WASHINGTON (Reuters) – California on Friday asked Google to join the U.S. Department of Justice’s no-confidence motion to become the first Democrat to openly support the state’s attorney general for legal action on the declaration.
Department in October. The 1 1 trillion company was accused of illegally using its market muscles for the accused, and joined 11 other states when it was filed.
“California is not making significant changes to the complaint. In particular, California does not want to add any new facts or claims, “Attorney General Xavier Besera said in the filing.
Google has denied any wrongdoing, and the company has said its search engines and other products are dominant because consumers like them.
“People use Google because they like it, not because they push, or because they can’t find alternatives,” a Google spokesman said. “We will continue to make our case in court.”
The judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said the company should respond to California’s request to join the lawsuit by Dec. 18.
The Justice Department has welcomed California’s entry into the case, saying Google broke the anti-trust law to dominate and maintain search and search advertising.
Spokeswoman Brianna Hurley said: “This anti-landmark case reflects widespread and bilateral concerns that Google has … retained its monopoly power by cutting its competition.”
In November, Reuters told a separate bipartisan group that reut.rs/34lxt03 states plans to file a related lawsuit. The group, which is made up of Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and Utah, plans to link its case to the federal government’s case.
President-elect Joe Biden has chosen Besera of California as his candidate for secretary of health and human services – a leading member of the health team to advance the response to the coronavirus epidemic.
Reported by David Shepardson and Nandita Bose; Additional report by Diana Bartz, edited by Leslie Adler and Grant McCull
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