WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions declined on Tuesday to answer if any White House officials contacted the Justice Department to discuss the government’s review of AT&T Inc’s (T.N) proposed $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc (TWX.N).

Sessions would not answer a question at a U.S. House hearing about if the White House had any communications about the deal. President Donald Trump as a candidate had vowed not to approve the merger and has repeatedly criticized Time Warner’s CNN network. Reuters reported the Justice Department demanded last week that AT&T divest DirecTV or the Turner Broadcasting unit in order to win approval.