactions including AMC Entertainment in its merger with Loews Cineplex Entertainment; T-Mobile in its merger with MetroPCS Communications; US Airways in its failed merger with Delta Airlines; and Comcast in its merger with NBC Universal, as well as other corporate clients such as Microsoft, Oracle, Apple, Qualcomm, Pfizer, Neiman Marcus, Merck and Johnson & Johnson.
