"Intel Corporation interacted with Commissioner Rosch for many months, attempting to persuade him to vote against a complaint in this matter without ever voicing a concern about his involvement in the case," the FTC said in the , which was made public on January 19.

"But on December 15, after being informed of the Commissioner’s tentative views on the matter and within hours of the Commission’s vote to initiate the present case, it filed a motion to disqualify him on the ground that he served as Intel’s primary outside antitrust counsel from about 1987 until mid-1993," the FTC said.

The FTC sued Intel on December 16, saying the chip maker used its "dominant market position" to strengthen its monopoly in the microprocessor market.

"Intel carried out its anticompetitive campaign using threats and rewards aimed at the world’s largest computer manufacturers, including Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM, to coerce them not to buy rival computer CPU chips," the FTC at that time.

In response, Intel denied the charges, calling the FTC case "misguided and unwarranted."