WASHINGTON—Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) has written Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr demanding detailed information about “$8 billion merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media, including any role played by President Trump or his associates in influencing the FCC’s actions.”
In the August 18 letter, Schiff also asked for information about the cancellation of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”, raising concerns he had previously made the timing of the announcement and Paramount’s decision to accept a series of demands by the FCC to end “bias” in its programing and stop all DEI efforts.
“The sequence of actions and statements leading up to and following the FCC’s merger approval, including Paramount’s $16 million settlement with President Trump just days before the FCC issued its approval, raises significant questions and alarm that the FCC – an independent regulatory agency – has become a vehicle for President Trump to exact personal retribution and undermine the freedom of the press,” Schiff wrote. “Oversight by Congress is therefore imperative to assess the FCC’s actions and the circumstances surrounding the approval, which, if influenced by President Trump, would set a dangerous precedent of political interference in and corruption of the FCC’s merger approval process.”
Schiff prefaced his demands for information by stressing that “as you are aware, the FCC’s authority – and its limits – are rooted in the First Amendment. The Communications Act of 1934 explicitly declares that nothing in the statute `shall be understood or construed to give the Commission the power of censorship over the [broadcast] communications or signals transmitted by any [broadcast] station, and no regulation or condition shall be promulgated or fixed by the Commission which shall interfere with the right of free speech by means of [over-the-air] broadcast communication.’ As such, the FCC does not have the authority to dictate editorial content, punish perceived political bias, compel or silence specific viewpoints, or reward parties on the basis of efforts to garner favor with elected officials.”
In a break with longstanding FCC policy, the Carr has repeatedly asserted the agencies power to regulate broadcast content as part of their authority to license broadcast stations and review mergers.
In the letter Schiff also cited Commissioner Anna M. Gomez dissent to approving the merger. The “once-independent FCC used its vast power to pressure Paramount to broker a private legal settlement and further erode press freedom,” Gomez said in that statement.
“The FCC’s recent actions are especially troubling considering President Trump’s history of disparaging the press and undermining the protections afforded to them by the Constitution,” Schiff said. “He has repeatedly accused news agencies of bias or unfair reporting when the coverage is unfavorable to him, most recently stating that licenses for networks that he views as `political pawns for the Democrat Party…could, and should be revoked!’”
“In an early display of your willingness to abuse the FCC’s authority according to President Trump’s whims, you inappropriately reinstated complaints against networks regularly scrutinized by President Trump while leaving untouched the dismissal of a similar complaint involving Fox News,” Schiff added.
In the letter, Schiff asked for detailed information about meeting with David Ellison and Paramount executives and asked “did you, the Commission, or FCC staff have any communications with Skydance or Paramount representatives concerning specific programming content decisions, including “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” or other shows, during the merger review process?”
Schiff also asked the FCC to explain any regulatory or legal authority the agency might have in terms of editorial content when approving merges, details about Trump’s lawsuit against Paramount, details of the lawsuit’s settlement and any contacts with the President or White House staff.
More specifically, the letter also asked if the FCC had done an analysis of the First Amendment prior to getting promised from Paramount regarding its editorial content.
The full list of questions and the letter can be found here.
Carr has repeatedly claimed that he had no specific knowledge regarding the lawsuit or the settlement and that the FCC's investigation into the merger was completely separate from the lawsuit.
