A group of Democrats in the US Senate is pressuring President Donald Trump's Justice Department to hand over any and all communications between the agency and corporate lobbyists related to last week's ouster of antitrust chief Gail Slater, which came weeks before the scheduled start of the closely watched Live Nation-Ticketmaster trial.
In a Saturday letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi—herself a former corporate lobbyist—the Democratic lawmakers raised concerns about the timing of Slater's departure, pointing to Live Nation-Ticketmaster's ongoing "attempts to evade responsibility by convincing Justice Department leadership to settle the case on terms favorable to the company, rather than fans, artists, and independent venues."
Slater's ouster as head of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division less than a year after she was confirmed in a bipartisan vote, wrote Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and six other Democratic lawmakers, "raises significant concerns about this administration’s commitment to enforcing the antitrust laws for the betterment of consumers and small businesses, including seeing through its cases against monopolies."
The antitrust suit against Live Nation, Ticketmaster's parent company, was launched in 2024 by the Biden administration and a coalition of state attorneys general. Their complaint accuses Live Nation of unlawful anticompetitive conduct that "allows them to exploit their conflicts of interest—as a promoter, ticketer, venue owner, and artist manager—across the live music industry and further entrench their dominant positions."
Semafor reported earlier this month that Live Nation executives and lobbyists "have been negotiating with senior DOJ officials" in an effort to "avert a trial over whether the company is operating an illegal monopoly." Those negotiations are reportedly being held outside of the antitrust division previously headed by Slater, who was ousted days after Semafor published its story.
The American Prospect reported that Kellyanne Conway and "MAGA influencer" Mike Davis are among those lobbying the Justice Department on behalf of Live Nation.
In their Saturday letter, the Senate Democrats called on the Justice Department to provide "the dates of each meeting with any representatives of Live Nation-Ticketmaster and the individuals present from the Justice Department, White House, or Live Nation-Ticketmaster for each meeting" and "all communications" between the DOJ and Live Nation-Ticketmaster regarding the dismissal of Slater or her deputies.
One of those deputies, Roger Alford, unloaded on the Bondi-led Justice Department weeks after his firing last summer for "insubordination." According to Alford, the DOJ is "now overwhelmed with lobbyists with little antitrust expertise going above the antitrust division leadership seeking special favors with warm hugs."
Alford pointed specifically to the merger settlement deal that the Justice Department cut with Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper Networks last year. Bondi's chief of staff reportedly overruled Slater's team to push through the settlement.
The Live Nation-Ticketmaster antitrust challenge could be "the next casualty" of the lobbyist-infiltrated DOJ, Alford warned.
