Every
time I planned to write
this email, something
jumped up and pushed it
back.
Which
means you’ve probably
already heard that we
won our case against
Ticketmaster / Live
Nation. The jury found
them to be an unlawful
monopoly.
I wanted
to break the news to you,
but instead I’ll give
you the inside story on
how the case went down.
It’s a good one.
Quick
recap:
I was
part of a big group of
AGs bringing this case,
but the lead partner was
USDOJ. We worked
together for about two
years to get ready for
trial. This was going to
be one of the biggest
antitrust cases in years,
which meant all hands on
deck. A massive effort.
Eight
weeks ago, the jury
trial began.
The first
week went great. Good
witnesses, good evidence,
and a clear picture for
the jury of how Live
Nation and Ticketmaster
were using their
monopoly to rip people
off.
Then
USDOJ dropped a bomb.
They had
cut a secret deal with
Live Nation, and they
were bailing on the
case.
The deal
was terrible. It was an
obvious sweetheart deal
that even USDOJ’s lead
attorney in the
courtroom wasn’t aware
of until it was
announced - which means
the deal didn’t happen
in the courthouse, it
happened in Washington.
It was basically a huge
favor to Ticketmaster /
Live Nation.
Then
USDOJ tried to pressure
the AGs to join their
deal. They gave us 24
hours.
The vast
majority of us said, “No
thanks, we’re going to
finish the trial.”
Which was
the right decision, but
risky. It meant we had
to scramble to fill the
hole in our case left by
USDOJ, which had been
handling most of the
witnesses.
So we
pooled our resources,
reshuffled the workload,
and hit the gas.
For the
next six weeks, we
marched the jury through
a huge amount of
evidence showing that
this monopoly had
crushed the competition,
then used your lack of
choices to raise prices
on you and treat
performers unfairly.
By the
closing argument, we
felt pretty good, but
you never know what a
jury will do.
The jury
deliberated for four
very long days, then
rendered their verdict:
Unanimous
on all counts, for us.
A
knockout win.
Now comes
the remedy stage. The
judge decides, but we
get to make arguments,
and we will. We believe
the company should be
broken up and pay a
serious fine for
overcharging you for
years. More on that soon.
For now,
I just want to offer
real gratitude to the
Republican and
Democratic AGs who stuck
with this case and
finished it. That
decision is going to
matter to consumers and
performers for a long
time.
Called before
the House Oversight
Committee
About a
month ago, a member of
my staff poked her head
into my office.
“You’ve
been summoned before the
House Oversight
Committee.”
This
wasn’t a big surprise.
It’s a wide-ranging
committee that’s been
highly active and it
made sense they’d call
me in at some point.
They’re
not shy about having a
partisan agenda, but
they also serve a
legitimate oversight
function, and it’s my
responsibility to answer
their questions honestly.
They told
us the topic was
Medicaid fraud, so they
called me and the
Department of Health and
Human Services Secretary
to testify.
Two
different jurisdictions
are in play here. Our
office goes after
Medicaid provider fraud.
NCDHHS goes after
recipient fraud.
And when
it comes to provider
fraud, the numbers are
clear: our team is one
of the best in the
country. We bring big
cases at a steady clip.
Just last month our
office convicted five
fraudsters who were then
ordered to repay $12.7
million after billing
for scores of medical
services that never
happened.
They
quizzed us for about
three hours, threw
plenty of fastballs, but
for the most part they
played fair and it went
well.
One bonus
from the day:
Owen told
me a week earlier that
he was learning about
checks and balances at
school, so I told him
about my upcoming
testimony - and he asked
if he could come. I said
sure, and he sat in the
second row and watched
me testify. It made for
a great conversation on
the drive home.
More to
tell you, but this is
getting long. Wishing
you all the best, and
I’ll update you on a few
other things next week.
Best,
Jeff
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