SouthernWorldwide.com – Adam Candeub, a vocal critic of the technology industry and a government lawyer who spearheaded efforts to regulate social media companies during the Trump administration, is reportedly the leading candidate to head the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.
Sources close to the matter have informed CBS News that Candeub is being considered for the position of assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division. He currently holds the role of general counsel at the Federal Communications Commission, working under Chairman Brendan Carr. The Capitol Forum was the first to report this development.
The current acting assistant attorney general for antitrust, Omeed Assefi, who managed a contentious settlement with Live Nation, the prominent concert and ticketing company, is set to depart next month. His departure in June was pre-planned due to the anticipated arrival of his first child.
Senior officials from the Trump administration are reportedly still evaluating candidates for this critical role, which is responsible for overseeing mergers and acquisitions and safeguarding against price-fixing practices.
Candeub previously served as a senior fellow at the Center for Renewing America, a conservative think tank established by Russell Vought, who was the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Other individuals who have been interviewed for the position in recent weeks include Mike Murray, a former Justice Department attorney and current co-chair of the antitrust practice at Paul Hastings LLP, as well as Adam Cella, a lawyer employed by House Republicans, according to some of the sources.
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A definitive decision has not yet been reached. A spokesperson for the White House stated that there were no personnel announcements at this time.
The individual selected for this role will be tasked with reviewing significant mergers, including the ongoing proposed merger between Warner Bros. and Paramount Skydance, which is the parent company of CBS News.
Assefi assumed the interim role of assistant attorney general following the dismissal of his predecessor, Gail Slater. Slater was removed in February after experiencing a series of disagreements with then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, and their team.
At the time of Slater’s departure, Assefi had informed White House counsel David Warrington and others of his intention to leave in June for personal family reasons.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department issued a statement acknowledging Assefi’s contributions, saying, “Omeed Assefi has been a valuable leader in our Antitrust Division, and we are grateful for his time serving the nation.”
In a previous interview with CBS News shortly after accepting the interim position, Assefi expressed his hope to concentrate on bringing antitrust enforcement cases that would have a tangible impact on the financial well-being of ordinary Americans.
Antitrust advocates have suggested that a second Trump administration might adopt a more lenient stance on corporate mergers, following a series of high-profile settlements during his previous term.
“The level of settlements has made it quite clear that antitrust is dead during Trump’s second term,” commented Reed Showalter, a former Justice Department counsel on antitrust policy during the Biden administration, who is now running for Congress.
Approximately one month after Slater’s dismissal, and while the Justice Department and numerous states were engaged in a significant monopoly lawsuit against Live Nation, Ticketmaster’s parent company, the Justice Department announced it had reached a settlement with the company. This agreement followed escalating tensions within the administration, as Live Nation and other corporations enlisted Trump-aligned consultants and lawyers to advocate for settlements.
The settlement announcement regarding Live Nation reportedly caught many of the involved states and some of the Justice Department’s own trial attorneys by surprise.
“Ideally, given that staff were most closely connected to the facts and theory about the case, their input and involvement would have been essential to the division’s decision-making, especially surrounding such a significant matter to the American people,” stated a current Justice Department trial attorney who requested anonymity.
Sources indicated that the negotiation team for the Live Nation case operated separately from the trial team.
A coalition comprising 30 states opted out of the settlement and decided to proceed with the trial. In April, a federal judge in New York ruled in their favor, concluding that Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary had engaged in an illegal monopoly.
