US approval of Paramount/Warner Bros. deal surprised DOJ lawyers, report says

When the US Department of Justice approved Paramount Skydance's proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Friday, a DOJ press release said "a rigorous eight-month investigation led by the [Antitrust] Division’s career staff" showed that the $111 billion deal would not harm competition or American consumers. But according to The Wall Street Journal , the DOJ career lawyers who led that investigation "were leaning toward recommending a lawsuit challenging it on the grounds that the combina