Good morning, Mr Conner: The Tipline for 28 May 2020

Ian Conner may be only six months into his job as head of the Federal Trade Commission’s bureau of competition, but he is already sniffing out excuses like a tenured grade-school teacher. No, your dog did not eat your Hart-Scott-Rodino filing, your client’s reference to a transaction as a “two-to-one” was not about last night’s ball game – and the firms in your failing firm defences are probably not actually failing.