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Slater expected to continue Big Tech crackdown

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She worked for Federal Trade Commission, Fox Corp

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Slater previously advised Trump's White House

By Jody Godoy

Dec 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on

Wednesday tapped Gail Slater, an antitrust veteran and economic

adviser for JD Vance, to lead the Department of Justice's

antitrust division and take charge of a full docket of

blockbuster monopoly cases against companies including Google

, Visa and Apple ( AAPL ).

Slater is expected to continue the department's crackdown on

Big Tech, including cases brought during Trump's first term in

the White House, Trump wrote in a post on his social media

platform.

"Big Tech has run wild for years, stifling competition in

our most innovative sector and, as we all know, using its market

power to crack down on the rights of so many Americans, as well

as those of Little Tech!" Trump said.

Slater served on the White House's National Economic Council

in 2018, where she worked on Trump's executive order on national

security concerns over Chinese telecommunications equipment.

Before joining Vance's office, Slater worked at Fox Corp

and Roku.

Vance, the U.S. vice president-elect, has said antitrust

officials should take a broader approach to antitrust

enforcement, and praised the work of Federal Trade Commission

Chair Lina Khan.

Slater grew up in Dublin, Ireland, and began her law career

in London at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which brought her

to Washington.

She spent 10 years at the FTC, first as an antitrust

attorney where she brought cases to block mergers including

Whole Foods' acquisition of organic grocer Wild Oats, and later

as an adviser to then-commissioner Julie Brill, who later became

an executive at Microsoft.

Slater also represented Big Tech companies including

Amazon.com and Google at a now-defunct trade group

called the Internet Association.

She is still viewed as an antitrust hawk among Washington

tech skeptics, who welcomed her appointment.

Garrett Ventry, a former adviser to Republicans in Congress

and founder of GRV Strategies, said Slater's nomination shows

Trump is "serious about taking on Big Tech."

"Antitrust enforcement is here to stay," Ventry said.

Slater will take over a number of high-profile cases in

which some of the world's largest companies are accused of

illegally building and protecting monopolies.

Trump said Slater will "ensure that our competition laws are

enforced, both vigorously and FAIRLY, with clear rules that

facilitate, rather than stifle, the ingenuity of our greatest

companies."