The Justice Department has rekindled its efforts to thwart AT&T's blockbuster deal with Time Warner.

The department filed a notice of appeal July 11, 2018.

The $85 billion mega-merger was finalized a month ago after a federal judge ruled that it would not substantially reduce market competition. The department previously decided not to seek an injunction to block the merger, but it had 60 days from the date of the ruling to file an appeal.

AT&T CEO and chairman Randall Stephenson said the move "doesn't change anything" because the transaction is already closed.

The Justice Department's antitrust division sued last year to block the merger on the grounds that it would give AT&T, which distributes content through its subsidiary satellite television provider DirecTV, an unfair advantage over other companies that also distribute content. The DOJ said AT&T would be able to charge rival distributors more for Time Warner content, which could result in increased prices for consumers.

AT&T and Time Warner argued that the video programming and distribution market was in the midst of a revolution, and that they needed to combine content creation with distribution in order to keep up with internet-age tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, Hulu and Netflix.

Now, the case will be taken up by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Should it reach the Supreme Court, which has not considered a merger case since the 1970s, any decision would become binding as precedent.

Since the merger's completion, AT&T has made Time Warner a separate division from the rest of the company and renamed it WarnerMedia. The company has also raised prices for DirectTV customers, despite arguing in court that the merger would not trigger price hikes.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon warned against an appeal in his decision, writing, "As my 170-plus page opinion makes clear — I do not believe that the government has a likelihood of success on the merits of an appeal."

President Donald Trump's vow to block the deal is down to its final option. Absent a reversal of the merger, we will continue to rate this Promise Broken.