By Diane Bartz
WASHINGTON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - A U.S. trial to determine if Alphabet's Google broke antitrust law to protect its search monopoly will go on even if the U.S. government shuts down, the judge said on Wednesday.
Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asked the Justice Department in court what would happen if Congress failed to reach an agreement to avoid a shutdown, and was told that lawyers would ask for a stay. If denied, the trial would go on.
"Send your motion to stay, which I will deny quickly," Mehta said.
The discussion came during the third week of a more than two-month trial in which the government is seeking to show that Google paid $10 billion a year based on "revenue share agreements" to smartphone makers, wireless carriers and others who agreed to make its software the default and maintain its monopoly in search. (Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Jamie Freed)
