"A career Justice Department lawyer will testify to the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that political leaders in the agency's antitrust division initiated a probe of four automakers' carbon emissions agreement with California a day after President Trump tweeted criticisms of the preliminary deal.

Driving the news: John Elias, one of two whistleblowers testifying in Wednesday's hearing about political interference at the Justice Department, says in prepared testimony that the since-abandoned probe into Ford, BMW, Honda and VW initiated on Aug. 22, 2019, did not follow the typical procedures.

"Ordinarily, decisions of import — here, an investigation of a $630 billion automobile market — take time and care to evaluate, especially when the action would face defenses. Here, in its opening memorandum, staff acknowledged that it had not fully examined the public record," Elias states.

Why it matters: Makan Delrahim, the head of the DOJ's antitrust division, has previously denied the probe was undertaken for political reasons. The department did not provide immediate comment Tuesday."

Ben Geman reports for Axios June 24, 2020. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"DOJ Dropping Antitrust Probe Of Four Major Automakers" (The Hill) [3]

"Justice Dept. Investigates California Emissions Pact That Embarrassed Trump" (New York Times) [4]