Gail Slater leaving role as DOJ antitrust chief amid tensions over Live Nation settlement talks | Latest Tech News
Justice Department antitrust chief Gail Slater said Thursday she is stepping down from the role – amid stories of infighting over how the Trump administration ought to deal with key instances including a pending lawsuit against Ticketmaster.
“It is with great sadness and abiding hope that I leave my role as AAG for Antitrust today,” Slater wrote on X. “It was indeed the honor of a lifetime to serve in this role. Huge thanks to all who supported me this past year, most especially the men and women of” the antitrust division.
The announcement from Slater, who beforehand served as a top financial adviser to Vice President JD Vance, got here after the White House requested for her resignation, Bloomberg reported, citing a source acquainted with the matter.
Gail Slater announced Thursday she is leaving her role as DOJ antitrust chief. Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Post has reached out to the DOJ and the White House for remark.
An Irish-born and Oxford-trained attorney, Slater entered the DOJ with broad help from antitrust hawks on both sides of the aisle. However, a divide rapidly emerged between Slater, who along with populist conservatives most popular an aggressive anti-monopoly strategy, and other Republicans who favored a more conventional, lenient strategy to enforcement that inspired dealmaking.
Slater’s exit occurred shortly after a weird episode in which she declined to renew the contract of her chief of employees, Sara Matar – and even posted a tweet thanking her for her service – only for Attorney General Pam Bondi to overrule her determination and reinstate Matar, Semafor reported. Slater later took down the post.
Slater has lately been “sidelined” as senior DOJ officers held talks with Ticketmaster and its mum or dad company Live Nation about a potential settlement, Semafor reported last week.
Live Nation didn’t immediately reply to a request for remark.
The outgoing DOJ chief had pushed to take the live event giant to trial in March over allegations it has operated an unlawful monopoly that outcomes in increased ticket costs for customers.
Last July, top Justice Department officers settled a bid to block Hewlett Packard’s $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks despite Slater’s strong objections. At the time, rumors swirled that MAGA-aligned lobbyists had leaned on their White House connections to kill the case.
Slater favored an aggressive strategy to antitrust enforcement.
Shortly after the settlement was announced, two of Slater’s top aides – Roger Alford and William Rinner – had been abruptly fired from their posts.
Alford went scorched earth in an August speech, blasting “MAGA-in-name-only lobbyists and DOJ officials enabling them” who he claimed had been undermining Trump’s antitrust agenda.
Former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway and outstanding Trump ally Mike Davis have reportedly suggested Live Nation during the settlement negotiations and beforehand did the same for Hewlett Packard and Juniper.
Davis, who has clashed behind the scenes with Slater and her supporters, celebrated her exit on X, writing “Good riddance.”
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