Minn. Commerce Dept. denied having improperly cozy relationship w...

Minn. Commerce Dept. denied having improperly cozy relationship with AT&T and said Qwest lawsuit seeking information from Commerce to support its claim had become moot because most of information Qwest wanted had been handed over. Deputy Commerce Comr. Tony Mendoza said Qwest’s complaint sought to divert attention away from its own regulatory issues. Ramsey County Dist. Court had scheduled hearings July 26 on Qwest motion to compel Commerce to supply documents relating to its relationships with AT&T. Mendoza said suit was moot because Qwest received everything it asked for except for certain documents protected by attorney-client privilege, which he said didn’t involve AT&T and so weren’t germane to Qwest’s purpose. He said AT&T initially opposed release of requested documents on ground they contained trade secrets, but later waived trade secret protection so Commerce could hand over materials. Qwest contended Commerce had bias in favor of AT&T and therefore had taken positions adverse to Qwest’s interests, such as the Commerce complaint alleging that Qwest had made secret preferential deals with selected CLECs in order to buy off their opposition to its long distance entry.