The Justice Department's antitrust division is prepared to take AT&T Inc to court to stop its acquisition of T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom AG, Attorney General Eric Holder told lawmakers on Tuesday.

Senator Herb Kohl, chair of the committee's antitrust subcommittee, acknowledged that Holder was recused in the matter but asked if the department would be in the case for the long haul.

Holder responded that people in the antitrust division are committed to seeing this through.

There is a trial team that is in place and they are ready and eager to go to court, he said.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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