(Telecompaper) Staff attorneys at the US Justice Department's antitrust division are nearing a recommendation to block Comcast's bid to buy Time Warner Cable, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Attorneys who are investigating Comcast's USD 45.2 billion proposal to create a nationwide cable giant are leaning against the merger out of concern that consumers would be harmed, the report said. They plan to submit their review of the takeover within the next week, and it will then be up to the division's senior official to decide whether to file a federal lawsuit seeking to block the tie-up. The Justice Department lawyers have been contacting outside parties in the last few weeks to shore up evidence to support a potential case against the merger, one of the people said. Furthermore, officials at the antitrust division and the Federal Communications Commission, which is also reviewing the deal, aren't negotiating with Comcast about conditions to the merger that would resolve concerns, such as selling parts of its business or changing practices, said two people familiar with the situation.