The Threats and Bare-Knuckle Tactics of MAGA’s Top Antitrust Fixer

“Around this time, the DOJ antitrust staff was evaluating real-estate brokerage giant Compass’s $1.6 billion acquisition of its rival, Anywhere Real Estate. Anywhere owns Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Corcoran and Sotheby’s International Realty. Compass and Anywhere were the first- and second-biggest brokerages, respectively, by volume in 2025. An acquisition would create a company accounting for more than a fifth of home-sales volume nationwide, according to Real Trends Consulting.

Compass hired Davis on the acquisition. The company wanted to avoid a “second request,” a routine part of antitrust enforcement where an agency asks for more information to evaluate whether to block or approve a deal. Slater wanted one.

Davis appealed to Blanche’s office to say that any worries could be addressed without one. Blanche’s office agreed, the people familiar with the matter said. Slater and the antitrust staff were overruled. The deal closed in January without a second request.”

Nothing to see here…move along…move along