![AT&T Cheerleading Squad for Merger: Nearly 100 Lobbyists [telecom]](https://forums.cabling-design.com/media/20411/conversions/6091efd2a3dda4.57937057-medium.jpg)
By Cecilia Kang and Eric Liptonoct
As a multimillion-dollar donor to lawmakers, with a huge roster of lobbyists, the communications giant is ready to pursue its $85 billion bid for Time Warner.
WASHINGTON - From the political right and the left, AT&T's $85 billion bid for Time Warner has provoked pushback. But AT&T, in addition to its billions of dollars of capital, has another arsenal at its disposal: one of the most formidable lobbying operations in Washington.
The company's list of nearly 100 registered lobbyists already on retainer in 2016 includes former members of Congress. AT&T is the biggest donor to federal lawmakers and their causes among cable and cellular telecommunications companies, with its employees and political action committee sending money to 374 of the House's 435 members and 85 of the Senate's 100 members this election cycle. That adds up to more than $11.3 million in donations since 2015, four times as much as Verizon Communications, according to a tally by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit research group.