Google Legal Chief Faces Rebuke by Judge Over Missing Chats (1)

A federal judge reprimanded Alphabet Inc.’s chief legal officer over allegations that Google intentionally destroyed sensitive internal communications relevant to two ongoing antitrust lawsuits despite court orders to preserve evidence.

In an unusual move, US District Judge James Donato, who’s presiding over a trial in San Francisco over Epic Games Inc.’s accusations that the Google Play app store is anticompetitive, ordered the tech giant’s longtime top lawyer, Kent Walker, to appear in court to address questions about his company’s record-keeping practices.

Donato quickly grew exasperated at Walker’s responses.

“You’re tap dancing around here,” Donato said, implying ...