‘Echo’ of favoritism

DOJ moves to nix suit vs. Joe donor

The Justice Department took the rare step this month of moving to dismiss a $3.3 billion civil fraud lawsuit against Dish Network — months after founder Charlie Ergen and his wife donated more than $113,000 to President Biden’s reelection campaign late last year.

Ergen, a former professional poker player who in 1980 helped launch what was then called EchoStar Communications, has battled the federal fraud claim for nearly a decade.

But the Tennessee native saw his luck change after he and spouse Candy contributed $100,000 to Biden’s super PAC and maxed out with matching $6,600 donations to the president’s principal campaign committee in December, according to filings.

In January, Dish nabbed a $50 million grant from the administration to help expand 5G coverage nationwide through a $1.5 billion fund created by the CHIPS and Science Act.

On Jan. 12, two days after the $50 million award was announced, attorneys at the Justice Department intervened on behalf of Dish — and “tried to bully” Vermont Telephone, which filed the fraud claim, “into an unethical settlement” by threatening to have the suit dismissed, according to lead attorney Bennett Ross.

The move to nix the case scrapped plans to depose the Ergens about their knowledge of the allegedly fraudulent scheme, prompting Vermont Telephone attorneys to accuse the DOJ of political interference.

“[I]t appears that the effect

— if not the purpose — of the DOJ’s rush to seek dismissal of this case is to protect Mr. Ergen from being questioned under oath,” Ross wrote in a Feb. 8 letter to DOJ attorneys handling the case.

“We do not believe it is a coincidence that Mr. ErDISH’s gen, his wife and Political Action Committee collectively contributed in excess of $5 million to Democratic candidates and causes between 2008 and 2022,” he added. Echostar’s Jeff Blum told The Post the “fraud claim has always been frivolous, and the DOJ was absolutely justified in moving to dismiss it.”