Google seeks to dam incoming antitrust chief over Yelp and Microsoft circumstances

Google despatched a letter to the Department of Justice Friday requesting that the division look at whether or not newly confirmed antitrust division head Jonathan Kanter, who has been a vocal critic of the search big, must be recused from federal antitrust investigations into Google. In his new function, Kanter will lead the division’s lawsuit towards Google alleging it has a monopoly within the search and promoting markets.

Kanter has represented various corporations in motions towards Google, which the search big argues ought to disqualify him. Most notably, Kanter represented Microsoft in a movement arguing towards Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick, which was finally accepted by regulators and was closed in 2008.

“Mr. Kanter’s past statements and work representing competitors who have advocated for the cases brought by the Department raise serious concerns about his ability to be impartial,” a Google spokesperson stated in a press release to The Verge. You can learn Google’s full letter to the DOJ on the backside of this text.

Kanter is the most recent in a string of distinguished antitrust appointments from the Biden administration, which additionally embody Lina Khan’s affirmation because the chair of the Federal Trade Commission and Tim Wu’s function engaged on expertise and competitors coverage on the National Economic Council. Notably, Amazon and Facebook sought to power Lina Khan to recuse herself from their circumstances on related grounds, though, to this point, the efforts have had little outcome.