Dave Yost, Attorney General of Ohio, has filed a brief with the U.S. District Court in Oregon presenting cause to reject the lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission and nine state Attorneys General to block the merger between the Kroger Company and Albertsons Corporation.

The Ohio brief avers that the opposition is “based on a flawed understanding of the marketplace in which the two retailers operate”.  Yost claims that the Federal Trade Commission has “tunnel vision” and that there is no reason to delay the deal.

It is a matter of record that the attorneys general of Arizona, California, the District of Columbia Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Wyoming oppose the transaction since they maintain that the merger would reduce competition and ultimately raise the price of food for consumers in their constituencies.  It is considered noteworthy that the filing in opposition to the Oregon litigation was initiated by the Attorney General of Ohio, the home state of Kroger, with headquarters in Cincinnati. Is this not a situation of Kroger using the Office of the A/G as its law firm?