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What Is A Monopoly? Google It

·34 min·2 clips

Paxton is accused of renovations, a mistress’s apartment, and an Uber account under a phony name.

1. Law360's Pro Say covers Ken Paxton, Google, and Supreme Court ethics in one episode built around three legal fights. 2. Hosts Amber McKinney, Alex Lawson, and Haley Knoth frame the discussion, while Law360 senior competition reporter Brian Koenig explains the Google trial from inside the antitrust beat. 3. The episode asks what these disputes reveal about power, ethics, and enforcement in Texas, Washington, and the federal courts. 4. Haley Knoth says the Texas House impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton in May and the Senate is deciding whether to remove him from office. 5. She describes allegations tied to Austin real estate investor Nate Paul, including interference in an FBI investigation and help with a Texas charity dispute. 6. The account also names renovations to Paxton's home, an apartment and job for Paxton's mistress, and an Uber account under a phony name. 7. A former aide says Paxton wanted the state to fund a multimillion-dollar settlement after whistleblower complaints surfaced. 8. The aide also says Paxton is, quote, "not a litigator," while another aide says the office had bigger matters, including a lawsuit with Google. 9. Haley Knoth notes that Paxton entered not guilty pleas and is not required to attend the Senate proceedings. 10. She also says the defense is expected to argue that Texas voters knew about Paxton's scandals and elected him anyway. 11. The episode points out that only two other Texas officials have been removed this way, in 1917 and 1975. 12. Brian Koenig says Google Search is the default on iPhones, Mozilla Firefox, and almost every browser because Google pays billions of dollars in revenue-sharing agreements. 13. He says the Justice Department filed suit in October 2020 and argues those defaults foreclose competition from Bing and DuckDuckGo. 14. Koenig says Google answers that it wins those contracts because its product is the highest quality and because the arrangement reflects competition on the merits. 15. He adds that Judge Amit Mehta rejected Google’s summary judgment bid in August but also refused to bar Google from arguing product quality. 16. Koenig lays out the trial schedule: the DOJ’s 105 hours of witnesses through October 6, the states’ 65 hours through October 24, and Google’s 98 hours through November 15. 17. He says the court will likely hear from Google CEO Sundar Pichai and several Apple executives about default contracts. 18. The show uses a conversational, back-and-forth format with jokes about fantasy football, ethics, and Texas history, but the legal reporting stays detailed. 19. Listeners who follow antitrust, judicial ethics, or Texas politics. 20. Listeners who want short, non-legal entertainment.

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