On Thursday evening, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the merger between Paramount and Skydance. But not everyone was thrilled about the approval.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has stated that she’s planning on launching a Congressional investigation into whether or not the parties were guilty of bribing the Trump administration to push the deal through.
“Bribery is illegal no matter who is president. It sure looks like Skydance and Paramount paid $36 million to Donald Trump for this merger, and he’s even bragged about this crooked-looking deal. I’ve been ringing the alarm bell for months, launching a Senate investigation into possible corruption, and this merger must be investigated for any criminal behavior.
“It’s an open question whether the Trump administration’s approval of this merger was the result of a bribe,” she concluded.
Warren’s comments come after Paramount — the parent company of CBS — settled a lawsuit brought forth by Donald Trump, in which he alleged the CBS News program 60 Minutes selectively edited its interview with Democratic opponent Kamala Harris to help her win the 2024 presidential election.
Despite many legal experts calling the lawsuit frivolous, the network and company reached a $16 million settlement with Trump to drop the case. Trump has subsequently stated that the settlement is for $16 million in cash, as well as a $16 million commitment from the company to air PSAs and advertisements, but he did not go into further details.
The approval from the FCC did not mention any commitment to broadcast PSAs or advertisements, despite the comments from the President.
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