'The Mt. Rushmore of antitrust cases'

Aug 13, 2024

By Eli Stokols, Lauren Egan and Ben Johansen

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It may prove to be one of the most consequential outcomes of JOE BIDEN’s presidency: A judge ruled last week that Google has acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in internet search — the first major antitrust ruling against a technology giant and one that could change how we all use the web.

Judge AMIT P. MEHTA of the D.C. district court has yet to determine the legal remedies for Google’s years of spending — billions annually — to be the default browser on Apple and other platforms. And the search engine plans to appeal. But the ruling is still the most significant fulfillment of the high hopes within the antitrust community around the ambitions of a vaunted trio of officials with aims of reining in Big Tech (dust off those Wu & Khan & Kanter mugs, folks).

To unpack the ruling and its impact, West Wing Playbook spoke with JONATHAN KANTER, who leads the Department of Justice’s antitrust division.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Okay, for those who haven’t been following, how big is this ruling? And what will it mean?

This is the most important case about the internet since the internet. The court concluded that Google is a monopolist and that it illegally maintained its monopoly. This is a victory for the rule of law. And it means that internet companies, like every other company in the country, are accountable under the antitrust laws, and that the values of competition and the competitive economy that delivers benefits to the entire public is something that not only we should care about in connection with the internet, but something we should fight to protect now.

They argued that their product was simply the best. And you convinced the judge that, no, Google is illegally stifling competition. Why does that matter? A lot of people like Google!

All companies, including monopolies, do better when they face competition. Competitors force companies to deliver better products. They force companies to deliver less expensive products. They force companies to deliver more innovative products. We want the competitive process to work so that new companies, startups, innovators, small-, medium-sized players can realize their dream of building the next great, innovative U.S. company.

How will this change Google’s business and the internet? How will people experience the internet differently because of this?

We also want competition with respect to quality. That means the search results can get even better, or can help connect consumers and users to better information on the internet and allow more information on the internet to connect with consumers.

Also, advertising is one of the most significant costs of American businesses, especially small businesses, who pay lots of money every year to generate customers through advertising on products like search. We want prices to come down so that those small businesses can generate consumers and build their businesses with all the benefits of competition, including price competition for advertising.

Google became Google, at least in part, because a DOJ antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft in the '90s opened up the early internet. Some have suggested this victory has similar implications for AI. Do you agree?

The beauty of competition and antitrust is that it doesn’t pick winners and losers. It protects a process, the competitive process, that allows companies of all sizes and shapes to succeed. And so past antitrust cases, including the case against Microsoft, opened and paved the way for the next generation of internet companies, including companies like Google.

We want to make sure that those new startups, those new developers, those new innovators, have the opportunity to reach the market. At the same time, we want to make sure that the existing large companies feel that competitive pressure and use it to drive them to produce more and to produce better for the American public.

After the decision, the White House released a statement saying, “This pro-competition ruling is a victory for the American people” and that “Americans deserve an internet that is free, fair, and open to competition.” Have you gotten any additional, more personal outreach from the White House after this ruling came down?

Let me start by saying that our law enforcement is completely independent, and we follow the facts and law, we bring cases based on the facts and law to ensure that we are holding companies accountable. Separate from that, I will say that the Biden-Harris administration has been the most forward thinking, innovative and impactful with respect to competition policy. It has supercharged the ability to infuse competition policy throughout the government.

Its executive order has allowed us to work more closely with the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Transportation, Health and Human Services, the NLRB, the Department of Labor and so many others to make sure that competition is a value that allows and opens up our economy to the benefit of all.

Since a transition in January is guaranteed, how does that change your work? Is there a rush to get things filed over these next five months?

Again, we operate independently. And so my focus day in and day out is putting one foot in front of the other and making sure that we are fighting for the rule of law.

No rush to get things filed now?

We have and will continue to work at the pace dictated by the facts in the law.

Do you think about this ruling as part of your own personal legacy?

This is an extremely important moment to the extent that there were any questions about whether the antitrust laws or the Department of Justice antitrust division is up to the task of forcing on the internet. I think we've answered that question decisively.

This one goes on the Mount Rushmore of antitrust cases.

What else is on there?

Microsoft, AT&T, Standard Oil.

You know, Donald Trump has suggested adding himself to the actual Mount Rushmore. Will there be a fifth case from this administration on your antitrust Mount Rushmore?

Time will tell.

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POTUS PUZZLER

What habit of BILL CLINTON’s became a Secret Service nightmare?

(Answer at bottom.)

CAMPAIGN HQ

EVERY DAY I'M HUSTLIN': Progressive national security professionals are already angling for positions in a potential KAMALA HARRIS administration, with a goal of steering the White House in a different direction on Israel and other issues after being largely shut out during Biden’s four years, our NAHAL TOOSI, PHELIM KINE and JOSEPH GEDEON report.

Some progressive activists plan to compile lists of people Harris could hire at places such as the National Security Council and the Defense Department. Others are polishing their résumés, sketching out policy briefs and mapping their connections to Harris world.

“A lot of people volunteered for the Biden campaign thinking they’d have the opportunity to serve. Then they saw Biden pick people who had the box checked for having served in the Obama administration,” said one think tanker, who unsuccessfully sought a role on the Biden team and may seek a position if Harris were to be elected.

WINNING THEM BACK: In a new poll from the Democratic super PAC Won’t PAC Down, Vice President Harris has made up some serious ground with young voters. In a survey of approximately 1,300 18 to 29 year olds in battleground states, Harris is leading former President DONALD TRUMP by 9 points. That’s a dramatic 13-point swing from when the group surveyed the same demographic in early July, when President Biden was the presumptive nominee. In a two-way race, Harris garnered 51 percent of registered voters’ support to Trump’s 42 percent.

“She’s building that trust. She’s building that credibility now. And then people will be more open to hearing the specifics of what she has to say in the days and weeks and months ahead,” JOHN DELLA VOLPE, who conducted the poll, told TNR’s GREG SARGNET on his podcast "The Daily Blast."

ON THAT DEARBORN VOTE: The Harris campaign is bringing in NASRINA BARGZIE to lead its outreach to Muslim and Arab voters, NBC’s YAMICHE ALCINDOR reports. Bargzie worked in the vice president’s White House office until July as a policy adviser on Muslim, Arab and Gaza-related issues, as well as reproductive rights, voting and democracy. She will cover the same broad portfolio on the campaign.

FILLING OUT THE TEAM: DANIELA CAMPOS LÓPEZ is taking a temporary leave from her position as Sen. JON OSSOFF’s deputy communications director to join the Harris campaign in the same role for its Georgia operation. CESAR TOLEDO has joined the Harris campaign as its deputy LGBTQ+ engagement director. Toledo previously served as deputy director at Democrats for Education Reform and as the political director for LGBTQ+ Victory Fund.

— KAYLA CALKIN will take over the campaign’s Colorado operations, joining as its Colorado state director. Calkin had been serving as the federal campaigns director for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

— MALBERT SMITH has joined the Harris campaign as the senior political and coalitions adviser for North Carolina, our DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. He most recently was adviser for the assistant secretary of the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Labor.

The Oval

MORE $ FOR BIDEN’S MOONSHOT: Biden’s pivot back to policy matters that may help define his presidential legacy continued on Tuesday in New Orleans where he announced $150 million in awards to support new cancer research. The funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health will support eight teams of researchers around the country, including at Tulane University, working on ways to help surgeons more successfully remove tumors for people facing cancer.

“We’re moving quickly, because we know all families touched by cancers are in a race against time,” Biden said, noting that the funding is another step closer to his goal of cutting cancer fatalities in half over the next 25 years. “I’m confident it’s within our capacity to do that. I know we can.”

DID YOU TRY UNPLUGGING EVERYTHING? If it’s August, some shit is going down at the White House. Like the press wifi network, which went down on Monday and was still out on Tuesday. Also, the “quad” — the four-box TV coverage of all four major cable networks that airs around the clock on monitors throughout the West Wing — has been out all week, too. And aides weren’t able to transmit live audio of press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE’s Air Force One gaggle on Tuesday, the second straight day there’s been no livestream of her briefing.

“It’s like we’re living in the 1990s,” said one administration official, who explained that the culprit is Debbie. As in: the storm that dumped all that rain on the DMV last weekend. That caused a water leak in the New Executive Office Building across from the White House where all the servers are located.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This report from Bloomberg’s KRISTON CAPPS on the administration’s announcement on Tuesday of $100 million in grants to state and local governments to spur the construction of new housing. As the story notes, and as Biden himself posted about on X, housing production is at record levels thanks to a pandemic-driven boom in apartment construction. More housing units are being built now than at any point in half a century, and rents are stabilizing as a result.

White House deputy press secretary ANDREW BATES posted the story on X.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by WaPo’s EVAN HALPER, who reports that many Pennsylvania voters whose livelihoods rely on the fossil fuel industry are having a difficult time forgetting that Vice President Harris called for a ban on fracking during her 2020 presidential campaign.

Even though she has since disavowed that policy position, some key voters in the state are not sold. EMANUEL PARIS, a fourth-generation contractor in Pennsylvania, rattled off a list of Biden-Harris administration policies that he said are inhibiting growth in the local energy sector, adding that Harris’ shift on fracking is a “grab for votes.” He will be voting for Donald Trump in November.

“There’s already uncertainty with just ‘what does she believe, what she would do,’” said JEFF NOBERS, executive director of Pittsburgh Works Together, a coalition of union and business leaders. “And if she doesn’t support a ban on fracking, what is her energy policy plan?”

DOUG-BOMB: Alums of the U.S. women’s national soccer team were having a blast in Paris watching their youngins’ win gold last week. In a picture posted to X, vets like MEGAN RAPINOE, LAUREN HOLIDAY and ALI KRIEGER celebrated … with second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF and U.S. Ambassador to India ERIC GARCETTI photo-bombing the legendary group.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff poses with former members of the U.S. women's national soccer team at the 2024 Olympics.

THE BUREAUCRATS

PERSONNEL MOVES: KENNETH SANDOVAL is now a senior adviser in the Office of Public Engagement at the White House, Lippman has learned. He most recently was senior adviser at America's Voice.

— CHRIS ESTEP, a special assistant to Department of Defense Assistant Secretary ELY RATNER, is serving as national security communications adviser in the Office of the Vice President under a detail from the DOD.

— JESS BLAKEMORE has been promoted to be senior associate counsel at the White House. She previously was an associate counsel.

Agenda Setting

PODESTA!!! Some Democrats are stressed that a second Trump presidency paired with Republican wins in key Senate and House races this November could hobble the climate provisions within the Inflation Reduction Act. But JOHN PODESTA, senior adviser to the president for clean energy innovation and implementation, does not seem worried.

“Understandably, people are asking if those investments can really stick, regardless of who’s in power in Washington,” Podesta said in a fireside chat with Third Way on Tuesday. “My answer of whether the IRA will stay is unquestionably, yes.”

Podesta argued that despite Republicans voting against the bill, their constituents are receiving the benefits. He pointed specifically to Oklahoma Gov. KEVIN STITT, who today celebrated the largest direct air capture facility in the country, made possible by money through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Podesta shied away from commenting on political matters — like whether Harris should lean into these investments on the campaign trail — but noted that the vice president was a “champion” of the IRA and her tie-breaking vote passed the bill.

PUTIN BACKS OUT: Russia pulled some of its troops out of Southern Ukraine on Tuesday and back into its own territory as it looks to fend off an escalating incursion by Kyiv’s forces, our VERONIKA MELKOZEROVA and ALI WALKER report. Ukraine’s ongoing surprise attack has left Moscow scrambling and Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN expressing anger after Kyiv snatched dozens of settlements and huge areas of territory in the Kursk and Belgorod regions of southern Russia.

What We're Reading

Workers allege ‘nightmare’ conditions at Kentucky startup JD Vance helped fund (CNN’s Allison Gordon, Daniel Medina, Curt Devine and Kyung Lah)

The $22 Billion Plan to Turn a Defunct Airport Into a Small City (WSJ’s Anne Kadet)

Ignore the Media Haters. The ‘Harris Honeymoon’ Is Far From Over. (The Daily Beast’s David Rothkopf)

POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER

In his way-too-short shorts, Clinton would go jogging to temporarily escape from the strains of being president. But former Secret Service agent DAN EMMETT wrote in his 2012 book that the habit was unpopular among fellow agents. “He dealt us this nightmare," Emmett said. “The worst thing for the Secret Service is to take a sitting president into public when no one has been swept and anyone could be out there.”

A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it!

Edited by Steve Shepard and Rishika Dugyala.

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