Jim Mattox, Attorney General for the State of Texas v. Federal Trade Commission, and Chevron Corporation, Intervenor-Appellee

PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judge:

Section 7A(h) of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act of 1976 provides that premerger notification materials obtained under that act may not be “made public”. The Attorney General of Texas nevertheless seeks premerger information from the Federal Trade Commission; he argues that state attorneys general who promise to keep premerger documents in confidence are not part of the § 7A(h) “public”. The district court accepted the FTC’s contrary interpretation. We affirm.

I

In March 1984, Chevron Corporation and Gulf Corporation filed pre-merger notification materials with…