Court Asked to Deny Lockheed Bid for Papers

U.S. antitrust enforcers asked a federal court to deny Lockheed Martin Corp.’s request for confidential Pentagon documents the company hopes will support its proposed $11.2-billion purchase of Northrop Grumman Corp. Releasing internal Defense Department memorandums and analyses would have “a chilling effect” on the ability of officials to express themselves candidly, the Justice Department said in a filing submitted in a Washington-based federal court. The government responded to the defense contractors’ court request last week to make the papers public. The firms argued the material is crucial to their case. They hope to find disagreements among Pentagon officials to bolster their defense against charges that the combination would be illegally anti-competitive. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan will hold a hearing May 6.