President Donald Trump’s influential MAGA ally Mike Davis is facing new scrutiny after allegedly threatening to stop a Justice Department official during negotiations over a major tech merger, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation.
Gail Slater, then head of the DOJ’s antitrust division, was reviewing Hewlett-Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion bid to acquire rival Juniper Networks when Davis – serving as outside counsel for HPE – reportedly warned her, “If you don’t approve this settlement, I will destroy you. I will destroy your job at the DOJ,” according to sworn testimony from her former deputy, Roger Alford, reviewed by the Journal.
Slater later told colleagues the call from Davis – who had not only been her friend for years but also recommended her to Trump for the top job – had left her shaken.
“The fallout was swift,” the Journal reported Friday. “Within months, two of Slater’s deputies – including Alford – were pushed out of the Justice Department. By February, Slater was gone, too. A senior White House official said Davis played a role in her ouster.”
Davis denied making any threats. The MAGA lawyer called the allegation “utter bull” in an interview published Friday by the Journal and insisted personnel changes stemmed from what he described as “bogus” corruption claims against him.
But a Journal investigation found that Davis “pushed antitrust officials at the Justice Department to approve his deals – and he went over their heads when they wouldn’t comply.”
“Davis, despite having little experience practicing antitrust law, is one of the most visible practitioners of a change playing out across the division,” the Journal reported Friday.
HPE ultimately pursued settlement talks after the DOJ moved to block the deal, arguing the merger would reduce competition in corporate wireless networking.
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