Roger P. Alford, recently dismissed as the Justice Department’s principal deputy assistant attorney general for antitrust, has accused two senior aides to Attorney General Pam Bondi of undermining the department’s review of Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks. In an essay published by UnHerd and a speech at the Technology Policy Institute’s Aspen Forum on 18 August, Alford said Bondi’s chief of staff, Chad Mizelle, and associate attorney-general-designee Stanley Woodward bypassed the Antitrust Division and brokered a settlement after HPE hired lobbyists with close ties to former President Donald Trump. Alford contends the aides held a “back-room” meeting that let the merging companies sidestep Antitrust Division head Gail Slater and obtain favorable terms, turning antitrust enforcement into what he called a “pay-to-play” system. He said the episode reflects a broader split inside the administration between officials seeking aggressive antitrust action and those aligned with well-connected lobbyists. Alford, who urged a federal judge to scrutinize the deal under the Tunney Act, maintains he was fired for resisting the alleged influence-peddling. The Justice Department rejected the allegations, with a spokesman likening Alford to “the James Comey of antitrust” and insisting the settlement rested on legal merits. Hewlett Packard Enterprise also called suggestions of impropriety “false and irresponsible.” The accusations, however, have intensified questions about political interference in merger reviews and could invite further congressional and judicial examination of the HPE-Juniper agreement.