Article: U.S. Justice Department Says It Had to Curtail San Francisco Newspaper Probe.(Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News)

Jun. 30--Appearing to step back from its enthusiastic endorsement of the sale of the San Francisco Examiner to the owners of the San Francisco Independent, the U.S. Department of Justice told a federal judge Thursday that it had only 10 days to review the proposed newspaper deal, never fully investigated it and never was able to determine whether the Examiner could survive without a subsidy.

In addition, the Justice Department -- contradicting the assessment of an Examiner lawyer -- said it never decided or threatened to sue to block the transaction that prompted the antitrust inquiry: The proposal last year by the Hearst Corp., owners of the Examiner, to purchase ...

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