Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Monday said that he would not participate in Congressional consideration of Comcast’s decision to buy Time Warner Cable because his brother helped orchestrate the deal, according to the Huffington Post.
Schumer, who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, originally praised the deal on Thursday after he was assured by Comcast that the company would work to keep Time Warner jobs in New York state. But the LittleSis blog pointed out on Monday that his brother, Robert Schumer, worked on the deal as an attorney.
In a statement to the Huffington Post, Schumer’s office said that the senator was not aware of his brother’s involvement in the merger.
“As Senator Schumer and his brother had never discussed the matter before, the piece in American Lawyer was the first Senator Schumer learned that his brother had worked on the deal,” Schumer’s communications director Matt House said in the statement. “Now that he’s aware of his brother’s involvement, Senator Schumer will recuse himself from Congressional consideration of the matter to avoid any appearance of bias.”
Time Warner donated more to Schumer than to any other member of Congress when the senator last ran for re-election in 2010, according to Open Secrets.
