Overview

• California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined a multistate coalition seeking to intervene in federal court review of the Department of Justice settlement that allowed Hewlett-Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks to proceed.
• The motion, filed in the Northern District of California before U.S. District Judge Casey Pitts, asks to participate in the Tunney Act process to scrutinize the settlement’s public-interest basis.
• State filings cite reports of political pressure and lobbying by Trump-connected figures, allege career antitrust staff opposed the settlement, and reference claims that two senior division attorneys were fired for their opposition.
• The Department of Justice defended its decision, with a spokesperson stating the merger resolution rested on the transaction’s merits.
• As context, DOJ initially sued to block the deal but in June agreed to drop its case in exchange for HPE licensing some of Juniper’s AI technology to rivals and divesting a small and mid-market unit, after which the companies began integration that the states now seek to pause.