WASHINGTON—Two Democratic Party U.S. Senators have sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission arguing that the regulatory agency needs to be extremely transparent in its review of the Paramount/Skydance merger given the appearance that the process might involve “bribery” and unfair regulatory pressure by the Trump administration on Paramount's CBS News.
The letter was sent from Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Telecommunications and Media Subcommittee, to FCC chair Brendan Carr.
Citing the reports that Paramount is considering settling what the Senators called “a frivolous lawsuit” brought by President Donald Trump, the Senators stated that the FCC should only approve the merger with an affirmative vote by the full Commission.
As previously reported, President Trump has sued Paramount for $20 billion in damages relating to how Paramount’s CBS News edited a “60 Minutes” interview with then Vice President Kamala Harris. The FCC is also investigating CBS over “news distortion” regarding the incident and Carr has said that issue will be an important part of its review of the merger.
The fact that the FCC is investigating the Paramount and CBS at a time when President Trump is suing the company has been attacked by critics, including several former FCC commissioners, They have complained that the FCC is helping the White House censor media critics of the administration. The pressure of the FCC investigation might also produce a financial windfall for Trump if Paramount settles the suit.
Disney’s ABC, which is also being investigated by the FCC, has already settled a separate suit by Trump.
Carr has repeatedly denied those allegations, saying the FCC investigations have no relationship to the Trump lawsuits and that he hasn’t even read the Trump lawsuit. Even though other agencies have already approved the merger, Carr has also stressed that the FCC has not delayed ruling on the merger to increase pressure on Paramount.
The May 13 letter, the Senators wrote that “In late October, then-candidate Trump sued CBS for $10 billion — later raising this outrageous amount to $20 billion — for supposedly deceptively editing an interview of then-Vice President Kamala Harris on its programs 60 Minutes and Face the Nation. As the transcript of the interview showed, the excerpts that CBS aired were a quintessential example of editorial decision-making. Trump’s claim that such conduct constituted `voter interference' and violated Texas’s consumer protection law is both false and a clear attempt to intimidate the news media. CBS has rightfully moved to dismiss the case.”
“Despite the obviously frivolous nature of the lawsuit, Paramount is reportedly considering settling the case to ‘increase the odds that the Trump administration does not block or delay’ its merger with Skydance,” the letter continues. “In fact, Paramount executives and directors are reportedly concerned that such a settlement could open them up to accusations of bribery. Paramount would not be the first to settle a lawsuit brought by the President in the past few months. In the weeks following the inauguration, ABC ($16 million), Meta ($25 million), and X ($10 million) all settled cases brought by Trump. With Paramount on the hook to pay Skydance a $400 million breakup fee if the FCC blocks the deal, the company has strong financial incentives to facilitate FCC approval of the merger.”
“For those reasons, this transaction has signs of a deal between a company eager for approval of a multi-billion dollar merger and a President willing to exploit his position to intimidate the media and secure a multi-million dollar payout,” the letter concludes. “The unique position of this merger necessitates the utmost transparency at the FCC. A matter of this significance deserves the scrutiny of the entire Commission. We urge you to only approve this merger through a full Commission vote.”
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