Attorney General Phil Weiser leads states to intervene in alleged corrupt HPE/Juniper Networks merger settlement

Oct. 15, 2025 (DENVER) – Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser today led a coalition of state attorneys general to intervene in a court’s review of the $14 billion merger settlement between Hewlett Packard Enterprises and Juniper Networks that was reportedly the result of undue influence by well-connected lobbyists.

In light of the significant concerns about the process and substance of the HPE/Juniper Networks settlement, the coalition is urging the court to apply its authority under the federal Tunney Act to order an evidentiary hearing in which the states can appear as parties. The Tunney Act is a post-Watergate law enacted by Congress in 1974 to ensure that antitrust settlements reached by the Justice Department are based on the merits rather than undue influence by powerful corporations and their well-connected lobbyists.

“If there were ever a settlement that demanded a thorough investigation and an evidentiary hearing under the Tunney Act, it is this one between HPE and Juniper Networks. We are asking to intervene in this case because the public deserves transparency on what happened in this case and to ensure that high-ranking government officials follow the law during merger reviews, make decisions on the merits, and are not influenced by politically connected lobbyists,” said Attorney General Weiser.

Last month, Attorney General Weiser led a group of attorneys general in sending a letter to the Justice Department questioning the settlement after public reporting indicated that the final product was driven by improper influence peddling at the highest levels of the department rather than antitrust concerns. Moreover, the settlement seems to have wholly deficient remedies relative to the anticompetitive harms alleged by the Justice Department in their complaint seeking to block the merger.

Today, the coalition of attorneys general, who are joint enforcers of the federal antitrust laws, are asking the court to grant their motion to intervene in the case, arguing that the states have a strong interest in ensuring that antitrust settlements are in the public interest and in preventing unlawful mergers from harming their citizens. Without the states’ intervention, the coalition explains, the only parties will be those that support the settlement, and the court would hear a one-sided argument. Intervention would also give the states a path to review the merger on the merits and, if necessary, challenge it in court.

Joining Attorney General Weiser on the court filing are the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, New York, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Read the States’ motion to intervene in the case (PDF).

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Media Contact:
Lawrence Pacheco
Chief Communications Officer
(720) 508-6553 office
lawrence.pacheco@coag.gov