Ticketmaster Live Nation
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SEE SLATER FIRED BY DAVIS
BONDI?
KELLYANNE?
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DCK 10 26
Search Assist
Mike Davis and Stanley Woodward were both involved in controversial dealings related to Hewlett Packard Enterprise's merger with Juniper Networks, where they pressured officials to approve the deal despite objections from the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. Gail Slater, who was the assistant attorney general for the antitrust division, faced significant pressure from both Davis and Woodward during this process.
Wikipedia The American Prospect
Involvement of Mike Davis and Stanley Woodward with Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Overview of the Controversy
Mike Davis and Stanley Woodward played significant roles in the controversial merger between Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Juniper Networks. Their actions raised concerns regarding the integrity of the approval process, particularly in relation to antitrust regulations.
Key Players
| Name | Role | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Davis | Conservative political strategist and lobbyist | Article III Project, Trump ally |
| Stanley Woodward | Associate Attorney General | U.S. Department of Justice |
| Gail Slater | Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust | U.S. Department of Justice |
Pressure Tactics
Both Davis and Woodward were reported to have pressured Gail Slater to approve the merger despite objections from the Antitrust Division. This included:
Threats: Woodward allegedly threatened to fire Slater's deputies if she did not sign off on the settlement related to the merger.
Political Influence: Their close ties to the Trump administration and lobbying efforts were seen as significant factors in the approval process.
Outcome
The merger faced scrutiny due to the manner in which it was approved, with allegations of a "pay-to-play" environment influencing decisions within the Department of Justice. This situation highlighted concerns about the intersection of politics and legal processes in high-stakes corporate mergers.
Wikipedia The American Prospect
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FLY PENG
What a Million Dollars Now Buys at the DOJ: Mike Davis
February 16, 2026 Davi OttenheimeR
A conservative legal activist, who collected at least $1 million in success fees for getting the DOJ to approve the Hewlett Packard Enterprise-Juniper Networks merger and another million for the Compass-Anywhere deal, used social media this month to celebrate pushing out the DOJ Antitrust Chief Gail Slater.
Mike Davis used an ethnic slur in his attacks on Slater, reminding everyone who’s back in charge.
Former MAGA Attorney Goes Scorched Earth…. Mike Davis and Arthur Schwartz have made a Faustian bargain of trading on relationships with powerful people to reportedly earn million-dollar success fees by helping corporations undermine Trump’s antitrust agenda, hurt working class Americans, break the rules, and then try to cover it up.
When Mike Davis dropped the professional pretense and spread a racist nickname for a Senate-confirmed official he just pushed out, he’s not worried about consequences.
He’s advertising pay-to-play impunity.
The Mechanism
Here’s the simple math. Slater had been confirmed 78-19, in the most bipartisan vote of Trump’s second term after Rubio. She was supposed to be the whole face of “MAGA antitrust,” the populist enforcement wing that would take on Big Tech and corporate monopolies.
Then she discovered MAGA isn’t about rule of law. It’s a dictatorship — chaotic by design, because stability would mean someone could hold the rules steady long enough to enforce them. She found the antitrust division was being bypassed entirely, not to serve policy but to serve whoever could pay the right fixer.
Live Nation hired Davis and Kellyanne Conway to negotiate a settlement directly with senior DOJ officials, cutting the antitrust division and Slater out. When Slater opposed settling the HPE-Juniper merger, AG Bondi’s chief of staff overruled her and fired two top deputies. When Slater and her lawyers recommended an extended review of the Compass-Anywhere real estate merger, DOJ leadership cleared it after Compass’s lawyers went directly to Deputy AG Todd Blanche.
Davis is now gloating that he wrecked antitrust. In a group chat called “Frenemies Fight Club,” he wrote: “Gail was a disaster. I recommended her hiring. And her firing.”
The Cover Story
The Daily Caller reprinted the empty-headed official version: Slater went to a conference in Paris and Bondi canceled her credit cards while alleging lack of authorization for the trip. Slater allegedly lied about HPE. She allegedly leaked to the press.
These read like the standard retaliation template. Cancelled her credit cards? Give the friendly outlet a petty management anecdote about a Paris trip to pollute the news. If the conference had been in South Dakota the disinformation wouldn’t be as barbed. The cover-up wouldn’t land so hard. Who is talking about the million-dollar success fees that have been flowing to the lobbyist who got the antitrust chief fired for doing her job?
What Comes Next
Live Nation’s stock jumped 5.8% when Slater’s departure was announced. The market said what the administration’s talking points are designed to obscure: antitrust enforcement in America is now a concierge service for those who can afford the right lobbyist. The rich get control, to get richer.
The Live Nation trial is set for March 2. Slater’s deputy overseeing the case, Mark Hamer, also left. The division is now run by Omeed Assefi, who Davis describes as “very well liked and respected”, which means compliant. Such a pretty smile, never talks.
Sounds like capture complete.
However there’s a wrinkle. A federal judge has authorized Tunney Act depositions of Davis, Arthur Schwartz, and William Levi for the HPE-Juniper case. That hearing window opens March 23-27. For the first time, the people who ran this dangerous bypass operation will have to answer questions under oath, to an authority they can’t lobby.
Davis calling Slater an ethnic slur isn’t a mistake. It’s his brazen MAGA receipt.
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AInvest
Justice Department Official Accuses Colleagues of "Perverted Justice ...
Aug 18, 2025Former DOJ attorney Roger Alford accuses colleagues Chad Mizelle and Stanley Woodward of "perverting justice" in the antitrust settlement over Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $13 billion takeover of Juniper Networks. Alford calls for a court to block the deal and expresses hope for personnel changes within the DOJ.
flyingpenguin.com
https://www.flyingpenguin.com › what-a-million-dollars-now-buys-at-the-doj
What a Million Dollars Now Buys at the DOJ: Mike Davis
Feb 16, 2026A conservative legal activist, who collected at least $1 million in success fees for getting the DOJ to approve the Hewlett Packard Enterprise-Juniper Networks merger and another million for the Compass-Anywhere deal, used social media this month to celebrate pushing out the DOJ Antitrust
7 26 We Talked to a Trump Whistleblower. What He Saw Will Shock You.
Jul 7, 2026
There's a set of MAGA lobbyists in DC who can get you anything you want from the White House, legal or not. Ticketmaster, Paramount, crypto companies — they're all exploiting this pay-to-play system.
KROGER REALPAGE UNITED HEALTH AMAZON GGL LINA KHAN // JDV?!
GAIL S ROGER ALFORD BOSS
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[Liz Scheltens] For the last 40 years, across administrations from both parties, politicians have mostly been content to let corporations keep getting bigger and more powerful.
1:43
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But in recent years, something has started to shift. [Anchor] The federal government is suing to block the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history...
1:52
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...arguing that it would reduce the number of supermarkets, which would mean higher prices.
1:55
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Today, the Justice Department and eight states sued software company RealPage, alleging it illegally helped landlords unfairly fix prices and raise rents throughout the country.
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At the end of the first Trump administration, there were very large and significant monopoly cases that were brought against Facebook and against Google.
2:16
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[Liz Scheltens] When Lina Khan took over the Federal Trade Commission under President Biden, she and her colleagues in the Department of Justice continued those suits, and filed dozens more.
2:26
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[Anchor] Department of Justice has launched an antitrust probe into UnitedHealth. The move is part of the Biden administration’s push to lower drug prices.
...5:15
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We want him in a very high capacity. Mike Davis. Mike. Thank you, Mike. Where is Mike? Mike is great.
5:24
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Mike Davis actually recommended Gail Slater to President Trump for the top antitrust job. Davis has denied the threatening phone call.
5:32
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But it is true that a couple of weeks after the election, he started getting big checks from corporations like Hewlett Packard Enterprise, who wanted him to use his connections to push their mergers through.
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[Roger Alford] His salary is $300,000 a month. He has a contingency fee of over $1 million for any successful mergers.
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They hire this lobbyist and the lobbyist starts talking to higher-ups, saying, you like us, we're on your team.
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Just tell them to drop the case. [Liz Scheltens] And they did.
6:02
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DOJ sources told the Wall Street Journal that a couple of weeks after the threatening phone call, Gail Slater's boss, quote, “placed a document on her desk.”
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It was a settlement deal written by Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s own lawyers. It was a genuine shock.
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When Gail Slater asked her boss what would happen if she refused to sign it, he told her, quote, “She was too difficult to fire, but he would fire her deputies.” She signed, and then he fired them anyway.
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And we all basically strongly suggested that that was inappropriate. And as a result of that, I was terminated.
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[Anchor] Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, they're up more than 12%, after the DOJ gave the green light for the proposed $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks.
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This is oligarchy in action: company gets sued, they hire a million-dollar fixer with the president's ear to leverage his loyalty and make sure that the suit goes away.
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They get a sweetheart deal, and then, when someone like Roger Alford gets in the way, they make sure he gets fired.
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This type of, let's call it, pay-for-play politics hadn't happened since Watergate. They're dropping cases because they decided someone's a friend.
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That's not the rule of law. That's the opposite of the rule of law.
7:16
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A few months later, one of America's most hated companies decided to try the same play for themselves.
7:24
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[Anchor] Outrage over Ticketmaster and Live Nation gouging consumers on big concerts.
...
7:50
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A bunch of state attorneys general signed on to the suit as well, including Phil Weiser of Colorado and Jonathan Skrmetti of Tennessee.
7:57
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I mean, there was tremendous evidence of very aggressive, almost mafia-like tactics.
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We had some witnesses, they would get a phone call and it was basically like, “Hey, nice arena you have there.
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Be a shame if anything happened to it.” You know, we have the internal conversations laughing about how dumb their customers are and how great it is that they can rip ’em off.
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[Anchor] The messages between two ticketing directors saying, “These people are so stupid.” Another message saying, “Robbing them blind, baby.”
8:25
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[Liz Scheltens] When President Trump took office in 2025, his Department of Justice decided to continue the Ticketmaster suit. Ticketmaster thought they would try the same play as Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
8:35
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They hired Kellyanne Conway, Trump's former campaign manager, as a fixer. They donated to Trump's inaugural fund.
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And they hired Mike Davis, the same fixer who got Hewlett Packard Enterprise their sweetheart deal.
8:48
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Davis went after Roger Alford's boss, Gail Slater.
8:52
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[Roger Alford] Once it became clear that Gail Slater was going to resolve these cases on the merits and wasn't going to listen to Mike Davis based on arguments other than the merits, he turned on her.
9:02
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He directly lobbied the president of the United States to get someone who was committed to enforcing antitrust laws on the merits to be removed.
9:10
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[Anchor] The head of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division is out.
9:14
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Gail Slater was fired today from the role after months of tension with the Trump administration. [Liz Scheltens] The moment Gail Slater's firing hit the news, Live Nation’s stock price skyrocketed.
9:24
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Shareholders were anticipating big payouts on the backs of consumers. [echo] Robbing them blind, baby. And then, two weeks after she was fired...
9:32
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[Anchor] The Justice Department has reached a settlement with Live Nation in its antitrust case. Not everyone is on board. The proposed settlement didn’t even rise to the level of a slap on the wrist.
9:41
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[Liz Scheltens] Live Nation wouldn't have to sell off Ticketmaster, just a handful of venues.
9:46
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So it looked like the same play had worked again: get sued, hire a fixer, get a sweetheart deal.
9:53
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But there was one wrinkle for Ticketmaster.
9:56
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From my perspective, this was not a sufficient settlement to take care of Tennessee consumers.
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A bunch of those state AGs decided to continue with the suit, even after the Department of Justice settled.
...
4:12
Hewlett Packard Enterprise looking to buy Juniper Networks.
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an 4 26
Trump and his administration attempted to let a huge corporation off the hook for monopoly allegations while no one was looking, but according to a new analysis from MS NOW, a state ruling on the matter has handed him yet another legal "faceplant."
Early last month, Trump's Justice Department moved to settle a lawsuit against Live Nation — the conglomerate with massive control over the live event and ticketing industries in the U.S. — after a Biden-era antitrust suit accused it of maintaining an illegal monopoly. The move was the latest in a long line of Trump-era policies favoring big business and its ability to take advantage of customers.
That decision to let Live Nation off easy could have been the end of it, but instead, this week, a federal jury in New York ruled that the company had, in fact, engaged in monopolistic practices. This, as reporter Helaine Olen wrote for MS NOW on Friday, meant that the case would not "end with a whimper," on account of the "egregious" facts pointing to the company's obvious wrongdoing. Furthermore, she argued, the ruling also dealt "a huge faceplant for the Trump administration."
"The Trump administration [is] doing the bidding of big business," Olen wrote. "Its settlement with Live Nation is in the same spirit as the sign-offs on mergers such as Paramount and Warner Brothers, or HP and Juniper. The judge in this case can and should scrutinize the settlement closely. Congress has the power to look into both the settlement and the mergers, and lawmakers should use that authority. At the same time, this verdict should hearten the state attorneys general who have already joined together to fight these wildly inappropriate and anticompetitive mergers."
She continued: "And, then there were the nine jury members that handed Trump and corporate America this defeat. They didn’t just deliver a verdict on Ticketmaster. They also said enough to an economy in which giant monopolies have grown and prospered at the expense of honest businesses and powerless consumers. Now it’s time for an encore performance — against all the other monopolistic deals getting waived through by this administration."
Live Nation emerged as a major monopolistic force in the live event industry when it merged with Ticketmaster in 2010. As a condition for merger approval from the Obama administration, the company had to pledge not to engage in a variety of anticompetitive practices, which, as Olen explained, they more than failed to do.
"Live Nation didn’t just fail to live up to its promise. It repeatedly, blatantly violated the agreement," she wrote. "The states argued employees of the newly combined company, which controls an astonishing 86% of the concert ticket market and almost three-quarters of the overall event ticketing market, began threatening venues with retaliation unless they used Ticketmaster. Live Nation executives actually boasted in writing about ripping off customers. One employee, who is now a ticketing executive, joked that an increase in parking fees for customers was 'robbing them blind baby. That’s how we do.'”
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an 3 26
The Trump Justice Department on Monday reportedly reached a tentative deal with Live Nation—the owner of Ticketmaster—to settle a Biden-era antitrust lawsuit that aimed to break up the company, accusing it of illegally monopolizing the live entertainment industry.
News of the settlement, which would not require a breakup of Live Nation, came days after the trial began, with a lawyer for the Trump Justice Department’s decimated antitrust division saying last week that the company abuses its market power and earns its massive profits “through illegal action.” The antitrust division’s counsel in the case, David Dahlquist, was apparently not made aware of the settlement until he appeared in court Monday morning.
Lee Hepner, senior legal counsel at the American Economic Liberties Project, said it is “highly unorthodox for the Justice Department’s lead litigator to be left out of the loop on the settlement and highly prejudicial to the jury’s deliberations.”
“According to every observer, this trial was already going well for the Justice Department and states,” said Hepner. “They had just won summary judgment and a jury had already heard evidence of Live Nation’s longstanding pattern of retaliation against venues who had attempted to open the market to competition. State AGs are once again left to clean up the mess left by this Administration’s incompetence.”
Under the settlement, which must be approved by a judge, Live Nation “would pay a fine of up to $280 million and divest itself of at least 13 amphitheaters across the country as it opens up its ticketing processes so that competitors can share in the sale of tickets,” the Associated Press reported.
The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), a trade group representing thousands of independent live entertainment venues, festivals, and promoters, noted in a statement that the reported $280 million settlement amount “is the equivalent of four days of [Live Nation’s] 2025 revenue, which means they could potentially make it back by this Friday.”
“The reported settlement does not appear to include any specific and explicit protections for fans, artists, or independent venues and festivals,” said Stephen Parker, NIVA’s executive director. “Reported details also indicate that ticket resale platforms could be further empowered through new requirements for Ticketmaster to host their listings, which would likely exacerbate the price gouging potential for predatory resellers and the platforms that serve them.”
“If these facts are true,” Parker added, “NIVA views this as a failure of the justice system.”
The antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation was filed in 2024 after a nearly two-year investigation launched amid mounting public outrage aimed at Ticketmaster, spurred in part by its botched presale of Taylor Swift concert tickets in 2022. Then-President Joe Biden’s Justice Department filed the complaint in partnership with 30 state attorneys general, most of whom vowed Monday to continue the fight without the Trump administration’s support.
“For years, Live Nation has made enormous profits by exploiting its illegal monopoly and raising costs for shows,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “My office has led a bipartisan group of attorneys general in suing Live Nation for taking advantage of fans, venues, and artists, and we are committed to holding Live Nation accountable.”
The settlement deal comes weeks after Gail Slater, the former head of the Justice Department’s antitrust arm, was pushed out by DOJ leadership. Prior to Slater’s removal, Live Nation executives and lobbyists had reportedly been negotiating the terms of a possible settlement with senior Justice Department officials outside of the antitrust office, heightening corruption concerns.
Emily Peterson-Cassin, policy director at the Demand Progress Education Fund, said in a statement that “this settlement amounts to a slap on the wrist that tinkers around the edges of the real problem: Live Nation’s monopoly.”
“Instead of breaking up Live Nation and Ticketmaster, Live Nation will now get to continue forcing the vast majority of live venues to use Ticketmaster,” said Peterson-Cassin. “Following the ousting of Gail Slater and the gutting of the government’s antitrust enforcement capabilities, this settlement is the clearest sign yet that this administration serves big business, not the people.”
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AN 12 24
Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, the antitrust head at the Department of Justice who helped turbocharge the agency's efforts to rein in monopoly power, bid farewell to his post in a speech Tuesday during which he warned that "plutocracy is its own kind of dictatorship."
Kanter's deputy, Doha Mekki, will take over leading the Antitrust Division starting Friday. President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Gail Slater, a tech and media policy advisor who worked for Vice President-elect JD Vance, to permanently replace Kanter.
In his speech, Kanter described how President Joe Biden's administration had a clear mandate from the public to break with the antitrust approach of previous decades: "When I took office in 2021, questions about monopoly power were no longer just a technocratic concern relegated to the narrow halls of white-shoe law firms and elite academic institutions. Our nation was experiencing a remarkable moment unlike any I had seen in my lifetime. Americans across the country had become acutely aware of the powerful forces that were suppressing their economic freedom."
To get himself ready for the role, he looked for inspiration from the "storied trustbusters of yesteryear"—particularly Assistant Attorney General Robert Jackson, who led antitrust enforcement at the Department of Justice under FDR. "In 2021, the similarities to 1936 were unmistakable. They say that history rhymes. Well, it sure does. And this time it had 'bars,' as the youth say."
Then, as now, antitrust enforcement is an engine for economic prosperity, Kanter said. It can lower prices by limiting the market power of large companies, increase growth and prosperity by curbing corporate-imposed private regulation that "sap entrepreneurs of opportunity," and provide greater mobility and higher wages for workers, he argued.
With that "why" in mind, the division "confronted the Herculean task of operationalizing our mandate to restore, revive, and reimagine antitrust enforcement for our nation."
In many respects, Kanter was successful in that mission. During his time with the Department of Justice, the agency notched a major legal victory over the company Google, which Kanter's team and states had argued held an illegal monopoly in the search engine and advertising market. In August, a federal judge ruled that Google was an illegal monopolist for spending tens of billions on default search deals, a decision that has been called the "biggest antitrust case of the 21st century."
The Antitrust Division has also filed ongoing cases against Visa, the rent-fixing software RealPage, Ticketmaster, and others. Cases brought by the division also successfully blocked a merger between publishing giants Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, as well as JetBlue's acquisition of Spirit.
In response to the news that Kanter is stepping down, Nidhi Hegde, interim executive director at the American Economic Liberties Project, said Tuesday that under Kanter's leadership "the DOJ Antitrust Division has become an enforcer fit for the modern economy—and a powerful ally of American consumers, workers, and small businesses."
Kanter offered advice to future enforcers, such as engaging people outside of the Beltway and "dispel[ling] the myth that less competition at home helps the U.S. compete more abroad."
The stakes of lax enforcement are high, he warned: "When companies larger, wealthier, and more powerful than most world governments threaten individual liberty with coercive private taxation and regulation, it threatens our way of life."
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DUCK 7 26
DNyuz
'I will destroy you': Trump fixer accused of threatening ... - DNyuz
Mar 21, 2026President 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.
The American Prospect
https://prospect.org › 2026 › 02 › 12 › trump-justice-department-ticketmaster-live-nation-monopoly
Trump Justice Department Poised to Preserve Ticketmaster Monopoly
Feb 12, 2026It also includes former Trump campaign manager and senior aide Kellyanne Conway and attorney/MAGA influencer Mike Davis, who reportedly earned a $1 million "success fee" for getting DOJ to drop its challenge to the $14 billion Hewlett Packard Enterprise-Juniper Networks merger.
Raw Story
https://www.rawstory.com › mike-davis-2676483294
'I will destroy you': Trump fixer accused of threatening DOJ official ...
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 ...
The Lever
https://www.levernews.com › top-monopoly-cop-forced-out-amid-lobbying-bonanza
Top Monopoly Cop Forced Out Amid Lobbying Bonanza
Feb 17, 2026One of Live Nation's lobbyists, Mike Davis — a corporate "fixer" for mergers and acquisitions — reportedly "accelerated" Slater's removal after criticizing her in a meeting with the president, according to Bloomberg. He also publicly attacked Slater online.
Democratic Underground
https://www.democraticunderground.com › 10143636241
'I will destroy you': Trump fixer accused of threatening DOJ official ...
Mar 21, 2026'I will destroy you': Trump fixer accused of threatening DOJ official -- then got her fired Source: Raw Story March 20, 2026 10:37PM ET President Donald Trump's influential MAGA ally Mike Davis is facing new scrutiny after allegedly threatening to stop a Justice Department official during
...
[
Fox Business
MIKE DAVIS: 30 years of Section 230 is more than enough
129 days agoThirty year ago, Congress passed Section 230 to protect startups, but now it shields Big Tech monopolies from accountability while enabling censorship.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/fox-news-opinion/mike-davis-30-years-section-230-more-than-enough)
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