“It’s not a First Amendment case,” Abrams said in the interview with Sara Eisen. “The government is alleging that S&P didn’t believe what it said; the First Amendment doesn’t protect against that.”

Abrams, who will be joined by Keker in defending the company as the case moves forward, said the company’s lawyers held settlement discussions with the Justice Department for at least four months.

Former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt predicted in a Feb. 6 interview on Bloomberg Television there would be “a substantial settlement” between the company and the government.

“The government is trying to win, and McGraw-Hill is foolish not to have made a settlement with them,” said Levitt, who is on the board of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

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