A federal judge’s decision last Monday to let Democratic state attorneys general depose the Trump administration officials who approved a routine merger that the U.S. intelligence community insisted was needed for national security reasons tells us just how divisive the U.S. political system has become.
The case, which involves the merger of two telecom companies, HPE and Juniper, is being framed as just a quest for answers — as a simple transparency measure to ensure no funny business occurred from the Trump White House. In reality, it’s anything but that. It’s the latest episode of selective outrage — another instance where normal, routine governance becomes “lawfare” the moment the Trump administration issues a press release.
When the suit to stop the HPE-Juniper merger first landed, Letitia James, Keith Ellison, and the rest of the Democratic attorneys general sat it out. They refused to sign onto the Justice Department’s suit.
Only after the Trump administration reviewed the facts, weighed the national security implications, and backed a settlement allowing the merger to proceed did they rush in and cry Trump cronyism.
This proves that they aren’t really fighting a merger; they are fighting Trump.
Which is a shame because this merger was a strategic response to a genuine national security challenge.
The United States is in a global technology competition with China, and telecommunications infrastructure is one of the main battlefields.