David Cicilline emphasizes antitrust subpoenas are a last resort

But did emphasize that Congress had a right to collect evidence and hear from witnesses.

What you need to know

• Rep. David Cicilline has spoken to Bloomberg about the house's antitrust probe.
• He emphasized that he hopes and expects that all the CEOs, including Tim Cook, will testify.
• He again noted that Apple had not yet agreed, and said Tim Cook could be subpoenaed if necessary.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, David Cicilline, chair of the house antitrust committee, has emphasized that he hopes and expects that Tim Cook will agree to testify before the group.

In an interview yesterday, Cicilline spoke to Bloomberg TV about the house antitrust committee, which has recently requested CEO testimony from Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon.

The most recent report states that three of the CEOs have agreed to testify if all four CEOs agree to appear. Earlier this week it emerged Tim Cook was yet to give an answer on the matter, and a lawyer for Apple confirmed it had made no promises to the panel about his testimony.

In the 16 minute video, Cicilline repeatedly stated that he hoped and expected that all four CEOs would testify voluntarily, and whilst he did not rule out using subpoenas to compel Cook to testify, he seemed clear that he did not expect it to come to that. He did however state that congress had "a right to collect evidence and hear from witnesses that are necessary to make appropriate judgments in completing this investigation and preparing a report for the committee and the American people." He further stated, "we are going to get the witnesses and the documents we need to complete this investigation." He also casually noted that the only reason a CEO might not want to testify was that they had something to hide.

In the news this week, the European Commission also announced a formal investigation into Apple's alleged anticompetitive practices regarding both Apple Pay and the App Store.

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