{"id":1636,"date":"2026-06-08T22:37:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T22:37:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1636"},"modified":"2026-06-08T22:37:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T22:37:32","slug":"former-doj-antitrust-attorneys-slam-live-nation-ticketmaster-settlement-it-is-deeply-troubling-that-the-antitrust-division-is-engaged-in-selective-non-prosecution-of-political-allies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1636","title":{"rendered":"Former DoJ Antitrust Attorneys Slam Live Nation-Ticketmaster Settlement: \u2018It Is Deeply Troubling That the Antitrust Division Is Engaged in Selective Non-Prosecution of Political Allies\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n\tTwo former top antitrust attorneys at the U.S. Department of Justice who were central to its case against Live Nation and Ticketmaster had strong words for the department following its abrupt settlement with the company just one week after the trial \u2014 which saw the DOJ and over 30 states accusing the company of monopolistic business practices \u2014\u00a0began in March.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1634\">\u2018Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders\u2019 Review: Compelling Documentary Probes the Legacy of William Friedkin\u2019s Infamous Queer Thriller<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cWhen I stood up and gave the opening statement in this case, I believed that we were going to win,\u201d David Dahlquist, the former Deputy Director of Litigation and who led the case against, told the audience at the National Independent Venues Alliance\u2019s annual conference, which began Monday in Minneapolis. \u201cAnd when the settlement was entered, I still believed that we were going to win \u2026 I knew the case, I knew the witnesses, I knew the evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tHowever, the case, filed under the Biden Administration and years in the making, was suddenly settled after a closed-door meeting DOJ officials and Live Nation, enraging U.S. District Court Judge Arun Subramamian, who presided over the trial and was blindsided by the settlement.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cFrom all sides the parties conduct here strains the bounds of responsible conduct and is inconsistent\u201d with the principles in of the court, he said, as 27 of the states that were also named in the suit elected to continue.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tDahlquist confirmed earlier reports that he and his team had not been part of the negotiations that led to the settlement, which likely means that the settlement was struck by officials at the highest levels of the administration \u2014 the Wall Street Journal\u00a0alleges that the president Trump personally intervened.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cI did not have, or had not seen, the settlement terms until the morning that we showed up in front of the judge, [the morning] that it was announced,\u201d Dahlquist said. \u201cI was neither asked nor did I provide input into that settlement that was ultimately entered into by the Department of Justice. We stayed on, myself and the trial team \u2026 we helped the transition, everything to the states, to make sure that they could go forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1632\">Tyne Daly on the Joy of Returning to Theater with Pasadena Playhouse\u2019s \u2018Brigadoon\u2019: \u2018It\u2019s Full of Living People \u2014 68 of Them Who Run This Show, and There\u2019s Not an AI Anywhere!\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tAnd go forward they did \u2013 27 states continued the suit and, in April, won: a jury concluded that Live Nation and Ticketmaster hold an illegal monopoly on the U.S. ticketing market.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAlford said that Live Nation\u2019s 2010 merger with Ticketmaster was a flawed proposition from the startt. \u201cThe promises of 16 years of compliance have done nothing to fix the [ticketing and live music] market, and so we\u2019re in a very unusual situation where we\u2019ve had 16 years of failed promises and that I think will weigh into the judge\u2019s determination,\u201d Alford pointed out, referencing the 2010 consent decree between the government and Live Nation that allowed for its merger with Ticketmaster. Subramamian has yet to decide on what changes he will require from Live Nation\/Ticketmaster for operating an illegal monopoly.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAlford, a Republican, wrote in a prepared statement last month that it \u201cis deeply troubling that the Antitrust Division is engaged in selective non-prosecution of political allies in critical cases such as Live Nation\/Ticketmaster. Such a practice has become all too common in other cases as well. Selective non-prosecution of antitrust cases will lead to anticompetitive mergers, collusion between competitors, and monopoly abuses. It should not be this way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThis morning, Alford explained: \u201cI was fired [from the DoJ] in July of 2025 for standing up to inappropriate lobbying \u2026 we wanted to resolve these cases on the merits, [former Assistant Attorney General and antitrust chief] Gail Slater and I and the other deputies. There was lobbying that was occurring \u2026 in the Live Nation\/Ticketmaster case. We stood up to that and said \u2018That\u2019s wrong\u2019 and, by doing that, we were fired,\u201d going on to say he thinks the DoJ would not have dropped its case if not for those lobbying efforts.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cThose are heroes,\u201d NIVA executive director Stephen Parker said of Dahlquist and Alford at the close of the morning session.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1630\">\u2018Wonder Man\u2019 Production Designers Break Down Easter Eggs, From Simon\u2019s Mutant ID to Asgard Tourism Posters<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two former Department of Justice antitrust lawyers slammed its abrupt settlement with Live Nation and Ticketmaster, calling it &#8216;deeply troubling.&#8217;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[610,611],"class_list":["post-1636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-live-nation","tag-ticketmaster"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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