Justice Department Pushing To File Antitrust Charges Against Google

The Department of Justice is expected to level antitrust charges in a matter of weeks against Google's parent company Alphabet Inc., the New York Times reported, citing sources close to the matter.

Attorney General William Barr is said to have overruled advice that the department should wait until a stronger case can be made in order to bring the charges sooner.

Around 40 career lawyers are said to be working on the case against Google, and most are opposed to a tighter deadline which they feel to be arbitrary. Department officials have told these lawyers to finish their inquiry into Google’s anticompetitive practices by the end of the month.

Alphabet, which also owns YouTube, has a market capitalization of about $1.1 trillion.

Sources told the Times that a strong case can be leveled against the tech giant if they are given enough time. Discussions are reportedly ongoing with regard to how broad the case should be and what it should ask of Google in order to fix the problems. Pushing for a case to be made sooner could weaken the department's hand and make it easier for Google to counter.

Some working on the case have even suggested that Barr is pushing for a needlessly close deadline so that the Trump administration can bring charges against a monopolistic corporation, something sure to play well with some voters during the upcoming elections.

Similar accusations were leveled by health officials after the administration told state and city governments to prepare for a COVID-19 vaccine by Nov. 1, despite it being nearly impossible for a safe vaccine to be ready by then.