AT&T engages its Washington firepower with mega-deal for Time Warner on the line

Washington

AT&T Inc's US$85.4 billion bid for entertainment titan Time Warner Inc is where few imagined it would end up - hurtling toward a make-or-break moment in Washington with a pro-business Republican administration that shows signs it may reject the deal.

Dallas-based AT&T is fighting an increasingly public battle with Justice Department antitrust officials, who have questioned whether the combined company would wield too much power. After months of quiet talks with officials, chief executive officer Randall Stephenson last week vowed to investors that it won't sell the CNN unit that has drawn President Donald Trump's ire.