ALBANY, N.Y. — U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Tuesday he is recusing himself from any role Congress plays in Comcast Corp.’s planned acquisition of rival Time Warner Cable Inc. after learning his brother was one of the lead lawyers behind the $45 billion deal.
Federal regulators and lawmakers will scrutinize how the acquisition would affect competition and consumers, issues that could have come before the New York Democrat as a member of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee.
Schumer’s office said he didn’t know his brother Robert represented Time Warner Cable in the talks until The American Lawyer reported Friday he was the publication’s “dealmaker of the week.” Robert Schumer is co-chair of the mergers and acquisitions practice at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
“Senator Schumer has not discussed this matter with his brother at all,” said spokeswoman Meredith Kelly. “He found out that his brother was involved with the deal on Friday, upon being shown The American Lawyer story, and made a decision to recuse himself from all aspects of the deal in order to avoid even an appearance of conflict of interest.”
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