It wasn't a surprise when Donald Trump took the opportunity during his Jan. 11 press conference to angrily accuse CNN of spreading fake news. Throughout the campaign Trump had complained the cable network was being unfair to him — and at one point vowed that as president, he would block AT&T Inc.'s proposed $85.4 billion merger with CNN's parent, Time Warner Inc.

It was surprising, though, when AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson turned up at Trump Tower the next day. People familiar with the meeting said beforehand that the CEO and the president-elect would discuss the Time Warner deal. Afterward, both AT&T and Trump aides said the topic didn't come up and the two just talked about job creation. 

Even so, a closed-door meeting between Trump and Stephenson set off alarms inside the U.S. Justice Department, which is currently reviewing the merger to make sure it won't violate monopoly laws by creating too much media concentration. The attorneys in the department's antitrust division are usually given a wide berth to render an independent judgment based on the merits and the law —free even from the appearance of political pressure from above.