Senators from the Judiciary Committee used this week’s attorney general confirmation hearing to probe whether the Trump administration Justice Department will remain independent of political influence. Antitrust experts following the hearing told us they see possible implications for how the incoming administration, with DOJ under the control of Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., could handle antitrust matters such as review of AT&T buying Time Warner. Two senators asking about political influence lead Judiciary’s Antitrust Subcommittee, which held a hearing on the proposed acquisition last month.

Senators from the Judiciary Committee used this week’s attorney general confirmation hearing to probe whether the Trump administration Justice Department will remain independent of political influence. Antitrust experts following the hearing told us they see possible implications for how the incoming administration, with DOJ under the control of Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., could handle antitrust matters such as review of AT&T buying Time Warner. Two senators asking about political influence lead Judiciary’s Antitrust Subcommittee, which held a hearing on the proposed acquisition last month.

The Project on Government Oversight tallied donors to Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., that he would oversee as attorney general if the Senate confirms him. “An analysis of Senator Sessions’ campaign contributions raises several matters that pose conflict-of-interest and ethical concerns if he assumes the post of Attorney General,” the group said, citing 12 donors that have pending antitrust or competition matters before DOJ. AT&T gave $54,000, it noted, noting “AT&T’s proposed merger with Time Warner is currently under review by DOJ” and “AT&T’s fully owned subsidiary DirecTV is the subject of an antitrust lawsuit brought by DOJ.” It cited $27,000 from DirecTV separately. Comcast gave $27,700, it said, citing a DOJ civil investigative demand to Comcast on cable advertising business practices. The donations are legal but “indicate financial and professional relationships between him and his donors -- entanglements that could suggest the appearance of bias,” said the project, proposing that Sessions “could commit to a bright-line rule where he will recuse himself from any matter involving a donor from the last two years or any donor who gave more than $5,000 in the last decade” and “commit to an independent written and public review of this matter by DOJ’s Ethics Office and the Office of the Inspector General,” taking action “publicly in accordance with that review and recuse himself (or not) based upon the report’s recommendation.” A Sessions spokesman didn’t comment on the tally of donations. Sessions faces Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings Tuesday and Wednesday. American Civil Liberties Union National Legal Director David Cole will testify on a second panel of witnesses, slated for Wednesday. The ACLU produced a report on Sessions’ positions overall, stating: “Since its inception in 2001, Sessions has supported nearly every iteration of the USA Patriot Act. Sessions has long supported government surveillance efforts including bulk meta data collection.” Free Press opposes confirmation for Sessions and in a blog post last week referred to his views on surveillance. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., predicts the Senate will have “six or seven” confirmations of Trump administration nominees, particularly those focused on national security, by Day 1 of the new presidency, he said Monday, speaking to reporters at Trump Tower in New York. “It’s obviously going to be a big week on Capitol Hill,” said Trump spokesman Sean Spicer on a journalists' call Monday about the many confirmation hearings. Spicer said Trump’s team is in regular contact with McConnell’s about the busy nominations schedule.

The Project on Government Oversight tallied donors to Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., that he would oversee as attorney general if the Senate confirms him. “An analysis of Senator Sessions’ campaign contributions raises several matters that pose conflict-of-interest and ethical concerns if he assumes the post of Attorney General,” the group said, citing 12 donors that have pending antitrust or competition matters before DOJ. AT&T gave $54,000, it noted, noting “AT&T’s proposed merger with Time Warner is currently under review by DOJ” and “AT&T’s fully owned subsidiary DirecTV is the subject of an antitrust lawsuit brought by DOJ.” It cited $27,000 from DirecTV separately. Comcast gave $27,700, it said, citing a DOJ civil investigative demand to Comcast on cable advertising business practices. The donations are legal but “indicate financial and professional relationships between him and his donors -- entanglements that could suggest the appearance of bias,” said the project, proposing that Sessions “could commit to a bright-line rule where he will recuse himself from any matter involving a donor from the last two years or any donor who gave more than $5,000 in the last decade” and “commit to an independent written and public review of this matter by DOJ’s Ethics Office and the Office of the Inspector General,” taking action “publicly in accordance with that review and recuse himself (or not) based upon the report’s recommendation.” A Sessions spokesman didn’t comment on the tally of donations. Sessions faces Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings Tuesday and Wednesday. American Civil Liberties Union National Legal Director David Cole will testify on a second panel of witnesses, slated for Wednesday. The ACLU produced a report on Sessions’ positions overall, stating: “Since its inception in 2001, Sessions has supported nearly every iteration of the USA Patriot Act. Sessions has long supported government surveillance efforts including bulk meta data collection.” Free Press opposes confirmation for Sessions and in a blog post last week referred to his views on surveillance. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., predicts the Senate will have “six or seven” confirmations of Trump administration nominees, particularly those focused on national security, by Day 1 of the new presidency, he said Monday, speaking to reporters at Trump Tower in New York. “It’s obviously going to be a big week on Capitol Hill,” said Trump spokesman Sean Spicer on a journalists' call Monday about the many confirmation hearings. Spicer said Trump’s team is in regular contact with McConnell’s about the busy nominations schedule.

The Project on Government Oversight tallied donors to Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., that he would oversee as attorney general if the Senate confirms him. “An analysis of Senator Sessions’ campaign contributions raises several matters that pose conflict-of-interest and ethical concerns if he assumes the post of Attorney General,” the group said, citing 12 donors that have pending antitrust or competition matters before DOJ. AT&T gave $54,000, it noted, noting “AT&T’s proposed merger with Time Warner is currently under review by DOJ” and “AT&T’s fully owned subsidiary DirecTV is the subject of an antitrust lawsuit brought by DOJ.” It cited $27,000 from DirecTV separately. Comcast gave $27,700, it said, citing a DOJ civil investigative demand to Comcast on cable advertising business practices. The donations are legal but “indicate financial and professional relationships between him and his donors -- entanglements that could suggest the appearance of bias,” said the project, proposing that Sessions “could commit to a bright-line rule where he will recuse himself from any matter involving a donor from the last two years or any donor who gave more than $5,000 in the last decade” and “commit to an independent written and public review of this matter by DOJ’s Ethics Office and the Office of the Inspector General,” taking action “publicly in accordance with that review and recuse himself (or not) based upon the report’s recommendation.” A Sessions spokesman didn’t comment on the tally of donations. Sessions faces Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings Tuesday and Wednesday. American Civil Liberties Union National Legal Director David Cole will testify on a second panel of witnesses, slated for Wednesday. The ACLU produced a report on Sessions’ positions overall, stating: “Since its inception in 2001, Sessions has supported nearly every iteration of the USA Patriot Act. Sessions has long supported government surveillance efforts including bulk meta data collection.” Free Press opposes confirmation for Sessions and in a blog post last week referred to his views on surveillance. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., predicts the Senate will have “six or seven” confirmations of Trump administration nominees, particularly those focused on national security, by Day 1 of the new presidency, he said Monday, speaking to reporters at Trump Tower in New York. “It’s obviously going to be a big week on Capitol Hill,” said Trump spokesman Sean Spicer on a journalists' call Monday about the many confirmation hearings. Spicer said Trump’s team is in regular contact with McConnell’s about the busy nominations schedule.

Localities are closely watching the FCC and state legislatures this year for actions that could remove local authority on wireless siting, local government association officials said during a NATOA webinar Monday. Several associations plan to weigh in on a Mobilitie petition, filed at the FCC in November, that seeks a ruling interpreting Section 253(c) to preclude cities from charging carriers more than other providers for use of the right of way. A Communications Act rewrite and an infrastructure package including broadband are possibilities for 2017, but it’s hard to forecast what will happen in a Trump administration, panelists said.

Localities are closely watching the FCC and state legislatures this year for actions that could remove local authority on wireless siting, local government association officials said during a NATOA webinar Monday. Several associations plan to weigh in on a Mobilitie petition, filed at the FCC in November, that seeks a ruling interpreting Section 253(c) to preclude cities from charging carriers more than other providers for use of the right of way. A Communications Act rewrite and an infrastructure package including broadband are possibilities for 2017, but it’s hard to forecast what will happen in a Trump administration, panelists said.

Demands by local Arkansas authorities that Amazon turn over information collected through an Echo device that may have recorded audio during a murder may be a harbinger of privacy concerns to come as so-called intelligent personal digital assistants like Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana and Google Now increasingly become part of household networks, privacy experts said in interviews. One said those concerns may be overblown since this is still an emerging technology.

Demands by local Arkansas authorities that Amazon turn over information collected through an Echo device that may have recorded audio during a murder may be a harbinger of privacy concerns to come as so-called intelligent personal digital assistants like Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana and Google Now increasingly become part of household networks, privacy experts said in interviews. One said those concerns may be overblown since this is still an emerging technology.

Demands by local Arkansas authorities that Amazon turn over information collected through an Echo device that may have recorded audio during a murder may be a harbinger of privacy concerns to come as so-called intelligent personal digital assistants like Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana and Google Now increasingly become part of household networks, privacy experts said in interviews. One said those concerns may be overblown since this is still an emerging technology.