Alphabet Inc.’s Google has denied intentionally destroying evidence in the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit over the company’s search business, in a response to the government’s bid for sanctions in federal court.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) last month alleged Google failed to preserve certain internal corporate “chat” communications. The DOJ said Google told investigators in 2019 that the company had put a hold on allowing auto-deletion of those instant messaging records.
Google said in Friday’s filing that the company made “reasonable” efforts to preserve communication records.
The bid for sanctions stems from lawsuits filed by the DOJ and a group of more than 30 states accusing Google of unlawful exclusionary practices to maintain its search business dominance. Google has denied the claims. The case, filed in 2020, is set to go to trial in September….