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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

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

https://www.ainvest.com › news › justice-department-official-accuses-colleagues-perverted-justice-hpe-deal-settlement-2508

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

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Some of America's biggest welfare ranchers:

David and Charles Koch (Koch Industries)

The brothers hold a half-dozen grazing permits on public land in Montana to go with its 300,000-acre Matador Ranch there. The brothers are tied for fourth place on Forbes 2014 400 Richest People in America list (net worth: $ 42 billion each). The Koch family ($ 89 billion) is #2 on Forbes Richest Families list; Koch Industries is #2 on Forbes America's Largest Private Companies list, ($ 115 billion in sales).

J.R. Simplot Corp.

The largest U.S. public lands ranching entity (with an estimated 2 to 3 million acres of allotments in CA, ID, NV, OR and UT) is #63 on Forbes 2014 list of America's Largest Private Companies ($ 5.8 billion in sales). In 2014, the family was #29 on Forbes list of America’s Richest Families (net worth: $ 8 billion).

Bruce McCaw (McCaw Cellular)

McCaw was #382 on Forbes 400 list of America’s Richest People in 2005 (net worth: $ 925 million). Through his 9 sprawling ranches, he controls a significant number of public grazing leases in ID and possibly NV. One of them (Camas Creek ranch) includes 272,000 acres of Federal grazing allotments in Idaho's Camas Prairie. Grazing permitted to his other ranches could easily double or triple that to a million acres or more.

Barrick Gold

The Canadian mining company is one of the two largest public lands ranchers in NV, ranking 771st on Forbes Global 2000 list of the World’s Biggest Public Companies in 2014, (sales: $ 12.56 billion). Like many other large public lands ranchers, Barrick buys ranches to secure water rights.

Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA)

The supplier of drinking water to Las Vegas is a large NV public lands rancher with an estimated 1 million acres of public grazing allotments. Like Barrick Gold, it, buys up private ranches to gain their water rights.

W. Barron Hilton (Hilton Hotels)

The hotel heir dropped off Forbes Billionaires list (ranked #459 in 2011) as well as its list of the 400 Richest Americans (#144 in 2010), with a net worth of $ 2.5 billion. He died in 2013.

Though records are hard to pin down, Hilton's heirs inherited a ranching operation in the CA-NV border area, which has been known to have vast public lands grazing allotments permitted to it.

Mary Hewlett-Jaffe (Hewlett-Packard)

Jaffe holds the largest BLM public lands grazing permit in central ID and is among the top 15 public lands ranchers in the state (estimated at under 200,000 acres that are said to be in extremely degraded condition, according to sources).

James Barta (Sav-Rx.com)

Barta is not on any Forbes rich lists, but owns one of the largest cattle ranching operations in the U.S., according to his attorneys. Barta holds grazing permits to nearly 900,000 acres of public grazing allotments in connection with two properties: White Horse Ranch (in OR) and Soldier Meadows (in NV). Barta may have additional NV grazing leases through two other ranches in NV, according to Jon Marvel, founder of Western Watersheds Project.

T. Wright Dickinson

Though not on any Forbes list, the Dickinson family is a large public lands rancher, with  grazing permits estimated at more than a half million acres of CO, UT and WY public lands under its LLC, Vermillion Ranches. Dickinson is a former County commissioner and proponent of county efforts to gain control of federal lands, according to the Denver Post.

Stan Kroenke (Kroenke Group) & Ann Walton Kroenke (Walmart)

With just two of his ranches (in MT and WY) totaling 664,000 acres (not including public grazing allotments), Kroenke is one of the ten top land owners in the U.S. In 2014, he ranked #89 on Forbes list of the 400 Richest Americans, #247 on its Billionaires list, and #5 on its list of Richest American Sports Team Owners (net worth: $ 5.8 billion). His wife, Ann Walton Kroenke (net worth: $ 5.6 billion), was #261 on Forbes Billionaires list and #11 on its list of America’s Richest Women.

Family of Robert Earl Holding (Sinclair Oil and hotels)

Forbes ranks the family #87 on its 2014 list of America’s Richest Families (net worth: $ 2.7 billion). With 400,000 acres of land, the family is the 19th largest private land owner in the US, according to the 2014 Land Report 100. This includes land that Forbes reported “may be the largest ranching operation in the Rocky Mountains.” Public grazing leases are associated with some of the family’s WY and possibly MT holdings, according to Jon Marvel, founder of Western Watersheds.

Ted Turner

He's the second largest U.S. land owner (2 million acres in 6 states), is estimated to hold grazing leases in MT and NM (estimated at as much as 300,000 acres), and owns the world's largest bison herd. Forbes ranked him #296 on its 2014 list of the 400 Richest Americans and #818 on its global Billionaires list (net worth: $ 2.2 billion).

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