A former senior Justice Department official is calling on the courts to reject Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks (JNPR), claiming the deal was improperly cleared under political pressure.
Roger Alford, who was ousted last month as the DOJ’s second-ranking antitrust official, accused Attorney General Pam Bondi’s chief of staff, Chad Mizelle, and associate attorney general nominee Stanley Woodward of bowing to lobbyists instead of applying the rule of law. Speaking at the Tech Policy Institute Aspen Forum, Alford said: “In the HPE/Juniper merger scandal, Mizelle and Woodward perverted justice. I hope the court blocks the merger. If you knew what I knew, you would hope so too.”
The DOJ did not immediately comment. Alford, now a Notre Dame law professor, previously served as principal deputy to Trump’s first-term antitrust chief, Gail Slater. He was dismissed alongside William Rinner, head of merger enforcement, after they pushed to challenge the HPE deal. The Wall Street Journal reported that the case was settled following negotiations led by politically connected HPE attorneys with little antitrust experience.
Alford said the controversy reflects a deeper struggle within the Republican Party, pitting “genuine MAGA reformers” against lobbyists aligned with the Trump administration. “It’s a fight over whether Americans will have equal justice under law, or whether preferential access to our justice system is for sale to the wealthy and well-connected,” he said.
The DOJ originally sued in January, arguing the merger of the nation’s second- and third-largest enterprise networking providers would stifle competition. But in June, the department settled, requiring HPE to divest its “Instant On” WLAN business and license certain software to rivals.
Alford urged U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitt to closely examine the settlement under the Tunney Act, which requires transparency in merger approvals. Democratic lawmakers have also pressed the court to hold a review hearing.
Despite his criticism, Alford praised colleagues including Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and former boss Gail Slater, saying they remain committed to “common-sense populism” in antitrust enforcement. He argued that meaningful corrections are still possible if the DOJ reorients toward its original mission: “For the words ‘equal justice under law’ to be more than marble etching, they must be practiced by those enforcing it.”
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