Late on Wednesday, an unnamed official with the Justice Department stated that it was AT&T that was behind an idea to sell Turner Broadcasting, the entity that owns CNN and other cable channels, due to a condition set forth by the department, the Washington Examiner reported.<\/p>\n
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NBC News has also corroborated the report about the DOJ official\u2019s allegations against AT&T, CNBC<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n The department official said the idea was proposed by the telecommunications giant during a meeting with DOJ officials Monday, as AT&T attempts to merge with Time Warner at a cost of $84.5 billion.<\/p>\n The official stated that others in the department did not like the proposed idea of selling off the 24-hour news network.<\/p>\n “The parties offered to divest CNN and the DOJ Antitrust Division flatly rejected it,\u201d<\/em> the official said, the Examiner reported. He added that discussions are still \u201congoing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The department official also said that Antitrust Division officials made it clear there are \u201cmany ways\u201d<\/em> to settle their concerns regarding the merger and potential anti-competition issues that could arise, and that selling CNN or its parent company would not necessarily \u201csolve the harm to the public,\u201d<\/em> according to the Examiner.<\/p>\n However, the Financial Times<\/a> reported Wednesday that the DOJ told the two companies that CNN needed to be sold if they wanted their merger to be approved.<\/p>\n Multiple news outlets also reported that the Trump administration is asking AT&T and Time Warner to either sell off CNN, or DirecTV, in order to secure government approval of the merger deal, according to ARS Technica<\/a>.<\/p>\n During President Donald Trump\u2019s campaign, and since being elected last year, Trump has repeatedly decried CNN as a \u201cfake news\u201d<\/em> outlet. On one occasion, he even tweeted a video of himself from a pro wrestling event, doctored to show him fighting CNN\u2019s logo.<\/p>\n As the controversy of the sell-off started to heat up, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson defended his company against the DOJ allegations in a statement Wednesday, stating they were not behind the controversial idea.<\/p>\n \u201c[I]t\u2019s important to set the record straight. Throughout this process, I have never offered to sell CNN and have no intention of doing so,\u201d Stephenson made clear, the Examiner reported.<\/p>\n Stephenson had previously said that he expected the merger to be done by Thanksgiving, but he allegedly told investors privately Wednesday that a timeline no longer exists.<\/p>\n
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