Democrats to find Trump shares at AT & T, Amazon.com: Akios

VASHINGTON (Reuters) – When Democrats take control of the US House, they are planning to investigate the decision of the Trump administration to try to block AT & T Inc. (T.N.) from the acquisition of Time Varner, and whether the officials tried to punish Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN.O) will encourage US postal services to increase delivery costs for the world's largest electronic commerce company, a senior Democrats said on Sunday.

Speaking on an online announcement, Akios, a representative of Adam Schiff, expected to be the incoming chairman of the House Information Committee, said the Democrats would review if Trump was trying to punish major companies "government instruments to punish the press."

Amazon's executive director Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post and Holding Time Varner includes CNN. Trump often disclosed both jobs for critical coverage of his administration.

"It is entirely within our competence to find out," Aksios told an interview published Sunday on HBO.

The Shiff said Trump "secretly met with the postmaster [general] in an effort to break the postmaster [general] in raising postage rates on Amazon … This seems to be the president's attempt to use government instruments to punish Jeff Bezos and The Washington Post, "Schiff said.

Trump has repeatedly complained that Amazon does not pay the US Postal Service a fair amount for the delivery of the package. Trump said, without giving evidence, that it was spending US taxpayers billions of dollars, and threatened to increase the company's postage rates.

Trump opposed the merger of AT & T-Time Varner as a candidate and repeatedly attacked CNN, and last week a news station was suspended at the White House CNN reporter.

Schiff also said: "We do not know, for example, whether the effort to keep the merger of CNN parents was a concern over the anti-monopoly procedure, or was it just an effort to punish CNN."

The Department of Justice appeals to the federal judge's consent to buy AT & T of $ 85.4 billion Time Warner.

Spokeswoman AT & T and spokeswoman Amazon.com did not immediately comment on Sunday.

Representative Elijah Cummings, the anticipated arrival of the Chairman of the Commission for Monitoring and Reform of the Government, said the commission might "want to consider" if the White House retaliated against Amazon and AT & T.

He also told ABC's "this week" that he intends to investigate the administration of Trump in several areas, including whether Trump might have violated the provision on benefits from the US Constitution and other possible conflicts of interest, such as whether Trump killed plans to re-select the new headquarters of the Federal Investigation Bureau as this could disrupt the business interests of the Trump Hotel across the road.