Well, this was a power cable this time, not a communication cable.
As for your idea, atmospheric distortion makes lasers not viable beyond a certain distance. Even on a crystal clear day the light would be too distorted/spread out to be useful beyond a few miles. The cables use fiber optic, which mitigates the distortion problem, but still requires repeaters to boost the signal every 100 kilometers or so.
This is absolutely blatant corruption, why is this something an Attorney General can unilaterally do? Charges were already brought by the DA, it was going to court, and he intervened to dismiss it. The power to shutdown any criminal case is an extremely dangerous power for anyone to have.